Order fom Ocado before Christmas? Check your bank statements as customers hit by delayed charges

An error from payment provider Mastercard meant some payments in November and December weren't debited from customers' accounts when they originally made their orders – even though some say the payments had shown up as cleared in their Ocado account.

Ocado contacted affected customers last week to tell them their payments were due to be taken on Wednesday 22 January instead, up to two months after their order had been delivered. It's come as a shock to many affected, with some saying they believed they'd already paid for the order, or that the unexpected payment would risk pushing them into their overdraft.

Both Ocado and Mastercard refused to tell us how many customers were affected, but the online grocery retailer told us all impacted customers have been emailed already. However, if you made an Ocado order in November or December, it's worth double-checking any bank statements to see if you've been charged a delayed payment.

'So disappointed with the service from Ocado'

Ocado customers have expressed their frustration with the unexpected payment on social media. Here are some of the complaints we've seen:

I'm an Ocado customer – what can I do?

The delayed payments should have been taken automatically on Wednesday 22 January. Ocado told us that those with further questions about the transaction can contact either Mastercard or their bank directly.

However, if you're struggling as a result of the unexpected payment, or you're unhappy with the service you've received from Ocado, you can get in touch with the retailer by calling 0345 656 1234, sending an email to ocado@ocado.com, or using its live chat function.

What does Ocado say?

In an email sent to customers by Ocado and seen by MoneySavingExpert.com, Ocado said: "It's never fun when things don't go as planned... this was an error made by the payment card providers, so was not caused by any technical issues on our part. We're sorry for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused."

Ocado's email also claimed that other retailers had been affected by the issue – though Mastercard denied this.

A Mastercard spokesperson said: "We are aware that a small number of payments made with Ocado at the end of 2019 were not debited from cardholder's accounts. We apologise to anyone who has been inconvenienced by this. It was caused by an error in the flow of these payments between us and our payment partners. The error has been resolved and future card payments are being processed as normal."