Wachovia Bank ripoff Overdraft practices are better described as Fraud Kannapolis North Carolina

Carrie,

This is nothing but negligence on the part of the merchant. THEY need to cover your losses, not the bank.

You will probably need to sue them in small claims court, so document everything.

Good luck.

Most merchants do not treat it as a "refund" when they enter a charge wrongly. This would mean they would have to enter it as a charge, then a refund, then a charge again and you would get the three receipts (having to sign two receipts for the two charges). They would also be charged for the two transactions (maybe three if the credit card companies charge for refunds too).

So, when they swipe the card against your available balance and see they made an error, they will swipe the card again for the correct amount (and sometimes they just use the original wrong swipe). Since they do not let the original wrong charge actually go through as a charge, they are not really issuing a "refund".

When your bank posts the charge (not when it comes off the available, but actually posts), they match it with the hold from available balance and take the hold off the available. If the charges do not match, and are not close, the bank has no way of knowing this is the same charge.

The bank then posts the charge to the account, but still keep the hold on the available balance for 1-4 days, depending on your banks policy. Ask your bank how long they hold a swiped charge that does not post.

Most merchants do not treat it as a "refund" when they enter a charge wrongly. This would mean they would have to enter it as a charge, then a refund, then a charge again and you would get the three receipts (having to sign two receipts for the two charges). They would also be charged for the two transactions (maybe three if the credit card companies charge for refunds too).

So, when they swipe the card against your available balance and see they made an error, they will swipe the card again for the correct amount (and sometimes they just use the original wrong swipe). Since they do not let the original wrong charge actually go through as a charge, they are not really issuing a "refund".

When your bank posts the charge (not when it comes off the available, but actually posts), they match it with the hold from available balance and take the hold off the available. If the charges do not match, and are not close, the bank has no way of knowing this is the same charge.

The bank then posts the charge to the account, but still keep the hold on the available balance for 1-4 days, depending on your banks policy. Ask your bank how long they hold a swiped charge that does not post.

Most merchants do not treat it as a "refund" when they enter a charge wrongly. This would mean they would have to enter it as a charge, then a refund, then a charge again and you would get the three receipts (having to sign two receipts for the two charges). They would also be charged for the two transactions (maybe three if the credit card companies charge for refunds too).

So, when they swipe the card against your available balance and see they made an error, they will swipe the card again for the correct amount (and sometimes they just use the original wrong swipe). Since they do not let the original wrong charge actually go through as a charge, they are not really issuing a "refund".

When your bank posts the charge (not when it comes off the available, but actually posts), they match it with the hold from available balance and take the hold off the available. If the charges do not match, and are not close, the bank has no way of knowing this is the same charge.

The bank then posts the charge to the account, but still keep the hold on the available balance for 1-4 days, depending on your banks policy. Ask your bank how long they hold a swiped charge that does not post.

If I were you, I would go to the merchant and ask them if they did issue the refund in the same batch as the charge, which they probably did. Since they processed the refund at the same time, it makes sense that it would've been included in that same batch. I used to bank with Wachovia, and have proven that they DO hold electronic transfers for days, (except direct-deposit transfers).

I didn't realize how much of an inpact this had until I switched to a credit union. Now I see all transactions posting immediately, I see all refunds/electronic deposits posting immediately.

For instance, Paypal transfers hit my account the next day after submission -- it would take Wachovia 4-5 days to deposit a Paypal transaction to my account. They would claim it's Paypal having the problem... but that theory went to hell when I switched. I called them on it and they said that Paypal must have changed their transfer policies.. ya right, just when I closed my account, and within 2 weeks received my first Paypal transfer to the new credit union account.

It would not surprise me that they deliberately hold electronic deposits for a couple of days, just hoping it will cause an overdraft situation.

says it'sd not a bank error. To be refunded the fees, go to the merchant directly. It was their error. If they refuse, have an attorney send them a strongly-written letter threatening filing a small claim. If you don't get a response, go to small claims court. It's a pain, and will take longer to get your money, but it's the merchant's fault. You'll also be able to recoup court costs.

If they batched at the same time the charge and the credit should have posted together -- this had been my experience at my bank. Most businesses -- even samll businesses with modern equipment -- batch nightly.

I can't comment on the posting of your transfer, though, unless it was an ACH credit, which are processed first thing in the morning, usually.

I know what you mean. Unfortunately for us customers, credits can take up to 4 days to post and charges come off your available balance immeditely.

A few years ago, on New Year's Eve, our total dinner bill came to $650 (a few couples). We each gave credit cards and told the waiter how much to charge to each. When I got home, there was $900 held off our account. Without telling me, the waiter ran the entire bill on our credit card, then realizing the mistake reran our portion of $250. There was nothing I could do about it.

Some advice is this. If you purchased at a small business, ask them to please cash out their drawer and run their day's credit batch at their machine. This will "send" the credit (or refund) through the system quicker than the 4 days it can take. If it is a big company, they cannot do it without cashing out all the drawers. Also have them put it through as a "refund" rather than a "void" sale.