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| Posted by: Great One
- [3312268] Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 10:12
So heres the scenario which happened to someone I know. They authorized a charge over the phone to pay their credit card bill... turns out that amount was doubled (or charged twice or whatever). This subsequently caused their bank account to go into overdraw and all the fees associated with that (and maybe even a bounced check to top it off).
What can be done? is the credit card company not responsible to reimburse the fees they caused? Can the person report this? Are the phone conversations not recorded to verify the transaction?
This ever happened to anyone here?
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| | | 1 | Frick@Work
Donor
ID: 3410101718
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 10:40
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It really depends on the company that you are dealing with and the amount complaining that you do.
Those calls are normally recorded, but depending on the system they are not always convient to find, plus the fact that the company probably doesn't want to find the call as it could show their liability. I used to work in a call center and I saw this type of situation happen. It was amazing how quickly a call could be found that supported the companies position, but and how long it took to find a call that supported the customers position.
I don't know if their is a reporting body that you could complain to, is the company regulated in some way, that can give you some leverage. If nothing else works call a local TV station or newspaper and see if they have someone who does stories like this. I know there are several in the local market and it is interesting to see how quickly and positively the matter can be resolved when news coverage comes into play.
Just a couple of ideas.
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| | | 2 | Great One
ID: 46356268
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 10:56
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Household Bank by the way... I had some trouble with them myself. Seems to be a pattern.
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| | | 3 | wiggs
ID: 18338267
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 10:58
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My wife bought me a leather jacket for Christmas last year. When the charged her, they ran her debit card 2 times for 400 dollars each time. When she got her next statement she had overdrawn 11 times. We complained to the business (JC Penny) and the gave her the 400 back as well as every overdraw charge (it was like 330 dollars I think.)
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| | | 4 | Great One
ID: 23359268
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 10:59
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Household Bank by the way... I had some trouble with them myself. Seems to be a pattern.
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| | | 5 | Dec
ID: 200262011
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 11:57
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Send a letter to the credit card company (or E-mail them if you want to save a stamp) telling them that the overcharge cause you (or your friend) some extra fees to the bank.
Enumerate the fees:
Interest on bank marging = X
Bouncing check = Y
Others = Z
And tell them you expect a credit of (X + Y + Z) on your next bill.
If you don't get a positive answer (I don't think we are talking about a big amount here), you think about something else.
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| | | 6 | Tree
ID: 1411442914
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 12:02
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Household Bank? i believe that's a division of HSBC.
it's often been said that using your debit card for telephone or online purchases is inviting trouble.
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| | | 7 | Great One
ID: 383592610
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 12:59
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I will reccomend gettting that letter together I guess with a copy of the bank statement and all the fees totaled up - hopefully that will take care of it, but at the least would get everything organized if a formal complaint becomes neccessary. I personally would add in the cost of the stamp, but thats just me :) (think Mark Cuban sending his fine to David Stern in pennies..)
I have another interesting credit card scenario myself. Got a pre-approved app from First Premier bank. I filled it out and mailed it in, thinking I would like to add a second card.
I get the card in the mail and for one - it only has a $250 credit limit -> then I see it already has $178 in miscellaneous fees on it! Then I keep reading through it... it says there are credit line increases say every 3 months - that seemed reasonable. But if you get awarded the increase, you get charged like 39.95 to raise the limit. So you just know they raise it by $50 every 3 months to cash in.
After reading all this I decided to cancel the card and send it back (I did not use it). It said in the fine print - if you do not want this card, cut it in half and send it back within 30 days. I was actually going to overnight it to make sure it got there, but of course its a PO Box so of course snail mail will take longer (they are probably hoping you DON'T get there within 30 days).
Also, I had never seen this before on any other card I have ever recieved - but apparently I didn't even need to activate it at all. I could take it out of the package and go use it immediately (which I guess is a ploy to make it easier for you to activate the card and therefore lock yourself into it). This seems really dangerous, because anybody could have opened the letter and gone and used it before it even got to me.
My only worry is they are still going to try and hold me responsible for the $178 in fees even though I never used the card. Its a small chance, but seeing how this company does business, it wouldn't shock me.
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| | | 8 | Perm Dude
Dude
ID: 030792616
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 13:07
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GO: You can send overnight mail to a PO Box--it'll be Express Mail from the Post Office. Make sure to get a tracking number (an additional $.35) which will offer proof of delivery.
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| | | 9 | Great One
ID: 313502611
Wed, Apr 26, 2006, 13:50
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Well unfortunately its already gone, though I did do it very quickly offering about 20 days for it to get there from when it was originally sent. But you are right, I have no proof of anything (I was going to UPS it from work).
I will call them and follow up at least perhaps on Monday.
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| | | 10 | jay
ID: 29546111
Sun, Jun 11, 2006, 02:46
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Great One, will you please provide a status update regarding your First Premier Bank situation. I too received this card today, but I intend to cut it up and mail it back to them via Express Mail (with tracking).
I have no intention of paying their ridiculous $178. If I do this I want to make sure that they have no intention of contacting me ever regarding the $178.
Thanks
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| | | 11 | Great One
ID: 11139517
Sun, Jun 11, 2006, 17:54
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They actually were pretty good about it and closed it with a 0 balance - make sure you call about a week after you send it in to follow up... I was worried cause I didn't have a record of when I mailed my cancellation out that they would try and stick it to me. I actually did get a letter which tacked on a late fee and finance charges (shocking!) but I called about that and they said to ignore it because it was automatically mailed out before they completed the cancellation.
I will still need to check my credit report probably next month to make sure everything is accurate and updated. They also said it will still appear as an opened and then closed account, but the balances will be 0.
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| | | 12 | Great One
ID: 11139517
Sun, Jun 11, 2006, 17:56
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And on a side note, its quite a scam they have going with all these fees! ridiculous.
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