Continual Erroneous Charges by one company to my ATM/Debit Card. What can I do?

[jdelerious]

What is the name of your state? Massachusetts, but the hotel was in Florida.

In early June of 2005 I booked a one-night stay at a hotel for friends on my Visa ATM/Debit Card. The hotel charged me (under $200.00), and erroneously charged me an additional $590.18. This caused my bank account to go into the negative, and I incurred some overdraft charges, which were taken care of by the bank. On July 21, 2005 I was again charged. This caused my account to again go into the negative. Again I incurred charges, and because I was nervous about using the account was did not want to make additional deposits. After assurances that this would not happen again, I was charged a third time (August 12, 2005.) This is becoming more then an annoyance. Over a two month period I have had limited access to my money, and been unable to make payment on bills such as credit cards and car payments. I am worried how this is affecting my credit rating, and how I can take legal action to be compensated for their errors, and to make sure this does not happen again.

[djohnson]

Have you contacted the hotel? What did they say? Have you contacted your bank about putting a stop on all from this merchant? What did they say?

[jdelerious]

The bank tells me to deal with the hotel directly everytime. They tell me that is the way to get my money back fastest. Otherwise the would have to reissue me a new account (and all my direct deposits and withdrawls would have to be changed.)

The hotel corrects the issue everytime, but the recharges me 3 weeks later. This being the third time, and causing these headaches, I am wondering what legal action I can threaten.

The Insufficent Funds Charges add up, it is downright embarressing, causes payments to be late, and worries me about my credit.

[wayne-o]

ask the hotel to re-imburse you for the overdraft problems since it is a continuous cycle. If they do not, file a complaint with the BBB, sometimes that makes companies take notice. As inconvenient as it is, companies make mistakes just like individuals, however, just like you have to pay for your mistakes....they should pay for theirs.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by jdelerious

The bank tells me to deal with the hotel directly everytime. They tell me that is the way to get my money back fastest. Otherwise the would have to reissue me a new account (and all my direct deposits and withdrawls would have to be changed.)

The hotel corrects the issue everytime, but the recharges me 3 weeks later. This being the third time, and causing these headaches, I am wondering what legal action I can threaten.

The Insufficent Funds Charges add up, it is downright embarressing, causes payments to be late, and worries me about my credit.

In addition to contacting the BBB, you can also inform the hotel that if this happens again, you will have your bank handle it as fraud. It will take you longer to get your money back, but the hotel could then get into legal trouble for this ongoing "error." Let them know that you're done being nice. I agree that everyone makes mistakes, but this is gross incompetence. I don't see any excuse for it.

By the way, I just want to address something that djohnson said. You cannot "stop" debit card purchases the way you could a check. Whenever you use your debit/check card it is guaranteed payment and you cannot revoke authorization. You can only have items reversed after they've hit if they are fraudulent. Just an FYI.

[djohnson]

Not sure about your bank, but I know ours can put a stop from a particular merchant that automatically flags it before going through. They reverse before it ever hits the account as to keep minimal effects as this person is having from happening.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by djohnson

Not sure about your bank, but I know ours can put a stop from a particular merchant that automatically flags it before going through. They reverse before it ever hits the account as to keep minimal effects as this person is having from happening.

Are you sure you are not confusing debit card purchases with ACH transactions? My bank is very, very large and has very high tech systems and it cannot be done.

[djohnson]

I'm positive. Not if ran as a debit, but if ran as a credit it can be stopped. As this is a hotel and OP is not there to put in the PIN number, I'm sure it is being ran as a credit. It will actually show as pending on your account before the money ever comes out. That is more opportunity for OP to try and fix it even if her bank doesn't offer stop for a merchant.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by djohnson

I'm positive. Not if ran as a debit, but if ran as a credit it can be stopped. As this is a hotel and OP is not there to put in the PIN number, I'm sure it is being ran as a credit. It will actually show as pending on your account before the money ever comes out. That is more opportunity for OP to try and fix it even if her bank doesn't offer stop for a merchant.

See that's the thing. Once your card is run through an authorization is placed on the card. At my bank it then hits the account once the actual charge is put through. Since our bank uses VISA it goes through their system and therefore there is no way to prevent it from hitting. They can only reverse it once it actually comes through. I'm guessing that this process is going to differ at each bank so the OP's bank may or may not be able to stop the transaction.

I think it's best to let it hit and then treat it as fraud. This will get the hotel to stop their errors.

[djohnson]

"The bank tells me to deal with the hotel directly everytime. "


her bank apparently isn't being much help and hoping that it will just go away.

[Veronica1228]

Originally Posted by djohnson

"The bank tells me to deal with the hotel directly everytime. "


her bank apparently isn't being much help and hoping that it will just go away.

However, if he explains the entire situation and insists that the bank handle it as fraud they must comply with Reg E. They will assist him if he pushes the issue.