I prepaid for a hotel with a different card, but used Monzo for hotel deposit. Monzo have taken the full amount and not credited it back to account. In transaction help it does suggest choosing the option “I was overcharged or expecting a refund” but that is not an option shown. On other chats it says Monzo will hold that for 30 days. This is disgraceful as it’s over £260. I’ve checked out the hotel, it’s all settled but cannot find how to get Monzo to return my money. Please help!
Monzo have not taken anything. The hotel have charged you.
Have you spoken to the hotel?
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Revels is right, Monzo don’t charge people’s Monzo cards! Only merchants can do that.
Is it a pending transaction? It will say at the bottom of the transaction info if it’s pending.
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Yes I spoke to hotel, It was a deposit they have not taken. Monzo openly say that if the hotel was paid for on a different card then they could take 30 days to refund a deposit amount. Also in their query field it gives you advice on how to claim it back buts it’s not an option. Apparently this is common issue with deposits and Monzo. I’m not sure how to speak to someone at Monzo.
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If it’s a deposit, you’ll have to wait for the hotel to either reverse it, or for it to be automatically refunded in 30 days.
You can try to reach out to support - but not sure you should - by searching in help for “Contact support” and click through.
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It’s a common issue with deposits and the banking system. Monzo just make the issue more visible.
At another bank, you’d see that your available balance would drop until the charge falls off, but your main balance wouldn’t be impacted. This still means you can’t spend the missing money.
All in all, whenever you’re leaving a refundable deposit for a hotel, car hire etc. you should just use a credit card. Most reputable places will allow you to settle the balance at the end with a debit card.
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The hotel have authorised your card for £xx, this hold drops off automatically after 30 days or when they cancel it. Nothing to do with different card or Monzo or anything else. This is the hotel not following the correct procedure.
It’s a common issue for all banks/cards where the merchant doesn’t do as they should. Not exclusive to Monzo.
In the app search “Contact” and tap “Contact Us”
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If the hotel had followed the correct procedure the pending transaction would have dropped off as soon as you paid your bill, or a few minutes after… Monzo aren’t adding any delay here, the hotel (or possibly their payment processor) are.
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Exactly this. Don’t use your own funds for deposits.
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Apparently not. Just spoken to Monzo. Because the final bill was not settled with Monzo, but the deposit was out on with Monzo they will not give the money back for 30 days when they know the hotel will not take any transaction. They recommend either paying with Monzo so they know the bill has been settled, providing evidence the bill has been settled by getting the hotel to confirm in writing, or just accept Monzo keep my £266 earning for 30 days when they will return it. I’m well travelled and have never had this issue with a standard credit card. Apparently it’s common practice with pay as you go cards. Learning experience and I will not hold a refundable deposit with Monzo again.
Monzo is not a “pay as you go” card. It’s a fully licensed bank account.
Have you spoken to the hotel?
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Monzo haven’t got your cash, the hotels bank / payment processor has it. They’ve no control over what they do.
Monzo is a full fledged bank, it’s not ‘pay as you go’
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If Monzo are making you wait, it’s because the hotel haven’t reversed the hold on your money. The blame for your predicament is ultimately on them, not Monzo.
You’d be in exactly the same situation with a credit card, your available balance will go down until the hold is reversed or expires. You just don’t see it.
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At the bottom of the transaction does it say pending?
It might be a temporary hold if so it can take 30 days.
Edit: I didn’t notice someone already mentioned this.
Yes, as above Monzo have said they hold deposit for 30 days even though checked out of hotel and they’ve not taken the money. The card I have is a pay as you go, not a bank account. The reason I have his card is they don’t charge for transactions abroad. However, frustrated Monzo sit on my money. Before I get any more “it’s the hotel” comments it’s not. Monzo and the hotel both say the same. Monzo just sit on the deposit/pre authorisation for 30 days. Thanks for the comments.
Not true. Credit cards do not sit on the deposit/pre authorisation for 30 days. It’s not taken out of account, just held as pending. Monzo pay as you go card they’ve taken my money. This is not the hotel.
Monzo are not holding anything.
No it isn’t. Monzo top-up cards haven’t existed for 5+ years
Monzo do not have your money
Yes it is.
I appreciate that banking and how it all works can be complex, but there’s lots of info in this thread and what you’ve posted is completely wrong.
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Monzo is a bank same as Barclays or NatWest. It’s not pre-paid top up card.
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I personally still find it a bit uneasy that many folks rush in to assume the fault couldn’t possibly be with Monzo and represent that assumption like it’s an indisputable fact. We don’t have enough information to know, and there’s enough anecdotal evidence out there to suggest that either every merchant ever is a scumbag liar 100% of the time, or Monzo has faults with this process too sometimes.
I’ve been in situations many times where the merchant has been adamant that not only have they not taken the money, they cancelled the auth, only for Monzo to proceed to hold it until it expired naturally. In at least one of these instances I was able to prove it because Amazon provided the details to confirm as such, and in that situation the Monzo customer support person reversed it manually. But I doubt these things ever get flagged up to anyone to investigate.
@Smiler , ask the hotel for proof they’ve cancelled the authorisation. They should be able to provide this (assuming they know how). If not, ask them for a statement that says they won’t be taking it. Take this to Monzo and they’ll give you the money back straight away.
Monzo really have it all backwards IMO. Any other bank would just make the funds available to you straight away, with the caveat that if the merchant does come to collect, and there’s not enough to cover, you’ll end up in an unarranged overdraft and have fees to pay.
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Your money has not left your account. It has been ringfenced following the hold placed by the hotel. Monzo will not release the hold earlier unless the hotel follow the correct procedures.
And you have a bank account with Monzo, not a pre-paid card. Monzo is a full bank.
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