Pretty much says it all in the title. Got back from an incredible 9 days in Tokyo and Kyoto a few days ago, and I just noticed on my bank statement that a few (not all) of the purchases I made were completely refunded. For example, I spent €224 at Uniqlo (who could resist 12 floors in Ginza!?).
I chatted with customer service for my bank and they stated that it’s due to Japanese regulations where they “double charge” and then refund a portion later. I brought up the Uniqlo charge, where if that was the case, I’d only received a €112 refund. Not the whole amount.
Cursory googling has turned up nothing that’s helpful. I didn’t request the refunds nor did I claim any foreigner refunds while there.
Anyone heard of or experienced this before?
2 comments
Some stores just do the authorization but confirm the transaction really late (like, up to a week later). So if your debit card has short hold duration it might be refunded before it was confirmed from the store side.
Idk if this is what actually happening though
Surely if you spent 224 and they “double charge”/payment hold twice, you would expect 224 and not 112? I take it that you’ve gone over your statement to check if they’ve taken the right amount on another day? But if this is true, I really can’t wait to go 😅