Anybody else seeing problems with Waitrose online? After years of no problems I now find problems with card checks and final payments. I don’t always get a card check, or no requirement for giving my last 3 digits at checkout. On delivery day payment fails and I have to ring to manually pay. Tried a different browser. Same problem. Changed monzo card. Same problem.
I don’t shop at Waitrose but what is the reason they’ve said that payment fails?
Also, is time a factor?. i.e. If you get it next day it works, whereas if delivery was a week later it fails?
I don’t have enough data yet, it only failed once, and all I was told was contact your bank! What I’ve noticed is that at check out I don’t get asked for my last 3 numbers, that field is missing - so of course it can’t proceed to an active card check. Or the little box that appears with the Monzo logo and says ‘why am I seeing this?’ does not appear. After 4 years of faultless transactions I am now seeing these. The Waitrose system books in my order (even though it has not gone through all the usual active card checks) and at 6am on day of delivery I get an email saying my payment failed and I need to ring in for manual payment before the delivery arrives at 11am. If it fails again this week I will switch to Nationwide debit card and see if that works.
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I’ve had it happen to me twice now, most recently last weekend. When I phoned up to pay the person on the phone said the payment had been blocked because of a bank check coughbollockscough
I believe the problem is entirely with Waitrose as nothing appears in the Monzo app, which you would expect with an attempted payment.
If my next delivery payment fails, I’ll be making a formal complaint to Waitrose and asking what steps they will be taking to resolve the issue, as if I were to use another card I’d also have to set up a standing order to make sure there’s enough money on it, which is a load of faff I don’t want. I’d also lose visibility of my groceries spending, which Monzo has been really useful for.
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Isn’t this related to the new SFA rules?
There’s a thread about Tesco in that they require the authentication in app every time you update your order, which people have complained about being annoying when you just want to change the size of your milk carton.
Seems like Waitrose are just a bit slower catching up and will probably have the same impact with all cards when all shops/banks are aligned with the new rules.
The payment failing on the day of delivery shouldn’t be - unless Waitrose have built an utterly cack-handed implementation.
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Waitrose has always required active card check when amending an order, I got used to this. At check out it leads to the verification box and that then proceeds either with no action by me, or a request to authorise and Monzo app. What is happening now is that this post amendment verification does not lead to a verification box, it just says order accepted. That sounds great, but payment then fails on day order is picked.
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This seems to be what I experience. I am sure it is a glitch between Monzo and Waitrose. In posted this to see if it was only my problem or if others find it too. I use MOnzo for all my grocery so would not be happy to switch to my NW card, as I’d then have to make transfers between NW to Monzo every time I shop online at Waitriose!!
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It’s not just Monzo cards at Waitrose, it happened once to my relative’s John Lewis Partnership Card credit card - which is provided, ultimately, by HSBC.
SCA is definitely implemented already as others have said (and has been for years) so that’s not it either.
It only happened once to my relative so I put it down to some kind of system glitch, but now hearing lots of reports from other people I do wonder if there is something not right with the system.
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I wonder if this is partly why we’re seeing so many retailers starting to adopt Apple Pay more now? It avoids these issues entirely. It can mess up pre-orders too. PayPal similarly avoids the same issues.
I had similar problems with co-op before they added Apple Pay. More annoyingly, I had to do all the chasing to get it sorted though, they clearly didn’t want my money. One of their own customer service advisors told me I should just leave it and keep the money!
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If they’re not running an initial active card check/auth and on the day of delivery they’re making a first auth for the amount, then it’s possible we’re sending them a soft decline and they don’t know what to do so just fail the payment.
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There are new SCA changes coming into effect specifically around e-commerce rules for which the deadline has been repeatedly extended. The final date for implementation is 14.03.22, so some merchants it appears just aren’t ready!
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I know about that deadline, but in the case of Waitrose they did implement 3D Secure in around 2020.
Every initial checkout requires a full 3D Secure process.
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This is slightly different I think, because we now have to soft decline any e-commerce transaction which doesn’t meet specific rules as outlined by the regulation.
It’s possible that in this case that Waitrose are presenting the final bill as a new auth, so we’re soft-declining it and they don’t know how to deal with that (they should issue a 3DS for every auth) and it means the payment fails.
I’ve just had a similar problem using my CapitalOne card on F1.com. Capital One were soft-declining the payment and the F1 website just straight declined it. I then made the payment with Monzo which gave me a 3DS prompt, but then F1.com tried to take the payment a further 9 times using a different auth DOH!
I think we’re going to see a fair few issues across lots of different issuers and banks over the next month or so as merchants and card issuers suddenly realise there’s no way around this!
edit: just to add that as the customer isn’t providing their CVC at checkout, then it will almost certainly get soft-declined. Amazon don’t ask for the CVC but my understanding is that their fraud rates (in terms of volume) are relatively low and therefore are exempt under the regulations. This is one of those areas that blags my head though!
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Possibly, although I would be a bit surprised if they were because from a customer’s perspective they seem to put through an authorisation for the exact amount of the order at checkout (not a placeholder amount or active card check) which they should then update on the day of the picking if the amount changes slightly, at presentment. I don’t know exactly how this works, but I assume that the 3D Secure authorisation then carries over to the slightly-modified final amount?
It’s possible that glitches in the system then mean that sometimes this isn’t possible, so a new auth is used (which fails)?
It must be something intermittent like that, because it’s certainly not every customer’s order that this happens to, every time.
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I think you’re right, the OP states that " I don’t always get a card check, or no requirement for giving my last 3 digits at checkout" but if Waitrose do run an an active card check then there shouldn’t be a problem at the delivery charge 
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Same problem exactly today. Active card check was done 2 days ago when I amended by order. But this morning I get the email from waitrose saying payment for the final order this morning failed, please ring…10 mins on hold and then I make a manual payment on the phone. I asked the CS person what is going on and he said “we updated payment system…more secure…and some customers are not being asked for last 3 numbers of security code on checkout…try deleting card and adding again at check out…”. What he says is exactly what I’ve experienced - inconsistent check out, not being asked for last there security numbers, but seeing active card check coming up on my Monzo account. I already deleted card and re-added fresh at check out. It looks like the way Monzo and Waitrose are talking to each other is failing. How can I raise this with Monzo to get advice on exactly why my card is failing?
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I would make a formal complaint with Waitrose at this point. The replies from @Dan5 earlier in this topic seem to give a pretty comprehensive explanation of what is likely happening from Monzo’s point of view. Perhaps he can advise if there’s any way Monzo can put pressure on Waitrose to fix their system/if it’s worth you making a complaint to Monzo?
My next Waitrose order is next week, so seems likely I’ll be in the position then that you are now.
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I’ve asked our cards team to make sure I’m not talking total rubbish and whether it’s on our radar or not 
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Thanks everybody. At least I know I’m not mad! I’ve been with Monzo from the start, am an investor, and still very happy with its services. I’ll keep you posted when I get any progress on this hiccup with Waitrose online.
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