Commonwealth Bank customers woke up to an unpleasant surprise this week, discovering they had been charged twice for transactions, leaving some accounts overdrawn and causing major disruptions.
Frustrated customers took to social media, expressing their concerns over being unable to reach customer service to address the issue. Many reported seeing hundreds of dollars deducted for transactions that had already been paid days ago.
“Once I get my money back, I’m switching to a different bank. This is beyond just a simple apology,” one disgruntled user wrote on X.
We are aware some customers are seeing duplicate transactions from payments. We are working to reverse these transactions as a matter of urgency and any fees charged will be refunded. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for being patient with us.
— CommBank (@CommBank) October 18, 2024
The glitch has had serious consequences, with many Australians unable to pay for essentials like medication due to their accounts being in the negative. One user shared a screenshot showing an account balance of -$2,815.05, illustrating the severity of the issue.
In response, CommBank acknowledged the problem and assured customers that they are working to reverse the duplicate transactions “as a matter of urgency.” The bank also stated that any fees incurred due to the error would be refunded.
Several customers expressed outrage, questioning why their accounts had been overdrawn due to double charges. “Why is my account needlessly overdrawn? You’ve charged me for previous transactions twice. What is going on?” one user wrote.
Another customer shared that the bank had “taken all the payments I’ve made this week out of my account again,” while one more reported waking up to see an $800 transaction repeated, calling it “frustrating.”
CommBank issued a public apology via X, stating: “We are aware some customers are seeing duplicate transactions from payments. We are working to reverse these transactions as a matter of urgency, and any fees charged will be refunded. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”
My account has HUNDREDS of duplicate transactions. Hope you’re going to be paying me for the inconvenience. This is theft. Looking forward to the class action
— L I V • L O A T H S O M E | Melbourne (@livloathsome) October 18, 2024
However, the bank’s Ceba chatbot also experienced technical difficulties, with messages failing to send, adding to customers’ frustrations. Some worried that this issue could impact their ability to purchase essentials like groceries and petrol.
“My account is overdrawn! I have bills to pay and children to feed! How does this happen?” one customer lamented.
For others, the timing couldn’t have been worse. “Lots of people are living paycheck to paycheck, and having this happen could seriously affect their weekend as the refunds won’t happen for multiple days,” another user pointed out.
In one of the many comments on the bank’s Facebook post, a mother shared that she was unable to buy medication for her daughter due to an overdrawn account. Similarly, one man mentioned he couldn’t purchase arthritis medication for his wife because of five duplicate charges on his account.
“Thanks for the beautiful Saturday, Commonwealth Bank… there isn’t a word to describe the frustration with this,” he wrote, reflecting the overall sentiment of many affected customers.
