I need to change to a night owl. 
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Many thanks for volunteering to look into it @Dan5. I’ve asked support to DM you my case. Also, if necessary, I’m happy to make myself available on Slack or any other plarform at any time.
Cheers,
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One thing I’ll add to the excellent comments Dan has added here: Large merchants like Uber work with multiple acquirers (primarily because it puts them in a better position to negotiate cheaper rates…)
Some of the acquiers are great; some of them are OK. Some of them are absolutley terrible (or Uber’s integration with them is terrible). Some of them know how to operate a Visa processor but have no idea how to operate a Mastercard processor and vise versa.
Depending upon how the merchant works, they might assign either your account or your PAN to a specific acquirer. If you’re using Google/Apple Pay, you might try giving them your card details directly. If you’ve given them your card details, then you might try adding a Google/Apple Pay token instead. If they’re making the decision based upon your account, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to fix this.
As for the 7 or 30 day expiry: Mastercard’s clearing timeline is 7 days for Final Authorizations, or 30 days for Pre-Authorizations, so it depends upon how the merchant coded the transaction on the network. (If the merchant clears after that and this leaves your account in the negative, the bank can close your account and raise a chargeback in order to recover the funds)
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This is a very good hypothesis. It’s plausible that Uber may be using fixed payment processor services for some accounts, and a mix of good and bad PSPs for others.
This would explain why some people are having this issue consistently, others are having this issue intermittently and a third group is not having any issues at all.
Nevertheless, other than actually proving that some PSPs are not emitting auth hold cancellation messages (i.e., officially verifying the root cause of the issue), I’m certain that we can dig further into this:
- Who exactly are the PSPs that are dropping the ball?
- Is there a better way to tackle the problem than changing payment details in the app and praying that Uber assigns payments to a well behaved PSP?
- Can we either compile a list of missbehaving PSPs and give it to Uber so that they can chase after it, or maybe have a way to allow clients to block certains PSPs altogether so that our money doesn’t get stuck for 30 days?
- If it’s a negative for 2 and 3, can Monzo at least provide a better way for us to claim back the money? Hopefully one that does not involve going through customer support for each and every transaction. And certainly one that does not requires us to prove that a known issue is a known issue every time.
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Just go give an update, the value of the disputed transactions above were returned to my account:
My particular problem has been solved.
The general issue still remains.
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Was this by Monzo assistance or just automated?
Hi Carlos, I’m not 100% but I think that it was Monzo. Uber is also working on the problem, but I was specifically asked for “proof” about the canceled trips by a Monzo CS agent today, so it was very likely Monzo.
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Yeah, going through the disputes process and providing confirmation the payment isn’t going to be collected, we can, in some instances, refund it sooner 
Glad it’s all resolved for you.
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This! It was so useful for those annoying Tesco transactions!
Damn people, ruining everything lol.
I’ll give Chase their due; the times that the vending machine at work hasn’t dispensed goods right, I’ve had the transaction reversed within a minute or two.
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Aye I just had this at Newcastle hospital! Funds deducted, no bottle, text to say it’s not been taken
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So I’m wondering what exactly is the difference between Chase and Monzo and other banks. Why do all banks not act in the same manner?
Wonder if Monzo would also refund in that instance? Possibly depends on how the merchant sends it back ie drinks machine unable to deliver, says to send funds back instead of continue to collect (whether pending or whatever)
I don’t recall Monzo or any other bank responding in this way for a vending machine tbh, so I’m unsure.
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I tend not to buy from them because they’re expensive
I have to be somewhat mindful about what I say about Chase:
- Due to NDA; and
- Because I didn’t work in cards. I was in decoupled payments which is a totally different beast (FPS, BACS, etc)
But as someone that is no longer working with Chase (and holds no invested interest), what I can say is: The team responsible for cards wrote good software and partnered with the right folks / solution providers. The Tech lead that was/is responsible for the bulk of card functionality is brilliant, and basically everyone on his team at the time was solid.
This doesn’t mean 100% issue / corner case free of course. But they are up to a good start.
Can’t say that I wouldn’t be happy if destiny takes a turn and Monzo and Chase ends up partnering up :).
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Yeah I wish they were more transparent from that perspective 
Chase deducted the money, then it just disappeared from my transaction list when it returned. I’d prefer a trail of what happened though tbh.
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I’m not fussed about a trail, so long as I’m not charged.
To me it’s like ordering a coffee and handing over £5 then to be told they don’t have coffee and then handing you the money back. I don’t need a receipt or trail for that. Nothing ever leaves your bank.
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I’ve had instant refunds from vending machine failures on my Monzo card
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I have too - but it’s a long time since I used a vending machine.
Might have to get one installed at home to make it feel more like working in an office
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