Spitting Out Spiders ([info]1madgirl) wrote in [info]damnportlanders,
@ 2007-09-24 14:57:00
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Healthy Pets NW customers, beware!
So: Healthy Pets Northwest on Alberta had some kind of issue with their credit card machine that caused them to lose some information. In response, they recharged everyone who came in during the time in question.

So: If you went into this pet store during the week of August 10th, you may want to check your bank statement, as a "mystery charge" may have suddenly appeared.

In spite of their claim that the charges for this week "didn't go through" my bank statement tells another story. Now I have to go into their store with my bank statements to prove that I've already paid. Nice.

While I've had a good experience with this pet store up until this point, their customer service has been shit for this issue. The asshole I spoke with said that there had been "a number of calls" about this issue all day, the response I got was one as if it were a customer failure - not the failure of the business. If I were unable to physically come to the store, my only other option for resolving the issue would be "mailing in your bank statements". Yikes.

Consider yourselves warned.

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[info]patagonia
2007-09-24 10:10 pm UTC (link)
I think you can also dispute the charge with your bank, tell them you didn't authorize the transaction.

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tried that
[info]1madgirl
2007-09-24 10:12 pm UTC (link)
they sent me to the store.

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Re: tried that
[info]littlebluedog
2007-09-24 10:27 pm UTC (link)
That's odd; I've never heard of a bank requiring the customer to visit the vendor in order to dispute a charge -- especially in a case where there are duplicate charges. Maybe I've been lucky with mine, because I never have to take care of anything beyond identifying a charge as unauthorized or erroneous.

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Re: tried that
[info]nexusvt100
2007-09-24 11:11 pm UTC (link)
a lot of them try to tell you to try to resolve it with the store first, since it affects your credit score I hear.

Also, one of the charges may not have actually gone through. It may be a temporary auth holds. I worked at a billing call centre once that had that problem. If the address didn't match then our systems would cancel the order. The order would still show on their bank statements because the bank approved the order. But it wouldn't go all the way through until the merchant submits the authorization code that was generated for payment. Most banks drop the auth holds after 72 business hours.

You might want to call your bank and ask them whether both charges have been submitted for payment or whether one is "pending".

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Re: tried that
[info]littlebluedog
2007-09-24 11:37 pm UTC (link)
Reporting an unauthorized charge affects your credit score? I can see how repeated instances of claiming charges are unauthorized would raise a red flag, especially if some of the claims turned out to be false, but otherwise, I don't see why someone else's error should negatively impact your own credit rating. But then again, a lot of that stuff doesn't make sense to me.

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Re: tried that
[info]nexusvt100
2007-09-24 11:47 pm UTC (link)
No, but disputing the charge with your bank does. At least as far as I know. I haven't worked in a bank, but I had to deal with a lot of these at my last job. It might not be all the time, or it might just be after a certain amount. dunno. but i've been yelled at because people have disputed charges and then blamed the company I worked for as hurting their credit score.

*shrug*

I'd definitely ask the bank before following through on a dispute.

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Re: tried that
[info]1madgirl
2007-09-26 06:53 am UTC (link)
see, that's part of why the issue was so frustrating: the original charge went through on August 10th. The second charge went through two days ago. So the old, original charge was not pending - it was accepted, plain and simple. They apparently were having some kind of issue with the credit card company, and instead of investigating, they decided to run ALL of the charges from that week again.

Even better: I went in to have the money returned to my account. She ran it through the machine and handed me a receipt, indicating money would be returned. She said it would happen 24 hours later. Guess what? It still hasn't been returned.

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Re: tried that
[info]dave256
2007-09-24 10:34 pm UTC (link)
Um. Which bank?

Also, you have to use the magic banking industry lingo: "This is an unauthorized charge."

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Re: tried that
[info]1madgirl
2007-09-26 06:50 am UTC (link)
I did use the magic bank industry lingo. They still informed me that I should take it up with the store first, and then if I failed later, to file an unauthorized charge claim. It's On Point credit union.

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[info]reel_around
2007-09-25 02:17 am UTC (link)
You may want to report them to the Better Business Bureau. I got a positive once response doing that. I don't know how much clout they have anymore.

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[info]pdx_girl
2007-09-26 05:48 am UTC (link)
They are a great store, and I find it really odd that you got the answer you did...did you talk to one of the owners/managers? If not, I would ask to talk to them - but! you can dispute the charge with your bank and it shouldn't affect your credit. I've never heard of such a thing.

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strange
[info]1madgirl
2007-09-26 06:46 am UTC (link)
I didn't mention anything in this message about it effecting my credit. They charged the account twice, and therefore took double the amount of money they should have.

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Re: strange
[info]pdx_girl
2007-09-26 06:49 am UTC (link)
re: the credit report -- just commenting on what others were saying. Talk to the manager, I think she would be happy to help.

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Re: strange
[info]1madgirl
2007-09-26 06:56 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I read through the whole posting and you comment suddenly computed. I don't think the girl I spoke with was the manager - she was amazingly unprofessional. I've always had good experiences at that store as well, which is part of why what happened was so shocking to me. She told me that she'd been getting calls "all day" but still had this attitude of it being the customer's problem. I should have asked to speak to a manager immediately.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: strange
[info]pdx_girl
2007-09-26 07:08 am UTC (link)
I think they should know that their employee was being that way.

I have even had them take back cat food that my cat wouldn't eat. They've been great, I hope they come through for you!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]pdx_girl
2007-09-27 03:18 am UTC (link)
Guess what? Today I found on my bank account a charge, same situation. Knowing what you'd been through, I called the store and talked to Laura, who is one of the owners. She was very gracious and told me what had happened, assured me that she had handled the refund herself yesterday, and that I should see it in my account in 24-48 hours. I told her about the LiveJournal post, even.

Sometimes OnPoint takes awhile to credit. I would give it another day - mine hasn't shown up yet and I've got Wells Fargo. If you have any other problems, please call and talk to Laura Amiton. They are COMPLETELY willing to take responsibility and make it right. I know that in this day/age, its more likely to be fraud than an honest mistake, but this particular case is different. Give them a chance. They are a great store.

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