Some Tesco customers’ fuel station payments taken months late

Tesco has taken some payments made at its petrol stations months after the transactions were first made, it has emerged.

MoneySavingExpert.com said shoppers who have incurred bank charges due to the delays should ask the supermarket giant to reimburse them.

The website reported that one reader had emailed MoneySavingExpert over the last weekend to say they had been charged £30 the previous day by Tesco for petrol bought on October 26.

MoneySavingExpert said it had seen people reporting other examples of similar incidents. Its full report can be found at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/01/tesco-late-charge-petrol-station/

The supermarket told MoneySavingExpert that a technical issue meant certain payments on both debit and credit cards during October, November and December 2020 were not taken at the time and in some cases were debited two to three months later.

MoneySavingExpert previously reported on a similar situation with Tesco taking delayed payments back in 2018.

Helen Knapman, assistant news and investigations editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “It’s unacceptable of Tesco to hit people with payments months down the line.

“If you’re operating on a tight budget and you’re suddenly hit with an unexpected bill it can be a disaster financially, and there’s a real risk some shoppers will have racked up bank charges as a result. If you’ve been charged by your bank, make sure you claim the money back from Tesco.”

A statement given by Tesco to MoneySavingExpert said: “We appreciate this may be inconvenient for some customers and we are very sorry to anyone affected by this.”