credit card

[murdock]

i got caught last week were i filled up my vehicle with petrol...typed in my pin number and got double debited...but changed the cents...i thought no problem i contact the credit card company (bank) which i did this morning...to be told that the bank cannot stop the amount from being taking off my account...i have to go to the company which debited my card and claim the money back from that company...

so i decide dto ask a few more question...about how secure my credit card really is with the bank...i was told that if the company i purchase the goods from decided not to refund the money...i have no claim against the bank i have to go to the police station and open a case...now here is the problem this service station where i purchased the fuel from has already been nailed for this type dodgy credit card fraud.

what is even worse...when i contacted my wife to warn her about this issus she indicated that her boss had just been nailed with the same problem at a service station just further down the road.

so the next time you fill up with fuel best you check your credit card statement within 5 days...or better still dont use your credit card to fill up with petrol.

[murdock]

an update...i went to the garage to sort out this issue....now here is the problem...when you read stuff on the internet or newspaper...you remember only the part that seems relevant...fraud...card skimming etc etc...but may not read the whole article...so you remember the name of the company and the problem...and may not read all the facts...it was interesting to hear their side of the story in fact the garage was not even the problem...yet it cost them a fair amount of money in losses...

i am not gona mention the name of the garage...but i will be filling up their in future...now that i have met the people who you will need to deal with if you have a problem...i was pleasantly surprised...and feel confident there will not be a problem.

i will however be reducing my credit card limit to a much smaller amount...after the discussion with the bank...it is just tooo easy for people to take money out of your account...if they know what they are doing...and the banks attitude is sorry mate it not our problem...go sort it out with the person you purchaced from.

[Blurock]

Using your credit card or even a garage card to pay for fuel can be very expensive. On a credit card you do not get the interest free period on fuel purchases. South Africa has a stupid law that prevents you from buying fuel on credit. This benefits only the banks as they now charge you interest on your fuel purchase from day one. We all know how expensive credit card interest is. Linked to the card fee, this can be crippling.

Paying by debit card or cheque card will take the money out of your account immediately, but the fees are less and you do not pay any interest, or you pay less interest if you are on overdraft.

[IanF]

Murdock
Don't leave us in suspense did you put your pin in twice? If the fraud did not happen at the garage where did it happen?

[murdock]

ian...i just got double debited...the fraud was an article i read in the newspaper (actually card skimming)...which by the way was cleared up and was not the garage who were guilty...as indicated by management at the garage...the first thing that went thru my head when i say the double debit...was damn i knew i shouldnt have used that garage...but in fact after my visit to management today...has changed my view on the garage and will certainly feel a lot more confident using my card there in the future.

i only typed in my pin once...but for some reason my card was swiped twice...because the money hasnt been paid to the garage yet...i cannot be refunded and according to the bank i have to wait 5 days for it to clear off their system...before it will become available again...or put more money into the credit card.

as i mentioned it is just tooo risky having a credit card with a huge amount available...so i plan on reducing my credit card limit to R500 and will only put in the money i need...which in turn should save me money...in fact make me money because it will be in a credit balance...so who knows maybe the interest will cover the R20 month service fee...i can dream.

[Just Gone]

I think I see the problem here ..............................

as i mentioned it is just tooo risky having a credit card with a huge amount available

You just have too much money .........................

[IanF]

Wow this is fishy. First surely the bank knows where the funds have gone to which account. Also the merchant should keep each slip run through the machine. So if it went to a different merchant then the bank should reverse that as fraud, if it went to the same merchant then they should refund you. I would change the PIN if it was me. On our machine we have to keep all slips but have only been asked for a copy once.
Anyway keep us informed.

[tec0]

At ABSA I had an interesting problem. I have two accounts with them. Regardless of the fact that your old bank cards "without the shiny chip" are easily cloned they refused to give me the new card with advanced safety. So I phoned them and state for the record that I asked for a safer card and that they ABSA refused! Thus if my card gets cloned for any reason I WILL KEEP THEM "ABSA" RESPONSIBLE as they refused me the safer card.

The same can be said here. Firstly the bank is suppose to be safe. Legally no one accept you and those who you have given permission to have the legal right to take money. If more money is taken then you allowed for then that is a security problem thus a bank problem and you can keep them responsible for the loss. They love to say that you can't but all you have to do is remind them what the terms and conditions are for banks when they register as banks.

They charge you money to keep your money safe, so you can now proof that they did not do so.

[murdock]

Wow this is fishy. First surely the bank knows where the funds have gone to which account. Also the merchant should keep each slip run through the machine. So if it went to a different merchant then the bank should reverse that as fraud, if it went to the same merchant then they should refund you. I would change the PIN if it was me. On our machine we have to keep all slips but have only been asked for a copy once.
Anyway keep us informed.

theb bank credited my account today...6 days later...by the way it is an absa credit card...just another thing i need to get rid of...or change to another bank.

[murdock]

something else i have learnt...a company cannot double debit your account normally within a day with the same amount...you shouldnt even be able to do an eft for the same amount to the same beneficiery...however if they change the cents to another amount...like in this case...it will go through...ie... R100.00 you just change it to R100.03

[twinscythe12332]

something to consider in this particular case... Get sms notifications enabled for your account. I had a particularly interesting incident when I swiped at a woolworths. the girl behind the counter said the transaction had failed, so we went through the process again... bam... double debit. Fortunately the woolworths system is attuned to this kind of error and before I could get in a rage, I found that the second debit had been refunded.
Banks are meant to keep an eye on your interests, sure, but I'd say it's also your duty to keep an even bigger eye on it.

[murdock]

standard bank i get sms...absa the credit card sucks...you battle to download a statement...never mind trying to get an sms...i am suprised absa are not still using bank books.

[Plumbing Supplies]

I have experienced that in a situation such as this you wil recieve an SMs notification if you normally do - that says the amouthas gone through twice - or two amounts then - if it was just a "mistake" then the money was not actually debited from your account - if it were it would show on the merchants banking slip from that specific speedpoint machine - you should get a "rectifying" SMS notification indicating that the amount has been placed "back" into your account - In order for the transaction to go through legitimately you HAVE to put your Pin in - and it WILL print a slip - if you ever swipe your card and enter your pin - and the person helping asks for your pin again - and you DID NOT receive a TRANSACTION FAILED Slip- ALWAYS ASK FOR A REPRINT OF THE LAST TRANSACTION to check whether it went trhough.

[Scaffold]

You should ask for a reprint of the WHOLE days transactions to see if there was two amounts deducted...

[ians]

You should ask for a reprint of the WHOLE days transactions to see if there was two amounts deducted...

Clearly you dont bank with absa.