Posted on 08/26/2022 9:56:38 AM PDT by 4Runner
Three purchases made by spouse on August 18, 2022 for $54.42, 49.04, and 8.65 were double-debited to our checking account by Amazon, resulting in a $126.14 overcharge within one week, which its Customer Care Center assured us, on Saturday, August 20, would be credited back to the checking account within 3-5 days.
However, as of Friday, August 26 seven days later, no such credit had been received. (Spouse orders from Amazon on an almost weekly basis. We spend a lot of money at that site.)
A second call to Amazon just this morning resulted in an hour and fifteen minutes speaking with a male in Myanmar or Bangladesh who kept trying to verify the credentials on the account but claimed he was unable to access the debit card spouse had used for the charges as he could not obtain from me the code number he had sent to her Outlook email account.
I tried to access her email but could not, despite having both the user ID and the password. Microsoft kept telling me the user ID was invalid or too many attempts had been made to access the account. Nonsense.
We never use spouse's Outlook email account, the one we paid $69.00 for just so she could have email without pop-up ads.
Besides, AMAZON had already promised in an email to us last Saturday that the overcharges would be refunded to us. Despite this fact, Amazon apparently has different scripts for the same problem and you don't get the same response two times running.
The first Customer Service Rep last Saturday was an America woman named Chennel. The second one this morning was named David and he couldn't pronounce his own name correctly, living as he does in either Myanmar of Bangladesh.
Bottom line-- even our bank, TRUIST, was unable to access any of the charges made on spouse's debit card which is a different number than mine but both go to the same checking account.
In desperation, I told spouse she needs to stop using her debit card linked to our account at TRUIST, and we will have to open a new checking account for her at a different bank so she can have autonomous access to funds.
This is not the first problem encountered between TRUIST Bank and Amazon. Charges don't show up, items are not delivered, then charges are automatically cancelled and card is suspended and we receive fraud warnings from TRUIST Bank.
The debit card issued to me personally by TRUIST however works perfectly and I told spouse she will need to use mine until further notice. Ironically the checking account at Truist was opened in spouse's name.
This has been a nightmare, and we are now gun shy about having given Amazon access to our debit card numbers on its website.
If it is doing this on even one percent of its accounts on a daily basis that is a lot of cash money being taken from consumers without authorization, and not being refunded because people just don't want to go through this kind of hell to get their money back.
We had to contact the Fraud unit at TRUIST to file a complaint and that in itself was a nightmare call to some far eastern country. We do not know how long it will take TRUIST to get our money credited back to our account from ABSCONDIZON.
If anyone else has experienced these kinds of problems with this online retailer and your bank, please opine below, we would appreciate your suggestions/comments.
Make sure the first charge was not a hold. This is what happens if you check into a hotel with a debit card.
You should be charged the day and time the product was shipped, not when you ordered it.
Perhaps there is a screw-up at Amazon, putting a hold but not taking it off as the package was shipped.
It’s like going to the gas pump and inserting your debit card, there will be a merchant hold for said amount of dollars. Then when the correct amount is known and charged the merchant hold will be removed.
You shouldn’t be using a Debit Card Online.
You should only use Secure Credit Cards Online.
I don’t understand why anyone would use a Debit Card st anytime!
I have yet to understand the rationale behind using debit cards. A credit card offers much more protection, and you don’t have to worry about overdrafts, or worse yet, your account being cleaned out. I know someone who had their checking account cleaned out. He uses credit cards now.
I have always had the policy to never use a debit card for online purchases. Ever. If they overcharge you they have your money right out of your account, there is no credit card company with a stake in it that you can complain to about fraud and the bank doesn’t care, has no skin in the game and will just say “Can you prove it wasn’t legit? We have no way, your word against theirs” and do nothing.
I use Amazon here and there. I do not have Amazon Prime. I use a debit card but check it right away to make sure it is correct. However I noticed in the past few months its harder and herder to order without me getting an email that states: “Thanks for joining Amazon Prime!” I did no such thing. I have to get back in and cancel it. This happened to me twice already. Amazon sucks.
But you won't.
I made the mistake of getting an Amazon card (for the discount) and leaving it in the Amazon wallet.
My account was hacked (inside job) and a laptop ordered and delivered to an address I never used.
Amazon said it was ordered by phone. I had never made an order by phone.
Amazon INSISTED I had made the order. Fortunately Chase reversed the charge but I still get calls from Amazon trying to get me to pay.
This is why I never use a debit card
Be sure you did not get hacked!
Never trust anyone on the phone trying to get into your account by asking you for paswords!
This happened to me ( sounded asian; but I refused to do this over the phone,and reported it as phishing
Yep - I’m about to tell at Amazon because they lied about Amazon Prime and a “free” trial.
Told me 2 months for free and charged first month.
I have gotten several such notices…not valid purchases
I think they want you to call and inquire so they can phish your credentials
Also with PayPal
And neither will you.
I have never really understood debt cards either.
I “think” they are for people who don’t trust themselves enough to use a credit card responsibly *shrug*
I get 1000’s of dollars in cash back rewards a year from using my credit card. I think debt card people are nuts personally.
Personally I don’t care what you think.
Using a checking debit card on line?
No thank you!
you have two choices:
you can use this plastic card for all your purchases and get $0
or
you can use this plastic card to make the exact same purchases and get $1,000’s of extra dollars given to you every year.
I am sorry that you can seem to see which is the better deal, and instead attack me.
“I have gotten several such notices…not valid purchases”
This is different. They are trying to get me to pay for a hacked purchase which my credit card company declared fraudulent and reversed the charge.
1. Never put a credit card in Amazon wallet.
2. Set cc account to notify you of charges.
I use Amazon here and there. I do not have Amazon Prime. I use a debit card but check it right away to make sure it is correct. However I noticed in the past few months its harder and herder to order without me getting an email that states: “Thanks for joining Amazon Prime!” I did no such thing. I have to get back in and cancel it. This happened to me twice already. Amazon sucks.
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