On my way home from the (amazing, btw) Future of Monzo event yesterday I happened to look at my phone and see an alert from Monzo.
But first done background…
Over the summer I was overseas and had gone out for dinner. I paid with Monzo when I realised that they had billed me in GBP - there wasn’t an option on the machine to choose euros (the local currency) or pounds.
I asked them to refund me and rebill me in euros. They refused, saying it was company policy to charge in Sterling. I politely told them that that was unlawful. The manager refused to come and see me, instead asking the (rather embarrassed) waitress to bring me out a form to sign to confirm that I was happy to pay in GBP(!). Naturally I refused.
Anyway, I explained the situation to Monzo and they raised a chargeback dispute. And yesterday I got some money back!
This would happen with any bank. The merchant has charged you unlawfully. It also wouldn’t have taken several months - the money would have been given back to you pretty much instantly.
Credit where credit is due, Monzo is innovative and has done lots of good. This is not one of those times.
Edit: this has happened to me on multiple occasions as I am out of the UK more than I am in it and use my UK accounts mainly. It’s sneaky merchants not giving the options where they should or hoping it goes under the radar.
