I don't know if this is a common scam?

[Raveni]

At C-Store, the most common thing that happened was that a customer was charged a hold by their bank and then charged when the transaction completed (happens a lot with gas sales and any kind of refund). Their bank wouldn't remove the hold until they opened on the next business day. So it would look like we double-charged them if they looked at their account online.

This happened quite often considering the C-Store was open 24/7, so if it happened on Friday night, the customer had to wait until Monday morning to get their money back. No amount of explaining that it was their bank that would have to fix it would help.

[Ghel]

I've been double charged before, it's best to start with the bank instead of the store/restaurant first.

On the one hand, yes, the bank can tell you whether you've been double charged and by whom. On the other hand, many banks (like mine) will insist that you try to resolve it with the merchant first, and only if that fails can we process a dispute. As I understand it, this is part of Visa's requirements for handling a dispute. (Our debit cards are Visa-branded.)

Also, pre-authorizations are done by merchants. When the final payment is processed by the merchant, it's supposed to clear off the pre-auth. But sometimes it doesn't. I see this most often with restaurants, where the final amount is different than the pre-auth. New regulations (in the US, at least) will fine merchants for improper processing that leads to pre-auths not clearing when the payment goes through. I don't know if this will help reduce errors, though.

Excuse me if this seems ranty. Credit and debit card transactions can be a pain in the butt.

[vloglady]

I was in the New Hampshire Liquor store buying about $33 worth of booze. In the middle of my transaction, the register went blank. We had to switch registers, but the manager assured me I would only be charged once. signed one receipt.

Next month, my statement showed two transactions. Called, the manager remembered and adjusted it. But the hassle....

[blas]

I was only double charged $5.something at McDonalds. I went to the bank first, they disputed and told me I lied, but I went over their head and got my cousin the manager to ream them for me and get my money back.

But that double charge had me wondering if it was truly a double swipe, or if someone stole my number.

Regardless, if I use a drive thru, after what happened with my debit card in February, I NEVER use my card anymore. If I can't see my card being swiped, you can't have it. Hate to treat everyone like a thief, but I'm better safe than sorry.

[Kristev]

Isn't cash terrific?

[bankworking]

On the one hand, yes, the bank can tell you whether you've been double charged and by whom. On the other hand, many banks (like mine) will insist that you try to resolve it with the merchant first, and only if that fails can we process a dispute. As I understand it, this is part of Visa's requirements for handling a dispute. (Our debit cards are Visa-branded.)

Also, pre-authorizations are done by merchants. When the final payment is processed by the merchant, it's supposed to clear off the pre-auth. But sometimes it doesn't. I see this most often with restaurants, where the final amount is different than the pre-auth. New regulations (in the US, at least) will fine merchants for improper processing that leads to pre-auths not clearing when the payment goes through. I don't know if this will help reduce errors, though.

Excuse me if this seems ranty. Credit and debit card transactions can be a pain in the butt.

My bank is the same on disputes. Customer has to at least try to resolve with the merchant first when it appears to be a merchant error.

Sometimes the account will look like it's going to double charge because there is a double pre-authorization, but payment is only processed for one of the charges. Each pre-auth puts a pending hold on the account. So, the first hold is released by the actual payment, while the second hold stays on for a time while the system is waiting for a second payment to process. So the customer could legitimately think they are being charged twice, even though the merchant only processed the actual payment once.

As Ghel noted, credit transactions are a pain.

[Chromatix]

Financial systems have far too many WTFs for my liking. My least favourite is the cheques that are confirmed cleared within a few days, but then get reversed weeks later because they bounced but the bank took that long to notice.

[bankworking]

Financial systems have far too many WTFs for my liking. My least favourite is the cheques that are confirmed cleared within a few days, but then get reversed weeks later because they bounced but the bank took that long to notice.

That's because they aren't really confirmed as cleared. Regulations put a max time of how long a check can be held without clear reason to suspect it is going to be returned. So, the hold release means nothing most of the time, just that the bank has not been informed within the time limit that the check will bounce.

If my bank does a check hold, we do it for the max time: 7 business days on new accounts. On longer-existing accounts, $200 clears the next business day, $4800 in two business days, and any amount over that first $5000 in seven business days. We've a fraud check program that will allow us to put the entire check on the seven business day hold if it triggers a fraud warning (or to refuse the check entirely, which we do if a few questions to the customer make it obvious that it is a scam).

Even if a customer wants me to, I have no way of telling if a check has ACTUALLY cleared unless I call up the issuing bank and they are willing to tell me (they will for cashier's checks... mostly). That stinks, far as I'm concerned. Would think we'd have some sort of system that would tell us when we've been paid for a check instead of just letting us know when/if the check is rejected.

[ShootMePlease]

That happened to me once at Taco Bell. I was charged twice because the card didn't scan through properly. I went back the next day and the manager was going to give me a refund. I declined the refund and said I would wait a couple of days to see if the extra charge goes away. I was refunded the next day.

I would have felt terrible accepting a refund without waiting first. To me, that's stealing. But, I'm sure other folks have no qualms about doing that