Watch Out for Credit Card Billing Mistakes
In today’s society there are literally thousands of credit card transactions being processed every day. Billing mistakes will commonly happen. If you do not watch your credit/debit card statements closely, chances are you will get the occasional double charge. I recently had an experience at a Valero convenience store where I live in Texas. They ran my debit card, which had been chewed up by my dog, through the machine to make a $20 purchase. Immediately the clerk responded that it did not go through. I asked here to run it again and she came back to say again that it had not gone through. A few days later, I logged onto my online account to check my account balance, and sure enough, the charge was there. The transaction that the clerk had repeatedly denied that it went through was charged on my account. I went back to the same store, and made a comment to the clerk. She claimed that it was impossible, and that I was wrong. She then gave me phone number for me to call to report the problem. I did not argue with the clerk, as I figured there was really nothing that she could do about it. This is just one example of double billing.
Macy’s, a well-established retailer, recently experienced problems with their credit card software that caused them to double bill its customers. This took place during a two hour period right before Christmas 2008 shopping. Fortunately, the retailer was able to spot the error and make corrections on customer’s accounts. However, if it were not for Macy’s discovering their error, many people would have been double charged on their credit cards. Many people would have caught the error and reported the problem, however, just as many would not have seen the problem.
Have you ever given a credit card to a waiter for him or her to charge your meal at a restaurant? I am sure 99% of you who are reading this article will respond yes to that answer. Employees can very easily make a mistake when swiping a credit card. The truth is you have not seen this person actually handle your credit card. A rookie might accidentally run your card more than once thinking that he or she was unsuccessful the first time. However, this individual might not realize that they have already charged your card. A second or third swipe might very well cause that person to unknowingly bill your credit card. Those of you who check your statements on a regular basis will probably spot the double billing. However, those who do not check their credit card bills thoroughly might not see the error. This ends up being a windfall for the restaurant and big loss for you.
The moral of the story here is to check your credit card statements every month. Chances are, at some point in time you will discover a billing discrepancy. Pay-pal, an online payment processing company offers an excellent feature for subscribers of their credit and debit cards. They will send you an email every time that your credit card is used. This would be a great feature that other card issuers should offer their customers.
Once you have detected a billing error or even fraud on your credit or debit card you need to contact customer service. The advantage to having a credit or debit card is that they will immediately give you credit. In my case, I had to fill out a form at the bank that issued me the debit card. They will then go argue the problem with Valero. In the meantime, I have been given credit. Should Valero prove me wrong, the bank will refund them the original charge. I seriously doubt that Valero will be able to contest this. In 2009 I plan to be look over my statements much more thoroughly, especially since I am one of those who does not normally look at billing statements.
In today’s society there are literally thousands of credit card transactions being processed every day. Billing mistakes will commonly happen. If you do not watch your credit/debit card statements closely, chances are you will get the occasional double charge. I recently had an experience at a Valero convenience store where I live in Texas. They ran my debit card, which had been chewed up by my dog, through the machine to make a $20 purchase. Immediately the clerk responded that it did not go through. I asked here to run it again and she came back to say again that it had not gone through. A few days later, I logged onto my online account to check my account balance, and sure enough, the charge was there. The transaction that the clerk had repeatedly denied that it went through was charged on my account. I went back to the same store, and made a comment to the clerk. She claimed that it was impossible, and that I was wrong. She then gave me phone number for me to call to report the problem. I did not argue with the clerk, as I figured there was really nothing that she could do about it. This is just one example of double billing.
Macy’s, a well-established retailer, recently experienced problems with their credit card software that caused them to double bill its customers. This took place during a two hour period right before Christmas 2008 shopping. Fortunately, the retailer was able to spot the error and make corrections on customer’s accounts. However, if it were not for Macy’s discovering their error, many people would have been double charged on their credit cards. Many people would have caught the error and reported the problem, however, just as many would not have seen the problem.
Have you ever given a credit card to a waiter for him or her to charge your meal at a restaurant? I am sure 99% of you who are reading this article will respond yes to that answer. Employees can very easily make a mistake when swiping a credit card. The truth is you have not seen this person actually handle your credit card. A rookie might accidentally run your card more than once thinking that he or she was unsuccessful the first time. However, this individual might not realize that they have already charged your card. A second or third swipe might very well cause that person to unknowingly bill your credit card. Those of you who check your statements on a regular basis will probably spot the double billing. However, those who do not check their credit card bills thoroughly might not see the error. This ends up being a windfall for the restaurant and big loss for you.
The moral of the story here is to check your credit card statements every month. Chances are, at some point in time you will discover a billing discrepancy. Pay-pal, an online payment processing company offers an excellent feature for subscribers of their credit and debit cards. They will send you an email every time that your credit card is used. This would be a great feature that other card issuers should offer their customers.
Once you have detected a billing error or even fraud on your credit or debit card you need to contact customer service. The advantage to having a credit or debit card is that they will immediately give you credit. In my case, I had to fill out a form at the bank that issued me the debit card. They will then go argue the problem with Valero. In the meantime, I have been given credit. Should Valero prove me wrong, the bank will refund them the original charge. I seriously doubt that Valero will be able to contest this. In 2009 I plan to be look over my statements much more thoroughly, especially since I am one of those who does not normally look at billing statements.
Labels: credit card, credit card billing issues, credit cards
Credit Card / Financial news blog post by Todd Holliday at 6:28 PM 