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.
Exactly what a debit card is!
Thank you for the informative post. As I understand it, merchants factor credit card use (merchant fees) into pricing regardless of whether I individually use cash or credit. Therefore, there’s no advantage from paying cash—for me—so long as I pay the card off monthly. Credit is unfortunately the way things are going these days, but I will still use cash if the merchant prefers it. That’s getting rare.
A credit card is just a financial tool that if used correctly, can bring good rewards. I’ve never understood people that treat cc’s like free money...and get themselves in a hole.
Don’t put more on it than you can pay off at the end of the month. Never run a balance...always pay down to zero each month. Always pay on time...put on auto-bankdraft if possible. You know the drill.
We actually put both of our kid’s college tuition on the card (no fee). Racked up a ton of air miles. Our kids were also on the account...and got a boost to their credit score.
I only use a credit card for Amazon. A while back I had an unexplained charge, I hit “dispute” on my online statement with the credit card company, and that was that. They sorted it out with Amazon.
Btw: If a person used your debit card without your knowledge or authorization, your liability is protected by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which gives you the right to challenge fraudulent transactions.
Ditto this.
I only spend what I have, I pay my credit card bill in full each and every month and have never paid a dime to them in interest. I am not sure how anyone can lose track of what they have in the bank, all your bank information is there on your phone now. If it helps, simply pretend that some number other than zero is actually your zero. Figure out what you typically spend on your card each month. Then add a number on top of that for safety padding. And that’s your zero. So even if you overspend a bit, you only go into your padding a bit and never get anywhere near zero.
Yes, I spend over $10,000 a month on my credit card, but I put all my personal and business expenses on them including my utility bills and insurance.
your a good dad!
If your wife only orders from Amazon weekly, comsider yourself lucky. Mine orders daily, sometimes multiple times.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER
use a debit card.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER
have a debit card.
The merchant chargeback is probably the main reason that most merchants are so quick to refund or exchange an item for an unhappy consumer. That approach is much cheaper than getting a chargeback fee plus absorbing the cost of the contested item (which the customer keeps!). Now there is a process for the merchant to contest the chargeback and collect the price of the item from the customer but most don't bother (or they have insurance for that situation).
It's a much better process to work with the customer at point of sale to either take back or exchange the item before the credit card company gets involved.
As for those on this thread that swear by cash or debit cards - that's an outmoded way of thinking. The protection offered by credit cards make it a no-brainer to use in just about any retail purchase.
The key is to pay the balance of those credit cards every month so that you are not carrying a balance over that will cost you interest. People must have the discipline to do that by spending only within their monthly budget so that they can pay the balance off when the bill comes.
I maintain between $20,000 and $40,000 in my savings/checking accounts at all times so that is even more reason for me to never use a debit card. Should somebody get access to that, they could drain my account. Granted, most ATMs have a daily withdrawing limit but if I'm not paying attention to the balance each day, I could easily lose thousands before I notice.
If the same happened with my credit card, I'd be protected against those fraudulent charges.
Lastly, using credit cards responsibly is a great way to build a good credit rating. When my sons were younger, I had them get credit cards in their own name so that they could have the experience of learning how to properly use them and even today they are checking CreditKarma regularly to see their credit scores (both of them are well over 800 on both TransUnion and Equifax).
And neither of them have school loans to pay off!
Never use a debit card to make purchases. It does not carry the same protections as a credit card, and if you are stiffed, you won’t get your money back.
Debit cards are good for withdrawing pocket money or depositing a check at an ATM.
To get cash. Costco. AMPM because they don’t take credit cards.
I also personally don’t give a crap what you think, either.
Just got done (almost) yelling at Amazon about bait and switch on Prime.
Refund is supposed to be in process. I asked for email confirmation of refund in process. Email received.
🤣😁😜
Somebody here said my wife is a saint.
Another person said, oh you’re so lucky! Mine’s still alive.
I have to admit, that made me snicker.
I dunno - most folks I have talked to have a bank issued debit card attached to their main account(s). No way would I make my main account balances available online.
Move the majority of the money to an account and lock 🔒🔐 the card online.
You can keep a small amount in an account that has an unlocked 🔓 card and just use that when needed; besides your credit 💳 card.
Why do you shop at Amazon and feed the enemy?
It’s also expensive.
Never, ever, ever use a debit card, online.
Use a credit card or a third party payment service.
Please give us a list of FR approved shopping sites.
Thank you.
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