[tightsocks]

I just discovered that Trader Joe's over-charged me for a piece of frozen fish by about $5.

I live about 25 minutes away from them and I'm not planning on being in there again for about a week and a half.

What is the best way to get my credit?

I'm thinking that I could call and have them mail me a gift card for the $5. That is probably doable.

Or, would they be able to bring-up my transaction and issue a credit to my debit card over the phone?

This assumes that they believe me, and are willing to issue some type of credit over the phone and don't just think I'm calling them and trying to scam $5 out of them...

[Uncle Skeleton]

yes

[ghporter]

The process is identical to the process of crediting a refund to a credit card. The clearinghouse organization handles it transparently. No sweat.

[OldManMac]

That happened to me last year. Lowe's charged me for two items that I didn't even purchase. I e-mailed their customer service, and they found my receipt, issuing a return to my debit card. I

[turtle777]

Yes.

But still one more reason to use credit cards, not debit cards. If I get overcharged, I just file a dispute with Amex. Done.

-t

[BLAZE_MkIV]

Free 30 day no interest loan, plus unused balance ups your credit rating.

[Uncle Skeleton]

You can file a dispute with debit cards too; the only dispute I ever filed was on a debit card (wamu) and it worked fine. I might have gotten better service with a credit card, or maybe not, but I got the money back so.... also 30 days of interest is worth bupkis these days and for the foreseeable future. Use credit cards for rebates or miles, not these irrelevant reasons.

Oh yeah, and don't make disputing the charge your first reaction, that's a real low blow to the retailer, who is someone you chose to do business with so they must deserve at least a little respect. Give them a chance to make it right on their own first, charge-backs cost them a lot of money and don't gain you anything.

[bstone]

You may want to go there and do it there. Last time I had a store screw up like that I got the item for free (Whole Foods). YMMV.

[Arty50]

This reminds me...

You should never, ever, under any circumstances use a debit card to place a deposit on a hotel room or anything else for that matter.

If you use a normal credit card, the charge goes against your available balance but is almost always reversed/credited immediately after you check out. The only thing that is affected is your available balance. Actual money is never transacted between the two parties.

If you use a debit card, cash is pulled out of your account. The cash is not returned until after you check out. Additionally, many banks do not process this transaction immediately. So you could be out that cash for several days, in some cases up to 30.

I used to work for a hotel and the desk clerks were trained to always specifically ask for a credit card and warn guests against using debit cards. Not having the deposit reverse immediately on a debit card was by far the number one customer complaint they had.

[Eriamjh]

Debit cards are less safe than credit cards.

One is your money. One is theirs. Which would you rather have stolen?

[indigoimac]

Originally Posted by Arty50 

This reminds me...

You should never, ever, under any circumstances use a debit card to place a deposit on a hotel room or anything else for that matter.

If you use a normal credit card, the charge goes against your available balance but is almost always reversed/credited immediately after you check out. The only thing that is affected is your available balance. Actual money is never transacted between the two parties.

If you use a debit card, cash is pulled out of your account. The cash is not returned until after you check out. Additionally, many banks do not process this transaction immediately. So you could be out that cash for several days, in some cases up to 30.

I used to work for a hotel and the desk clerks were trained to always specifically ask for a credit card and warn guests against using debit cards. Not having the deposit reverse immediately on a debit card was by far the number one customer complaint they had.

That is also because it's a different process behind it -- using the debit card is literally the same as cash in this situation for securing a room. For the credit card they would just hand you over to collections instantly - same as a rental car.

[tightsocks]

I ended up going back to the store. They gave me a credit no problem.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Debit cards are less safe than credit cards.

One is your money. One is theirs. Which would you rather have stolen?

Yes, that's a good summary

-t

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by tightsocks 

I ended up going back to the store. They gave me a credit no problem.

See? You should have believed us in the first place.