Tesco apologises for card glitch which delayed payments at 300 stores leaving some customers in the red
Payments were not processed properly in 300 Tesco Express stores around the UK
TESCO has apologised to customers after taking up to three months to process thousands of credit and debit card payments - causing some shoppers to go overdrawn.
The UK's biggest supermarket said 300 of its Tesco Express stores had been affected by a glitch in its payments system since the end of November.
The supermarket has been sending out letters to customers affected by the glitch.
The error was first reported by who have advised customers to check statements.
It has been told by a number of customers that the belated transactions have pushed them into overdraft limits as they weren't expecting the money to be debited.
If you have been hit with a banking charge as a result of a problem then Tesco says it will reimburse you.
Customers have been sharing their anger on social media after being belatedly charged for payments.
One said: "Just had a @Tesco payment taken from my account - TODAY -dating back to 9th December!!! What the actual .... Tesco, you need to get your act together"
Another added: Letter from @Tesco telling me they didn’t take a payment on 9/12/17 and taking it now! 1. How am I supposed to remember if I spent that and 2. What if I don’t have money in my account to take it now? As usual, Tesco screw up again! Worst company ever!!!"
Tesco has around 1,740 stores across the UK.
Steve Nowottny, news and features editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “It’s good to see Tesco has apologised to shoppers, but this is a real blunder - for a major supermarket to take payments up to three months late simply isn’t acceptable.
“If you’re operating on a tight budget it’s crucial you know that payments will be processed more or less as you make them.
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"If you’re suddenly hit with the bill for multiple shops in one fell swoop it can be a disaster financially, and there’s a real risk some shoppers will have racked up bank charges as a result.
“Tesco needs to be clear now about the full scale of the problem, and must ensure it acts immediately to help anyone who’s lost out as a result.”
A spokesperson from the supermarket said: “As soon as we identified this issue, we contacted as many affected customers as possible and have now processed all incomplete transactions.
"The issue has now been resolved and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
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