A Vancouver man says he was overcharged by Taco Bell — costing him hundreds of dollars in fees. The man used his debit card to buy $15 worth of Taco Bell for his family. The receipt read the correct amount, and he says he didn’t notice that his card had been debited $150 until he started receiving overdraft fees for each item he bought after Taco Bell.
“We had it all budgeted out,” the customer told the local news. “We know exactly how much we spend. That knocked us in the hole.”
Soon, over $400 in fees had piled up.
“A $5 coffee was like $40 with the fee,” he said. “So every little thing we bought, it knocked us back $37 even further.”
Taco Bell refunded the $150 it mistakenly debited, but has so far refused to pay the 11 overdraft charges its mistake caused. It’s apparently still investigating and has not made a final decision.
UPDATE: Taco Bell just wrote us with some more information about how the story ended.
Our franchisee realized that his employee made an honest mistake keying in the amount, and immediately refunded the original $151.46 to the customers account. Here’s the part that the news coverage didn’t include: as soon as the franchisee learned about the overdraft charges on Friday, he paid for all 11 of them in full. In fact, he discovered that the bank would not clear the original $151.46 for at least seven days, so provided the customer with a check for the original amount.
Good work, Taco People.
Man Says Taco Bell Error Cost Him $400 [FOX 12]
(Photo:Morton Fox)
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After enjoying a starbucks drip coffee that ended up costing me 32 dollars, (when a check I forgot about was cashed) I’ve stepped away from my debit card
Cash for these kinds of purchases is the only thing that makes sense to me now.
The receipt is a contract, if it says $15 on it and he got charge $150 then he can easily take them to the cleaners. If it says $150 on the receipt, yes he agreed and its a contract but then there comes discrimination, etc.. into play. You guys are over thinking it.
Alas reply is still broken…
I do think that snow moon shouldn’t be judging someone else’s lifestyle or requirements. But, the first bit was actually good advice. With all the data breaches, stolen credit card numbers, and accidental overcharges, using a credit card actually makes sense.
In that regard, it gives you more time to fix the issue and your own money isn’t on the hook till it is taken care of. Remember I am not blaming for all those blame pointers. But if the OP had used a credit card, this matter would have become much more simplified than it has currently become. Can anyone actually deny that? I do understand that option isn’t available to everyone, and the cash option might be a good avenue to think about.
If I do remember correctly though, Taco Bell, at least some of them, still uses the old pad system to enter the amount of the credit card transaction rather than the computer doing the whole action. All it would take is one stuck key or a slippery finger to screw it up.
There still needs to be some real reform to the credit card system. I am not just the credit card companies themselves, but the processing system as well. There is nothing uniform about it, no official standard of processing, and no real security. When all it takes is a credit card and a signed slipped to use a card, that isn’t security in the latest. Now if the signature was compared with say, one you have on file and shown to be yours, it would be meaningful.
In respect to how Taco Bell is handling it. If you had shown a printed online statement, that should be sufficient, otherwise they are just trying to not take responsibility.
Yes, both debit cards and credit cards have the potential for “extra” fees if you go over your limit. The solution to that? Stop at your ATM before you eat/drink/shop and take out what you need for the next few transactions, $20, $40, $60, etc. Then only spend what you already budgeted for. If you are that tightly budgeted that you can’t afford anyone (let alone an idiot fast food worker) to make an error that will result in ‘extra’ fees, then you should rely on yourself to keep to your budget with cash.
And please, I’ve not heard of anyone being “pick-pocketed” for their cash in the US in ages.
@Jevia: Pick-pocketing is a reality in some places. Real nuisance here.
I’ve never understood why companies refuse to pay back the overdraft fees, especially when the amount they mistakenly take is significant. Had they accidentally taken $18 instead of $15, I can see them resisting. But $135 extra is certainly enough to make it foreseeable that the customer would potentially encounter overdraft fees. In the legal sense, you’re generally only responsible for damages that are reasonably foreseeable; in this case, it’s clearly reasonably foreseeable that the customer would encounter overdraft fees if you take an extra $135 from them.
While there are seemingly valid arguments about using a debit card, not being poor, etc., they don’t seem to excuse Taco Bell from being obligated to take care of overdraft fees that they caused. They could have reasonably foreseen the fees at the time they processed the transaction, and any potentially poor judgment on their part doesn’t change that.
1) Wh ctlly ss thr Dbt/CC. Ths s xctly th srt f sttn tht cn b vdd wth prpr s f CC r csh.
2) Th dffrnc btwn $15 nd $150 shld nt pt y nt vrdrft. f y lv tht cls t yr mrgns y cn’t ffrd yr crrnt lfstyl n mttr hw y jstfy t.
@snowmoon: Why should you judge how people handle their checking account? It could very well be a college student who only uses said account for food or they could put every extra cent in their savings account or it could be an account like my fiance and I share for just joint expenses (mainly food) we never put more than 200 in there at a time. We use it for food and when we go out to eat. This way its easier to buy groceries since I am usually the one buying them.
@gaya2081: seriously!! I only keep enough $$ in my checking account to cover what I plan on spending. Everything else goes into savings. And my bank charges the OD fee even if my checking is linked to savings for OD purposes, so I refused that option.
@snowmoon: Blaming the OP much? They use a particular system to control their spending, so they’ve probably got money tightly budgeted into separate accounts. This was probably their discretionary money, so no, they’re not living above their means. As for your first point, maybe they don’t have enough credit history to get a card with a high enough limit to be useful, and maybe they don’t want to carry around cash and would rather just use a debit card (and maybe their debit card has a rewards program, like mine does). Remember, even with the $50 liability when your debit card is used fraudulently, it’s still better than when *all* of your cash is stolen.
@snowmoon: Nobody cares what you think of the OP’s lifestyle. The error was Taco Bell’s, not his. Period.
@snowmoon: Yes, I was harsh and should not make assumptions.
OTOH, the issue is still there. Using debt cards and having a low balance is a recipe for disaster. It was not a matter of if he got caught with his balance down, but when. This time it was an error on TB’s part, next time it may be that temporary transaction that didn’t clear in time, or some new.
@snowmoon: That’s all well and good, but the error is still not with the customer. Or would you like to pad the accounts of everyone who doesn’t have the $150 to spare? I have a chequing account I use almost solely for game subscriptions that only has an extra $30 in it. Where’s the cutoff for wiggle room? If I’m buying a few tacos for a meal, no, I should not have to anticipate needing an extra $150 above the cost of my meal available right then.
@snowmoon: Not everyone can get a credit card, especially these days. Some CC companies have stopped issuing any new accounts regardless of credit history or income level. Debit cards are fine as long as proper protections are done (we need perhaps a few more laws to fully protect them and their users). Businesses need to be held fully accountable for their errors, and the exposures to errors caused by their inappropriate cost cutting (such as by not having the card charging mechanism automatically filled in by the cash register).
Stop picking on the OP! Hey I’ve been there, and I feel bad for this guy.
I’ve had overdraft fees that were my fault, because of a stupid error, and pretty soon it doesn’t matter. The bank just keeps on helping themselves and hoping you didn’t notice.
However, if you’re on good terms with the bank manager and if you explain that it’s not your fault, and if you ask nicely . . . sometimes they can make the overdraft fees go away. It wouldn’t hurt to try.
Wow, I would say the bank should be at fault here. Doesn’t $400 in fees seem high to anyone? Go to the bank, they are the one leveling the fees.
Reading the comments in the linked article, it looks like the OP was able to get all the overdraft fees paid by Taco Bell. Good for him – I would have hauled TB into small claims court, had they not made good on the fees their erroneous charge catalyzed. It’s one thing to be careless about spending, and then complain because a bank has a particular way of accounting for credits/debits. This guy was meticulous about his spending and got the shaft through no fault of his own.
And really, this isn’t about the amount of the money OP had in the account. The business that is responsible for the error should do whatever is necessary to make the erroneously charged person whole again. In this case, it means paying the bank fees, which apparently TB did do. Good for them.
What’s the name of the bank? That’s the real story. They should be getting the negative consumerist press.
Run for the border…
The EFTA is governing here. The cardholder has to timely report the unauthorized charge (generally 60 days after his statement date). The charge will be reversed, and his bank should reverse any service charges incurred because of the the unauthorized charge.
This is not uncommon and the bank should have no problem doing this. The cardholder need not deal with Taco Bell at all. If Taco Bell wants to submit a correct charge they may, but frankly they probably will not.
It would have been wise to check the receipt before leaving the restaurant, but obviously the student knows that now.
State regulations and laws may be more strict than the EFTA. The EFTA ( and your states UCC) are freely available at authoratative government websites.
This is not legal advice, if you require legal advice seek competent counsel.
From my days working at “Big Bank” – something like this should be disputed at the bank as a merchant error, unless Taco Bell decided to correct this on their own after finding the mistake. If the bank corrected the error the bank would reverse the resulting overdraft fees. However, the way (most) banks look at it is that if the merchant corrects the error – the bank will claim that the merchant should refund the bank fees, and the merchant will say the bank should refund the fees. If the merchant already corrected it, it looks like a random credit. You might qualify for 1-2 fees reversed as a bank courtesy…it’s a bad deal. It’s stupid bank policy for you. I’m sure fees can be refunded with a bunch of hassle but it’s easier just to go to the bank rather than calling the merchant about an error
My experience with both my former mega bank and my credit union is that after the refund is process to show that the charge is in error that they will refund the fees.
Simple. Has this guy even asked the bank whom was unjustly enriched by Taco Bell’s mistake? Why should Taco Bell cough up when the bank ended up with the money.
Overdraft fees are really brutal every penny (small individual purchases) you go under they can get you for 35 bucks. At least that’s how my bank works.
A debit card that connects to your household bills account is a stupid thing to carry. Not withstanding all the other points made about legality, contracts and so forth, this sort of thing is a hassle and invariably chews up chunks of your time if nothing else. In addition, while you may be able to talk the bank into reversing some fees, some companies may shaft you without recourse for the blown payments caused by the overdrafts from the first overdraft, whatever the cause.
If cash bothers you that much, open a separate account for using the debit card, and transfer money to it. This is what I have done. In the event of something doing odd stuff to the card, my household payments cannot be affected.
Even with the debit card accounts, for me plastic is still strictly for remote payments, planned purchases where cash is not practical, and “Oops! I ran out of cash” moments.
This may get me in some trouble with the staff, but if you use a debit card on your household account, you are partially at fault for the situation even when someone else screws up. To that degree, I will blame all posters who have non-debit payments bounce because of a debit card error. You know errors are going to happen, so why risk an expense chain that may not be fully recoverable?
I don’t know if someone has mentioned it yet, but even if they have I would reiterate. If I am reading this right, I think they deserve extra kudos because they did this right away, not in response to bad press.
No matter how much money he had in his account he went in there with his family to get food at $15 not $150 plain and simple. If he doesn’t get his money bank, small claims court will clear this up, there mistake cost him more money in the end.