What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
I signed a contract with a photographer in the fall of last year to photograph my wedding in this spring. I paid the lady with my debit card, in full, on the day of our meeting and signing. She used SQUARE on her phone to complete the transaction. I received a receipt from SQUARE that day and the funds were taken out of my bank account the following business day.
Come January, I receive a call from her office saying I need to sign a credit card authorization form. I tell her multiple times I have paid in full for the service, why is it necessary 3 months later. She states it is for tax purposes. I sign the PDF form and the next day I am billed for the full contract amount, again. I immediately called the photographer and she states they never received payment back in October and to file a dispute for the October transaction. I called my bank and disputed the January charge, because the October charge is beyond the 60 day law. My bank is currently investigating that charge now but I have been told by multiple bank employees me case is very solid.
I have called and emailed the photographing company and photographer herself multiple times. The one time the office called me (they mistakenly thought I was a new client) she said they could not do anything about the October transaction because they never received funds from SQUARE. She said their merchant denied it. The photographer is now fielding my calls as well. Since last weekend, the photographing office number has been disconnected. The photographer refuses to work with me or show me any of her records of the denied charge.
I tried to contact SQUARE and they can not access the companies account without their approval. But the agent said that if I received a receipt, the funds were transferred. The photographer stated today they have cancelled their account with SQUARE and can not access that information anymore...
Reading a review from a site, another user is claiming the exact thing is happening to them at this moment. At this point I feel the whole thing is a scam.
What am I to do next? Should I wait until my wedding day and file a suit for breach of contract? Should I cancel the contract and take her to small claims court? Should police be involved for something?
Thank you.
I signed a contract with a photographer in the fall of last year to photograph my wedding in this spring. I paid the lady with my debit card, in full, on the day of our meeting and signing. She used SQUARE on her phone to complete the transaction. I received a receipt from SQUARE that day and the funds were taken out of my bank account the following business day.
Come January, I receive a call from her office saying I need to sign a credit card authorization form. I tell her multiple times I have paid in full for the service, why is it necessary 3 months later. She states it is for tax purposes. I sign the PDF form and the next day I am billed for the full contract amount, again. I immediately called the photographer and she states they never received payment back in October and to file a dispute for the October transaction. I called my bank and disputed the January charge, because the October charge is beyond the 60 day law. My bank is currently investigating that charge now but I have been told by multiple bank employees me case is very solid.
I have called and emailed the photographing company and photographer herself multiple times. The one time the office called me (they mistakenly thought I was a new client) she said they could not do anything about the October transaction because they never received funds from SQUARE. She said their merchant denied it. The photographer is now fielding my calls as well. Since last weekend, the photographing office number has been disconnected. The photographer refuses to work with me or show me any of her records of the denied charge.
I tried to contact SQUARE and they can not access the companies account without their approval. But the agent said that if I received a receipt, the funds were transferred. The photographer stated today they have cancelled their account with SQUARE and can not access that information anymore...
Reading a review from a site, another user is claiming the exact thing is happening to them at this moment. At this point I feel the whole thing is a scam.
What am I to do next? Should I wait until my wedding day and file a suit for breach of contract? Should I cancel the contract and take her to small claims court? Should police be involved for something?
Thank you.