[♥]

Went to Arby's back in August of last year for me and friends staying at the house. Bought $13.98 worth of sandwiches and another $3.98 for fries.

Woke up earlier this week and checked my online banking to see that apparently I'd been to Arby's this week. Huh? Have been out of town so that's impossible. Realized that it must be some kind of credit card fraud. Called BOA bank and had my card blocked and reissued and had them express it to me, which cost me extra $$$.

Called Arby's back and found out that Arby's using a credit card processing service and that between August and January 12th this company did not process all of the cards properly. So what did they do? They apparently save everyone's credit card data and they simply reprocessed every single transaction instead of going through and seeing where the mistakes were.

Arby's knows about this (I called corporate in Atlanta) and said that it was/is "out of their control, but the company had to get their money because food isn't free."

I explained to them that I had been charged TWICE because the first transaction posted on August 15th without a problem and now I have been billed twice. She said to fax her the information and they would issue a credit.

What I want to know is how many people won't realize what is going on and Arby's will be making quite a profit from double-charging people? Isn't that fraud? The credit card company thinks so.

Even more disturbing is the fact that they feel free to recharge a credit card 7 months later, along with saving my credit card information.

I won't be going back to Arby's again. It cost me $25.99 to get an expedited re-issued credit card, a lot of time on the phone, and it was a huge hassle.

to Arby's.

[Kevin]

Arby's is overpriced anyhow.

[Dakar²]

Kudos to you for having the wherewithal to call arbys and all that other happy bullsh¡t.

[♥]

Oh, and like I'd call them back with my new credit card information to issue a credit? No thanks. I'll let the credit card company backcharge them on my behalf.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Kevin 

Arby's sucks anyhow.

No kidding.

[Mrjinglesusa]

You need to go and look up the word "fraud". It doesn't mean what you think it means.

In criminal law, fraud is the crime or offense of deliberately deceiving another in order to damage them – usually, to obtain property or services unjustly.

In this case, there was no deliberate intent to deceive anyone.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

In this case, there was no deliberate intent to deceive anyone.

That depends. Are they allowed by law to charge you 6 months after the fact without notifying you? Somehow I doubt it.

(And if they are, I bet I can blame asshole credit card companies)

[starman]

You want fries with that?

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

That depends. Are they allowed by law to charge you 6 months after the fact without notifying you? Somehow I doubt it.

(And if they are, I bet I can blame asshole credit card companies)

When you ordered the food in the first place, you entered in to an implicit oral contract and agreed to pay the menu price for what you ordered. Even if they failed to charge you while you were in there, they are entitled to payment.

[Kevin]

They charged him twice did they not?

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by wallinbl 

When you ordered the food in the first place, you entered in to an implicit oral contract and agreed to pay the menu price for what you ordered. Even if they failed to charge you while you were in there, they are entitled to payment.

They should charge you then. Are they entitled to take that payment from you whenever they want? I doubt it.

[Kevin]

I explained to them that I had been charged TWICE because the first transaction posted on August 15th without a problem and now I have been billed twice. She said to fax her the information and they would issue a credit.

Bolded info

[Dakar²]

Yes, I know.

[Jawbone54]

Arby's always tastes good at first, but afterwards I feel like I've eaten rubber.

[mitchell_pgh]

Whenever someone says "XYZ isn't free" (especially in the food service industry) I usually say "and losing a customer forever isn't either"

They should have:
1) apologized for the issue
2) refunded the amount
3) given you some free coupons

It's always better to have a happy customer especially in fast food.

[zerostar]

I had the same thing happen! I noticed a charge a few weeks ago and no-one at the house had been to Arbys recently, I remembered going a month back before that and the charge amount sounded right. I went back and never saw the orig. charge so I left it at that and kept an eye on my account.

[mdc]

This reminds me of a restaurant I went to. It was a really nice place and dinner came to around $100. A few days later my account had been charged the same amount twice.
I spoke to the restaurant and the person who answered the phone said something along the lines of "oh yeah, that happened to everyone that night. I can't help you but I'll get someone to phone you back shortly." They didn't phone back and I kept on having to phone them. It took about a week for them to credit my account.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

They should charge you then. Are they entitled to take that payment from you whenever they want? I doubt it.

IMO, yes. If you didn't pay then, you are indebted to them, and they have just as much right to get what's theirs as any other creditor.

However, that was not the case here, and charging him money they don't have reason to believe they were owed sounds pretty dishonest to me.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

IMO, yes. If you didn't pay then, you are indebted to them, and they have just as much right to get what's theirs as any other creditor.

Ok, here's my question: Theoretically, they could wait two years to charge you and that's ok?

[Dork.]

There's a VISA merchant agreement that I've seen links to online, I imagine there's a Mastercard agreement as well that you can find. You can confirm it there, but I doubt that merchants are allowed to double-charge just becaue they feel like it, or because their computer system goofed up.

You didn't say it here, but did you call a manager at the local store first? Fast food joints like Wendy's are usually franchised, and independantly owned. So Wendy's Corporate Headquarters may have nothing to do with what their local franchisees do. Assuming that the credit card agreement is made with the local franchiser and not Wendy's corporate, any chargeback would likely ding the local ownership, and not Wendy's itself. OTOH, if you did call the local store and they didn't give you satisfaction, they're likely to now get the double-whammy from Visa/MC and from Corporate HQ, which will end up to cause them more grief than just refunding your money.

[andi*pandi]

they shouldn't be keeping your credit card info after so long. That's just asking for joe employee to take it and run.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

Ok, here's my question: Theoretically, they could wait two years to charge you and that's ok?

"OK" in the sense of "not completely outside their rights," yeah. In the sense of "something they ought to be doing," of course not. It causes all sorts of trouble both for them and for their customer.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

"OK" in the sense of "not completely outside their rights," yeah.

Thanks.

Well, maybe it's just me, but I find that a bothersome thought.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

Thanks.

Well, maybe it's just me, but I find that a bothersome thought.

Look at it this way: If a car company's credit-card processor doesn't go through and they catch it a few weeks later, do you deserve a free Ferrari? I can't honestly say I believe that.

They should be more vigilant about this sort of thing in general, but when push comes to shove, if they gave you the goods, they have a right to get paid. Though I do think that if you must charge people that far out, the most correct response is to notify the customers beforehand to try and minimize any problems.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Look at it this way: If a car company's credit-card processor doesn't go through and they catch it a few weeks later, do you deserve a free Ferrari? I can't honestly say I believe that.

No, but if they already charged you once, and then charged you a second time a few months later, only to accuse you of freeloading when you ask to have the charges removed, that's worth making a fuss about.

If there really was a computer clitch that caused this problem, the company should be obligated to only charge the people who weren't charged the first time. If they double-charge anyone, they should remove the second charge. And I'm willing to bet that if you read through the merchant agreements, they say as much.

[♥]

The point is that they (Arby's) never made an "honest" effort to only charge the customers who had not been charged.

They knowingly charged EVERYONE all over again - and corporate Arby's admitted that "some customers HAD been charged twice, unfortunately."

They knew about the double dipping and didn't make an effort to fix it. They said "they didn't know how to."

Like I said, I think it's fraud. Just my amateur opinion, but it sticks.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Look at it this way: If a car company's credit-card processor doesn't go through and they catch it a few weeks later, do you deserve a free Ferrari? I can't honestly say I believe that.

They should be more vigilant about this sort of thing in general, but when push comes to shove, if they gave you the goods, they have a right to get paid. Though I do think that if you must charge people that far out, the most correct response is to notify the customers beforehand to try and minimize any problems.

Well, I think a 30 day grace period to put the charge through makes sense. Maybe 45.
I don't think anyone should be getting free **** here - but I think its the companies responsibility to charge you in a timely manner.

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

Though I do think that if you must charge people that far out, the most correct response is to notify the customers beforehand to try and minimize any problems.

I think I was getting at that earlier. Regardless, I agree.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

No, but if they already charged you once, and then charged you a second time a few months later, only to accuse you of freeloading when you ask to have the charges removed, that's worth making a fuss about.

He's replying to me, and we're on a slight tangent here, not relating to a double-charge.

[brassplayersrock²]

I'm sorry you had to go through this. Luckily I stay clear of Arbys for the most part (sometimes I just gotta have those cheese melts of theirs) but I always pay cash because at the 2 arbys i have been to the person (on more than 2 occasions and more than 2 people) had to try and figure out how to use the credit card machine. doesn't really help hold my confidence. Ayways, good job on getting the word out about this, and thank you.

alex

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

He's replying to me, and we're on a slight tangent here, not relating to a double-charge.

That's fine. I wonder if there's any sort of "statute of limitations" to a charge, where if the merchant "forgets" to charge someone, they can't just come back after 10 years and retroactively charge that person. That ought to be in the merchant agreement, too.

[♥]

Yeah, you're right, BOA (bank of america) said that it's not a good idea to use credit or checkcards at any fast food joints when I spoke to them about this.

Think I'll avoid Arby's altogether. Their food would leave a bad taste in my mouth literally and figuratively.

[centerchannel68]

It's stuff like this that oils my 'loose moral compass' and makes me have no qualms about ****ing over big corporations.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by starman 

You want fries with that?

Curly or homestyle?

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

Ok, here's my question: Theoretically, they could wait two years to charge you and that's ok?

What if you wrote them a check and they waited two years to cash it?

[TheWOAT]

Contact the district attn's office (Consumer Fraud Div.) and tell them your story. Off the top of my head they are in violation of CA Business and PRofessions code 12024.2, and given the dollar amounts, it is a misdemeanor. If there are many others like you, and the DA knows how widespread it is, then he/she could slap an "
Unfair business practice" on Arby's or whoever was responsible (CA Civil Code 17500?). If there is enough money in it, the DA's will be interested.

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

That's fine. I wonder if there's any sort of "statute of limitations" to a charge,

That's exactly the term that was in my head. It's their responsibility to claim it in a timely manner (IMO).

Originally Posted by Gossamer 

What if you wrote them a check and they waited two years to cash it?

I thought you had to cash checks within 6 months of their issue?

[♥]

Yeah, he's right. How long to cash a check or charge a CC?

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Dakar²

I thought you had to cash checks within 6 months of their issue?

That's what I was wondering.

[earthlings]

That's why use only cash for fast food joints.

Arby's is still good it doesn't suck.

[brassplayersrock²]

it so depends on which arbys you go to though. the two in my neck of the woods in cali are prime examples of good arbys, the one a couple hours down the road though, they have the "it's like eating rubber'' sandwiches.

alex

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by earthlings 

Arby's is still good it doesn't suck.

Arby's is good coming in, not so good coming out.... Or is that just me?

[brassplayersrock²]

on a couple of occasions. but it's usually alright with me.

alex

btw, nice sig. dork

[highstakes]

Did you file a complaint with BBB?

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

thought you had to cash checks within 6 months of their issue?

Urban legend, AFAIK. Maybe it's true somewhere, but certainly not everywhere.

[Dakar²]

Actually, now that I think about it, I think thats printed on certain checks.

[olePigeon]

Your first mistake was actually eating at Arby's.

[♥]

Yeah, you're right. Shouldna done it.

[earthlings]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

Arby's is good coming in, not so good coming out.... Or is that just me?

Most everyone on this thread it seems like.

[Railroader]

Arby's seems flavorless for the most part to me.

RE: getting charged twice. I had an employee steal my CC info when I was in Montreal a few years ago. They drained $2800 in a couple hours. My bank covered it. They were a easy to track down, they used my CC to purchase things over the internet and had the items delivered to their house. Which proves my point that if you are stupid enough to steal something of someone else's, then you're eventually going to do something stupid enough to get caught.

[brassplayersrock²]

same exact thing happened to my dad rr. it turned out to be this punk kid from a mcdonalds my dad visited while on a trip. dumass kid had everything mailed to his house.

alex

[earthlings]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Arby's seems flavorless for the most part to me.

RE: getting charged twice. I had an employee steal my CC info when I was in Montreal a few years ago. They drained $2800 in a couple hours. My bank covered it. They were a easy to track down, they used my CC to purchase things over the internet and had the items delivered to their house. Which proves my point that if you are stupid enough to steal something of someone else's, then you're eventually going to do something stupid enough to get caught.

It's not Arby's fault directly, but it's the employees they hire.