Good luck. Most merchants don't have access to the information they need right away, and this requires telephoning their processor or bank, which then requires the bank to research things. My merchant processor's typical turnaround for this kind of request is 1-4 hours.

Pshaw - I am sure that the minimum wage cashier who misentered the numbers to begin with is well versed with the requisite merchant code and contact info (as well as having authority to speak with the processor on behalf of the store).

I say that because good luck getting a manager to come out and take care of that on the line.

This is another reason why you should NEVER use your debit card for bars and such.

My co-worker had the same fate when the waiter charged her card two different times (was two separate groups), which of course made her account go overdrawn.

It was quite a debacle to hear her scream over the phone with the restaurant manager and the bank over that mix up.

I just smiled and told her that this is why I don't use debit cards at bars and such.

I don't know how other banks work, but with mine if I do overdraft, I just transfer some cash from my savings to my checking while it is still listed as "Pending", which it usually does for a day or two. No overdraft, no fees.

@almightytora: which is all very well if you have credit cards.

@henrygates: Do they still pay you interest on the savings money that's sitting in your checking account, waiting to cover an invalid transaction?

@humphrmi: Probably not. But at the same time, chances are it wouldn't be a large amount of money and even if it was, that the funds wouldn't be tied up for a significant time - so you won't lose out on much (especially with interest rates what they are).

I'm lucky - my credit union just draws on savings when I overspend checking (at no fee) so I just leave checkings empty and let savings accrue as much interest (not much) as it can.

@dwneylonsr:

How can you not have credit cards, considering you can pick up preloaded ones at 7-11?

@coren: What he said.

Warning, not all of these charge errors are merchant errors. Some of the double (and triple etc) charges are actually Merchant Bank and CC provider errors

(Nah, a Merchant Bank and CC companies wouldn't make an error. /sarcasm)

Our batch statement (the consolidation of all transactions at the end of the business day) will show a single correct transaction, yet consumers are complaining about double and triple amounts being charged to the cards as duplicated (and triplicated) transactions.

These double and triple charges seem to be more common in the past 1-2 years. Not that they are "common" per se with just 7 or 8 total events for our business during that period. But even 1 event is 1 too many in my book.

In most events the Merchant Bank is correcting the error without merchant or customer involvement. The customers are seeing the error correction on their statement and letting us know that there was an error that the bank fixed the same day the event took place. We know that Merchant Bank and/or Visa/MC had to be notified of the event in two occassions and they corrected the error without Merchant involvement. In one instance the CC provider and Merchant Bank refused to process the correction on the customer's say so and required the Merchant (me) to get involved to confirm a single transaction was reported on my batch statement. In another instance the customer did a chargeback to resolve the over charge problem and the entire transaction was wiped from my books.

My suggestion, if such a double charging happens to you, is to contact the merchant immediately for assistance. If you try a chargeback, the merchant (who is not at fault for these errors) could be royally screwed in the process.

The CC companies and their minions (the Merchant Bank) tell me these double charges are some sort of computer glitch that is common place (oh wonderful). The fact that the merchant can be screwed over by a reversal is the risk of taking CCs.

@StanTheManDean:

PS: Only happening with hand swiped (in store cards). Which makes it even harder to understand how this crap is happening because our batch statement is showing only a single transaction.

PSS: It aint a specific Merchant Bank, nor the brand of terminals. Like I previously said, the MB and CC companies are confirming this is happening often enough to be considered a "common event".

@coren:

Be CAREFUL doing that! And this is bad advice for most. Regulation D is that silly rule that limits the number of transactions that can debit your savings account. Most institutions *(credit union and bank)* interpret that as being 6 withdrawls per monthly statement cycle. ATM withdrawls and those done in person at a teller do not count towards these limited 6. Many banks DO count funds transfers and overdraft transfers. If you keep ZERO in checking and the bank moves money from savings to cover you more than 6 times in a month DING you violate reg D. If you do it 3 times in a year DING they have to do something about it. Usually there are also fees involved. Fair warning! Check what kinds of transactions your bank refers to as limited on a savings account.

@StanTheManDean: This does happen occasionally at banks, as they have to post a "file" of the transactions usually involving a middle man no one sees or hears about. If, when that "file" posts, the dang thing gets run twice...whoops double charges. They have to go back and fix them. Typically if this is the case, the bank will identify all accounts effected by the anomaly and zap them back to normal.

I don't know why I've never seen this else where, but when I worked at Radio$hack, you could just VOID a transaction.

No refunds, no running the card in again. If you messed up a transaction it was voided and the charge would be instantly reversed. Do other places not have this?

@shepd: Those are prepaid cards, not credit cards. My advice? Use credit, reap the rewards pay in full each month.

With my bank's accounts debit transactions (as opposed to those done over the VISA network) are instantaneous - there is no "pending"...

In other words, if I use a PIN the money had moved at "APPROVED." If I sign a slip, there is usually a "pending" delay on the transaction.

When I worked at a secondhand store we had one of those standalone credit card terminals. We were able to credit money back if someone did debit and we overcharged them or something. I would think it's just easier to give someone the difference in cash as long as it isn't an outrageous amount of money.

@henrygates:

ING Direct works pretty well, where for overdraft protection, they just give you a credit line with pretty reasonable rates.

@trashbaby: I don't know about others, as this has been the credit union I've used since my first job years and years ago - but every purchase I've made since I was 21 I've had work this way, and I definitely have made more than six purchases a month pretty regular. I'm not sure how it works, but I know that I was told it worked that way when I got my debit card at 19, so *shrug*

@coren: Yeah, just saying.... Due Diligence. Some banks interpret it differently and don't count overdraft towards the limited withdrawals. Some (mine) definitely do :)

@trashbaby: Im almost sure its an actual program they have. I might get it free for having direct deposit, not sure

@dreams305: i had that a few places that i worked in the past but i don't think they teach it to most cashiers anymore. i've actually been at a store that had the same credit card terminal as one i had worked with in the past and got frustrated waiting in line behind a person who needed a transaction voided.
when the assistant manager handling it looked sufficiently panicked that she might take any source of guidance instead of brushing me off, i said 'it's #9, option 4, re-enter the transaction number off the receipt, re-enter the total and select confirm'

that one happens to be an easy combination, i assume it's different for different machines, but they are probably all pretty easy.

my thought on it is that they probably don't want the regular cashiers to have the option to void transactions

@almightytora: I think more people should utilize online banking. If you check your account on a regular basis you can spot things like this quickly and easily. You can even use Mint or PageOnce to have it all delivered in a feed so you know when charges are pending. Obviously this transaction wasn't a debit so she could have seen the charge pending and had it fixed before it went through.

Last time I had a transaction problem I called up Wellsfargo and The lady called up the merchant and then the merchant gave me back my 8 dollars. Took 15 minutes max. I was surprised because it took me an hour to get comcast to resend a PPV signal.

It can help if you get the merchant to admit the error in writing on their letterhead, referencing the dollar amount, date, and customer's name. Then give that to your local branch. I've been able to help several customers with this method. I fax the letter to my back office and they are able to remove the incorrect pending debit.

I've been double charged at Subway and Taco Bell. After a bit of a hassle, it was credited back to my account.

@trashbaby: Thank you for posting that. And here's what Citibank has to say about it. One point I'd like to highlight is that the 'year' mentioned below is a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year. I do like how they mention you should check your account online so as to be aware of your transactions.

I keep this information listed in my pda so as to not forget it.

"What savings and money market transactions count toward the limit?

Regulation D limits the number of certain types of transactions that you can make from your savings or money market account to six each statement period. No more than three of these may be by check. The chart below provides examples of other transactions which do-and do not-count toward the six-transaction limit.

Does this transaction in a savings or money market account... ...count toward the 6 transaction limit?

Online transfers from savings to a linked Citi account (such as checking) Yes

Outgoing online transfers made via Inter Institution Transfers or Online Wires Yes

Transfers made via CitiPhone Banking Yes

Transfers from savings to cover checking overdrafts via our Safety Check service Yes

Pre-authorized deductions by a third party Yes

Checks written from a money market account Yes

Transfers and deposits into a savings or money market account No

Withdrawals and transfers made at an ATM No

Withdrawals and transfers made in a branch via teller No

Please be aware that:

If you attempt to exceed the six-transaction limit, your seventh transaction will not be processed and you won't be able to transfer funds online until the next statement period.

If you exceed the limit three times during a rolling 12-month period, your savings or money market account will be closed. The balance will be transferred to your Citibank checking account, if you have one; if not, a check for the balance will be mailed to you.

It's important to track your savings and money market activity, which you can conveniently do online. This helps ensure that you do not unintentionally exceed the limit, which may occur if you regularly transfer money from a high yield money market account to your checking account, for example."

I just smiled and told her that this is why I don't use debit cards at bars and such.

@almightytora: You didn't point and laugh too?

Instead, try to get your bank and the merchant on the line at the same time in order to get it rectified immediately.

Assuming, of course, that the merchant won't outright refuse to talk to your bank *cough*Apple*cough*.

@nybiker: they should update their site. The regulation changed in the last 2 months or so to allow 6 checks instead of 3. Not that very many people write checks off savings.

@nybiker: I'm confused... they say they prevent you from going over 6 by denying the transaction. How can you violate the regulation 3 times then?

@almightytora: And we could have just as many people say you should NEVER use credit cards because you're dumb giving cc companies 30% interest, and you are just as protected using debit cards by Visa merchant rules etc. Dave Ramsey disagrees with you too.
[www.daveramsey.com]

@Rectilinear Propagation: That's usually when I ask them to get the legal department on the line and mention the attorney general and fraud, and the analyst could personally be named in the suit, among other things.