Debit Card Help

[bigruss]

So I am new to all this "real" world crap and I have a question for all you experienced people out there. I have a debit card and took my dad out for dinner after he drove me back to college. Of course I paid with the debit card at the pizzeria. But the place keeps charging me the original amount and then an additional amount thats close to but different then the amount I was supposed to be charged. I called TCF Bank and they canceled it the first time saying that maybe it was just a mistake and if so the merchant wont charge me again. Two days later here I am with another charge on my account, this time for even more money. Do I call the merchant? Do I call back TCF (its a Visa card, but no Visa number is given on the card). Thanks in advance for the help.

[Soxbadger]

Call the bank who issued your debit card and call the pizzeria.

 

In the future if you want to be safe, use a credit card. With a credit card you can call your credit card company and they almost always immediately reverse the charges and begin to deal with the dispute for you.

 

Debit card is slightly different and often times it can be much harder to get the money back as the money is already gone from the account.

 

You need to notify your bank asap so that all future charges may be stopped.

[bigruss]

Call the bank who issued your debit card and call the pizzeria.

 

In the future if you want to be safe, use a credit card. With a credit card you can call your credit card company and they almost always immediately reverse the charges and begin to deal with the dispute for you.

 

Debit card is slightly different and often times it can be much harder to get the money back as the money is already gone from the account.

 

You need to notify your bank asap so that all future charges may be stopped.

I had just set a credit card, and have used my debit card alot before that so it was more of just ordinary practice for me since I never had a problem before, but looks like I need to switch my ways.

[Soxbadger]

Yeah and then one time youll accidentally put your credit card in the atm and youll get money, but itll be at a huge interest rate.

 

Good luck, just make sure to stay on top of it. Persistence usually pays off.

[knightni]

Some systems do an authorization, then a charge, so it temporarily shows two charges. Especially if you wrote in a tip on your receipt.

 

Say your total was $32.87:

 

They'd authorize $32.87, have you sign your receipt.

You add in $6.13 for a tip, they charge your card $39.00.

 

So, some banks will temporarily, (for 7 to 21 days) have your debit card show the authorization of $32.87 and the charge of $39, both.

 

 

[bigruss]

Yeah and then one time youll accidentally put your credit card in the atm and youll get money, but itll be at a huge interest rate.

 

Good luck, just make sure to stay on top of it. Persistence usually pays off.

Alright, thanks for the heads up.

[nitetrain8601]

Did all the charges already post?

 

Also keep in mind, there can be a delay from the authorization and request of funds. For example, you go swipe your debit card for $20 at the pizza joint. They send through an authorization(aka a pre-authorization) and that's when you may or may not see(depending on your back) the item pending. Then when the pizza joint requests the funds, it posts. Now what any place of business could do(the sheisty ones usually do this), is they'll retroact a request of funds to the original authorization date. So even if your card is cancelled, they keep debiting the account, because the bank reads it as an item coming through before the card was cancelled as the computer system itself can't read it is fraud. Then you end up with a bunch of charges. I see this all the time with car rental companies.

 

File a Reg E dispute. The bank will fight back and prosecute that company for their money. It is way easier if you just call up the company and ask for a credit since a dispute takes much longer than a credit back into the account.

[Steve9347]

Russ,

 

You really have to wait until charges are posted to your account. I love my online banking and the instant results, but they won't always be accurate. As long as something says "pending" you might as well wait it out (unless you know it's wrong). The pending charges hang for awhile and when they get processed can be different (with restaurant purchases).

 

Say you order a pizza and wings online. The moment you submit the order the charge (let's say $19.00) will show up as pending on your account. Then the pizza place calls and says their fryer is down, so they can't do wings, they redo the total, cancel the original $19.00 order and put in the $13 order or whatever. Your bank account for a few days will show.

 

Pending 01/19/09: Steve's Awesome Pizza Joint: $13.00

Pending 01/19/09: Steve's Awesome Pizza Joint: $19.00

 

However, after a couple of days, the total charge (including tip if you're not a jackass!) will show up for the lower charge. And the original will be gone completely.

 

01/19/09: Steve's Awesome Pizza Joint: $14.50

 

 

With restaurants, it's best to wait until after a charge has cleared before worrying. Always be on top of your online account though.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Steve9347

[lostfan]

If you ever notice, it also does something like this at the gas station. Initially it'll just do a generic authorization on your account for $1.00 or something even though your tank of gas was, say, $32.26. But it won't show the $32.26 for several days, it'll just have the gas station saying you paid $1.00 for gas. But a couple of days later, when it's all finalized and updated, it shows the correct amounts.

[knightni]

If you ever notice, it also does something like this at the gas station. Initially it'll just do a generic authorization on your account for $1.00 or something even though your tank of gas was, say, $32.26. But it won't show the $32.26 for several days, it'll just have the gas station saying you paid $1.00 for gas. But a couple of days later, when it's all finalized and updated, it shows the correct amounts.

Sometimes, when you pay at the pump, they authorize $50-60 on your card, then charge the actual purchase amount on top of it.

[Soxbadger]

Its better to report and be wrong, than wait and report outside of the time period allowed and be stuck with the charge.

 

Usually it works out, but its always better to be safe and say "I see some strange charges, Im just not sure."

 

 

[lostfan]

Sometimes, when you pay at the pump, they authorize $50-60 on your card, then charge the actual purchase amount on top of it.

Yeah I've had that happen before too. The $50-60 goes away the next day or day after though.

[knightni]

Yeah I've had that happen before too. The $50-60 goes away the next day or day after though.

Yeah, but if you're the type that the extra $60 could overdraw your account, it's an issue.

[Kyyle23]

Basically everyone who said "Wait until it posts" is correct. First off, a dispute cannot be filed until a charge posts because the pending charges change so much. I have seen people try and claim fraud and/or dispute hotel charges on their credit cards because hotels usually authorize the entire amount of the stay and half again(to protect themselves against damages) and people FREAK out when they see the charge hit their online bill.

 

Also, sometimes the console(the machine you swipe a card on) has problems and will send multiple authorizations just because of a glitch(hardware, software, connection to network, etc). If you are double billed, over billed or dont recieve service or product for any transaction, you have dispute rights. If you are pissed because you didnt get what you thought you were getting, most likely the merchant will push back and then you are going through a whole world of "pain in the ass" that you dont want.

 

And I cannot be any more thorough about what I am about to say:

 

If you see a charge applied to your account that you did NOT do, or if your bank calls and asks you about a charge that you know you did NOT do, CLAIM FRAUD ON THE CHARGE AND CLOSE YOUR CARD. No matter how small the charge is. The small authorizations that "arent a big deal" are the precursors to the big charges. They are testing your card out to see it works. Dont b*tch and moan because you cannot use your card for a few days, just do it. I have seen countless people who have duped our customer service into releasing fraud holds on accounts because test charges "arent worth their time" or "arent a big deal", only to call us back a few weeks later when John Smith in California ran up their card at Walmart/Target/Best Buy etc. It happens. Every time. These guys that hacked into the heartland payment processing company know what they are doing, and they will continue to find different ways to do it.

[nitetrain8601]

I was going to add with gas stations, I've seen pre-authorization amounts of $150. Also, Hotels, Airlines and even doctor's offices for the most part use pre-authorizations. As far as receiving OD fees as a result of pending cash you didn't spend, the bank shouldn't hit you with any as the system should always read your current balance as your final balance before deciding if it wants to charge you a fee. If a bank does it otherwise, I would probably switch banks.

 

ALSO>>

 

A data breach disclosed today by Heartland Payment Systems Inc. may well displace TJX Companies Inc.'s January 2007 breach in the record books as the largest ever involving payment data with potentially over 100 million cards being compromised.

 

http://www.computerworld.com/action/articl...rc=news_ts_head

 

If not you, then probably your neighbor. Oh yeah, go to 2008breach.com people. Smart people are getting desperate.

Edited January 23, 2009 by nitetrain8601

[SnB]

i get about 10 phone calls about this a day.

 

At hertz, we put a $200 authorization on a card, plus the rental.

 

(there are ALOT of poor people that rent cars)

[greasywheels121]

i get about 10 phone calls about this a day.

 

At hertz, we put a $200 authorization on a card, plus the rental.

 

(there are ALOT of poor people that rent cars)

 

Sounds familiar...

[LosMediasBlancas]

I find myself going back to cash. It's easier to keep track of how much I'm spending. Handing someone a plastic card is much easier than handing someone a hundred dollar bill. It keeps my spending in check.

[Kyyle23]

I find myself going back to cash. It's easier to keep track of how much I'm spending. Handing someone a plastic card is much easier than handing someone a hundred dollar bill. It keeps my spending in check.

 

You get to a point in your adult life where it just doesnt work like that any more

[Steve9347]

I find myself going back to cash. It's easier to keep track of how much I'm spending. Handing someone a plastic card is much easier than handing someone a hundred dollar bill. It keeps my spending in check.

I'm the exact opposite. If I have cash, it's gone.

[knightni]

What's it like?

Having a $100 bill?

[LosMediasBlancas]

You get to a point in your adult life where it just doesnt work like that any more

 

Thx Dad. ;)

[Kyyle23]

Thx Dad. ;)

 

LOL, I tried as hard as I could to avoid things like cells and credit cards and all of the little amenities that people have now. It just didnt work

[knightni]

You get to a point in your adult life where it just doesnt work like that any more