Last night I ordered my shopping online via Tesco.com.  I always make sure that I stick to a very strict budget ensuring that my final shopping price (including delivery) is lower than the amount of funds in my bank account. 
To be exact, this shop was around £4 less than my bank balance ..... just to be safe.

So imagine my confusion this morning when I received a phone call from Tesco.com, telling me that my card had been declined.
My first thought was that prehaps a payment had been taken out by somebody else, maybe a Direct Debit.  So, I checked my bank balance.  No other payments had been takend but the total amount was £3 short of the amount that the lady on the phone was trying to process for my shopping.
Again I was confused. 
I had specifically made sure that I did not exceed my budget and had shopped for less than the balance of my bank account.  To try and find out what had gone wrong I logged into my online shopping account to check my order, and make sure I hadn't over ordered by mistake.
When I checked the order it told me that the total amount of my shopping was £73.34. 
I questioned this with the lady on the phone, and what she told me made my blood boil.

Apparently, in order for your delivery to be processed, the original price of your shopping, without deductions/multi-buys has to be put through your card, before it is then sent through the proper check out for your payment to be made.
My card was declined during the initial process which was for £80.06, because I did not have that amount in my account.
 
I didn't think I would need to have that amount. 
That is not the price of my shopping.

I was told on the phone that there was nothing they could do. 
My shopping wouldn't be delivered because I didn't have enough money to make a payment.
A payment that they aren't actually taking out of my account, because that is NOT how much my shopping costs.

I asked if items could be removed from the shop and was told .........
"No, we don't have the ability to do that".
I asked if the £3-£4 could be dicounted in any way so that I could still receive my shopping and was told .........
"No, we don't have the authority to do that".
Ridiculous!  There is always someone who has the authority to over-ride things.

By this point I was actually shaking with anger.  None of this makes any sense. 
Why do they need to process 2 payments? 
Are they seriously going to refuse to send me my shopping, even though the amount of money needed to pay for it is sitting in my bank account?
The answer was ....
"Yes.  I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do".

On hearing this, I requested to speak to a manager and was informed that the duty manager would ring me back shortly. 
She did. 
But, she was still unable to answer any of my questions, and was unable to find a solution, other than me finding another source of payment, which I don't have. 
They couldn't even split the payment between 2 cards.
According to what I was told on the phone, even Head Office said there was nothing they could do to help!

If it was just food for me then I wouldn't mind. 
Yes I would still be annoyed, but I would get over it.

Only, it's not just me!
I have 5 children to feed. 
I have nothing here for their dinner tonight, or their breakfast tomorrow, and I am almost out of nappies.

What gets to me the most is that it isn't even because I can't afford it.  It's because Tesco seem to have some sort of non-sensical way of processing their online shopping orders.

I was informed that it is a company policy to process things this way, but I hadn't seen anything about it online, so I asked Tesco to tell me where I could find the policy.
"In the Terms and Coditions on our website" was the reply I received.  They were even kind enough to send me the link.
The only problem is, there is no sign of that policy!
No where in the Terms and Conditions of Tesco online shopping does it state that you will need to have enough money in your bank account to cover the cost of your shopping BEFORE any deductions are made.   All it says is that the total payment will be taken when the order is processed for delivery.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but any normal person would take that to mean the cost of the shopping that is given to you when you order it. 
I am fully aware that the total price is a guide price, but Tesco do not make their processes clear to the shopper.

I was given another option by Tesco, which was to ring my bank and arrange it with them so that the initial £80.06 would be authorised, so that my shopping could then be processed, but I would only be charged the amount that my shopping actually costs! 
"Oh ....... you wont receiving your shopping today now though".

I'm not asking for freebies ...... I have the money sitting there for my shopping, but if Tesco are going to apply policies that don't seem to exist the very least they could do is to try and help when something like this happens.
I have no other way of going shopping, and am now left here, worrying about hoiw I am going to feed my children.

This year Tesco announced pre tax profits of £1.7bn, but today they couldn't even bring themselves to deduct £4 off of my shopping so that my children don't go hungry.

I am disgusted with the customer service I have received from Tesco.
It seems to me that their slogan should be "Tesco ......... We'll do very little to help."

Missy xx