Newmarket Tesco customers to be refunded after duplicate charge blunder

Tesco has vowed to refund customers after shoppers at a Suffolk store were accidentally double-charged.

The supermarket chain has today apologised and sought to reassure customers at Newmarket's Tesco Extra, which was named one of the stores affected by the problem.

Earlier this week, customers were asked not to pay by contactless due to problems with the store's system.

An investigation by the consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com has found that thousands of Tesco customers may have had card payments taken twice, or even three times, for a single transaction.

It is believed that customers at the store could have been double-charged for any purchases made since early February, with shoppers urged to check their bank statements.

The issue is thought to affect customers across the UK, with branches in Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and South Wales among the problem areas identified.

Shoppers may have been hit at Express, Extra and Metro stores as well as fuel stations and superstores. Online orders have not been affected.

A Tesco spokesman said: “Due to a technical error, some customer card payments have been authorised more than once.

"We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, and we want to reassure affected customers that they will only pay for their purchases once and any duplicate transactions will be reversed.”

Anyone who has been charged extra for bank fees, the supermarket is considering refund requests on a case-by-case basis.

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