Hemalata Patel, owner of K&L Newsagent in Cheshire, has warned retailers who use card payment provider Handepay to be cautious of unauthorised charges from a third-party supplier.

Patel has been using Handepay since November 2018. She told Better Retailing: “I recently noticed that I was being reverse charged for phone calls on the machine from an 0870 number, by a company that carries out upgrades to the system overnight when the shop is closed.”

She was charged £14 extra on her phone bill in September, and an extra £20 in October. “You aren’t allowed to reverse charges like this without the bill payer’s permission, and I never gave it,” she said.

Read more: One in four London retailers still charging for card payments

Patel added that she knows of a number of other retailers who have been similarly experiencing unexpected Handepay charges. “I’m getting in contact with the trade press because I want to warn other retailers what’s going on. I have heard others complaining that exactly the same thing is happening to them,” she explained.

Handepay’s chief commercial officer, Mark Latham, confirmed to Better Retailing that the issue is only affecting a few customers.

“This is a really disappointing situation involving a third-party supplier that has been brought to our attention,” he said.

Read more: We need protection from card fraud, say retailers

“It only affects a small number of our customers who are using dial-up connections for their terminals. I believe the calls were being made when the system was installing a software update.”

He added: “We are sorry that our customer Ms Patel has been charged without her – or our – knowledge. As soon as we were made aware of this, we spoke to her and offered to cover those charges and discuss potentially changing to an alternative terminal type as a gesture of goodwill.

“As a matter of urgency, we have asked the external supplier involved – Spire Payments – to review its systems that have seen Handepay customers charged in this way.”

He added: “We will await a response from Spire with great interest.”

Spire Payments were unable to provide a comment by the time Better Retailing went to print.

Read more: What are the challenges and opportunities of new technologies for retailers?