Messy McDonalds/Bank Situation

[blas]

....and how my cousin saved the day. Sometimes it is good to really know the manager and pull that "card".

A few Fridays ago, I was double charged at McDonalds. I always go through the drive thru. It didn't post to my account until Saturday, I saw that and said "Oh hell no!" and I couldn't call my bank's corporate number until Monday.

So that Monday, I called the corporate branch and explained that I'd only went there once that day, and I just wanted my $5 refunded.

(Those of you that think $5 is nothing to fight about.....first of all, that could be lunch money or something important for someone. Either way, it's my money and I don't want to lose it forever over a false charge)

Corporate said to go to a local branch and have them fill out a dispute form, which I did. The girl at the bank even said "Oh my, I better check my balance when I get home, I go to that McDonalds all the time!" and she said that within 7-10 days the amount should post back to my account.

Well, it got to be 7-10 days and nothing. I happened to get the mail this morning and saw a letter from my bank. A letter that said that upon investigating, there was indeed two charges from that McDonalds on that day, but the time stamps were 30 minutes apart and (don't ask how they claim to know this, it was a DRIVE thru, no pin # or ID required) my card had been present and authorized to use, so they were seen as valid charges and I was not going to be refunded. Oh, but they hoped that the time difference explained the double charge.

Yes. Because everyone who eats McDonalds twice in ONE day goes back within a HALF HOUR LATER and buys the exact same thing ALL over again.

After reading that, then I started freaking that maybe an employee wrote down my number and ordered themselves lunch with it, the exact same thing, so that it wouldn't look suspicious. No, I remember what I buy, and that I rarely eat McDonalds twice a day, let alone twice in one weekend.

I tried calling corporate again. The rep gave me the same answer as the letter and said that I needed to take it up with McDonalds if I wanted my money back, the charges were "valid".

I called my mom because I was about to break down (I know, over $5, but I HATE being insinuated that I'm a liar or a scammer) and she reminded me that my cousin is a branch manager for the banks that we are customers with, and to give her a call and explain.

So I calmed down first, then called up my cousin. She sounded pretty disgusted that they didn't believe me and they were refusing to give me back $5.

She said she'd call me back. When she did, she said that she did manage to get through to corporate and that I would be getting my money back and not have to deal with McDonalds. She said that they had gotten snippy with her about my charges being "valid" and that this was an issue now wit McDonalds, not the bank, and my cousin said "I told them, really, over $5? This is my cousin, so I know her first of all, second of all, I see on her account that almost every single Friday for the past couple of years she has gone to that same McDonalds every Friday. There is no way she went there twice in a half hour or got the exact same thing twice in a half hour." She did say that if this had been a more substantial amount (like electronics or other merchandise) they probably wouldn't have budged, but she got through to them thankfully.

I'm sure some of you are probably going to think I'm sucky because I pulled the "family" or "I know the manager" card, but it had to be done. I did not want to deal with McDonalds corporate. The last thing I want is a robot phone rep trying to kiss my butt and try to get me to back off at the same time, and I didn't want to lose it and insinuate that maybe it's possible someone stole my information. At the same time, it may have all been a huge mistake, and I know with how poorly huge corporations treat employees, I don't want to see anyone lose their job or get in serious trouble. That would not be worth it.

I'm so glad we got this figured out, but I don't trust McDonalds anymore. I did go there last Friday and paid with my debit card again, just to see if it would happen again. It didn't. But since it has happened once and it takes getting a hold of my cousin to argue with corporate to get $5 back.....I wonder if I should just pay in cash, or from this point on GO INSIDE since they have pin pads and no one else has to touch my card.....or just never go there again. The last seems a bit extreme, it could have ALL been a dumb mistake, but it also could have been a dishonest employee. Or a bad computer glitch.

[chainedbarista]

no, not sucky at all; you had a problem, they refused to fix it, despite how strange the circumstances. (i'd also think that two charges slightly apart for the exact same amount would be a bit spotty, but some people think with their ass rather than their head, so...)

sometimes (especially when you're short on cash, and i've been there myself) five dollars is a big deal; it could mean you have just enough gas to get to work or get home, can buy milk or not.

[blas]

It just seems to me that having never filed a complaint/dispute with the bank before, and it being only $5, that would not raise a red flag.

I could see someone going back to McDonalds if they forgot an apple pie or they were charged incorrectly or maybe forgot another side snack, but not a half hour later buying the exact same thing again.

There aren't time stamps on my balance online, so I didn't know about the time discrepancy until I got the letter, and my cousin was able to access that at her work. She could tell that was a legit mess up and there was no way I did that.

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

You? Sucky? Nah. You were right.
Yes, it was only $5, so what? It was YOUR $5...
(and yes, I always tend to pay cash unless there is a pin pad)

[Javarod]

There's a time stamp on every transaction, the thing is they don't show it to you, as you really don't need it unless there's a problem like this.

As to the error, since it said card present, i'd say a register glitch, probably some problem passing charges to the authorization server or a problem at the bank's end. I had a similar problem with a third party debit card*, first swipe it was declined as a debit, and i assumed i'd gotten my pin wrong, so we re-ran it as a charge. Imagine my surprise when i was charged twice, and everyone said they weren't at fault, and several hundred dollars causes some serious problems for me.


*
QT debit card supplied by Household Bank, uses EFT to process transactions.

[Jetfire]

While it's understandable to work it out through the bank and all that, I would hope you would have called the restaurant to speak to a manager to let them know of some potentially flaky financial equipment. Don't accuse anyone, just let them know there was the double charge, when and where and such.

[Andara Bledin]

Wow, your bank was definitely being sucky. My BofA would never have hassled me like that, and I've disputed charges for a whole lot more than $5.

I usually go to the merchant, first, when disputing credit card charges, though.

If you go straight to your bank and initiate a charge back, the merchant eats fees that they don't necessarily deserve. Plus, it sounds like the McDonald's had some glitch with their charge system, and it might have done that to everybody else in that half hour, too, and if nobody tells them, they won't notice until they do the audit.

My company has idiot customers who instead of calling and telling us that they've decided to cancel something and could we send them a refund will just go to their credit card provider and do a charge back. Not cool.

^-.-^

[MoonCat]

It could be the equipment. I had a triple charge once at my vet's office. The machine kept saying the card didn't go through so they kept trying, finally it went through.

Next thing I know they called me to give me a heads-up that it charged me THREE TIMES. Then my bank decided there might be something fishy going on, so they canceled my bank card (without telling me! I couldn't use an ATM for a week or so) and sent me a new card, unasked.

[PepperElf]

I'm sure some of you are probably going to think I'm sucky because I pulled the "family" or "I know the manager" card

it's your money and it was charged to your account wrongfully
getting money back that's actually owed to you is not sucky

what's sucky is that they gave you such a hard time on this.

[bainsidhe]

She could tell that was a legit mess up and there was no way I did that.

That's the thing though. She only knew it was a mess up because it didn't fit your buying/eating pattern. Everything from the transactional side of things said it was legit, and that scares me. I use my credit card for everything including both large and small purchases.

Call corporate McDs and give them the heads up. Yes this means complaining, but that's the only way they'll take it seriously. Also, I suggest calling the corporate number (800-BIGMAC7) instead of the store itself. That way there's a record of your complaint and what the complaint was. If other people start having this problem, the only way it will get fixed is if corporate sees a pattern. Don't email your complaint, it isn't as effective. And I know this because I can play the family card at McDs.

[AtDIelement]

I don't think you were sucky at all. But I can tell you from experience, bank back offices are a pain in the ass... I fight with mine about stuff like this all the time.

As a banker, I'm sorry.

[Sapphire Silk]

Nope. Definitely not sucky.

5 bucks may not seem like a lot of money until you factor in that for most people that equals nearly an hour's worth of work.

Maybe it was a glitch. But a good friend of mine recently had her debit card number swiped by a waitress at the Back Out in another town, and said waitress then went on a major shopping spree at Wallyworld. So the OP had every right to freak out. I would have to.

[KabeRinnaul]

Not a lot, but would have been a meal for me recently, when I basically had no money come in for five weeks, after regular large expenses this past year pretty much wiped out my savings (mainly dealing with car or house repairs). After bills, car repairs, paying for a long trip, a speeding ticket, and bills again managed to eat a whole week's pay each, I was down to $12 cash and $30 in the bank. An extra $5 during that stretch would have made my day.

Got a double-size paycheck this week (thanks to me not using personal paid holiday time that no one ever told me I had) that took that pressure off... mostly. For some reason my deposit on Thursday still hasn't shown up in my account and I'm still sitting at $30.

[Chromatix]

And that's precisely why Chip&Pin is rapidly becoming universal on this side of the pond. The card never leaves the customer's sight, and the PIN only authorises that single transaction (so no repeats). If it failed to go through, it'll tell you straight.

I think the way it's being encouraged is that if a retailer uses C&P, the bank takes on the liability of card fraud, but if not, the retailer has to take it on.

[blas]

It gets better.

I figured it'd be best to drop McDonalds a line, just to let them know that this happened.

I was trying it online, and every time I'd get to writing about the incident, it killed Internet Explorer. So I figured ok, I'll call corporate then.

I called, was put on hold for the next available rep, and it hung up on me.

It may be time for a McDonalds boycott.