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Double charge?

MoodyBlues

MoodyBlues

Compassion is cool!
VIP Member
I placed an order at Lowes.com the other day, and later saw two charges on my PayPal MC from them, exactly double the amount of my order. I contacted Lowe's and asked what was up with that. The very snippy rep I spoke to acted like I was an online shopping virgin who had no idea how these things work. :rolleyes: She said that this is normal, that this is how it's done, that companies have to verify that a card is good, one of the charges will drop off, blah blah blah... I said, no, that's not how it normally works, it's typically a $1 hold just to verify the account is good and chargeable, and NEVER have I been charged twice for one purchase just to verify that my card is good. I said if I went out and bought a new car, they wouldn't charge me for TWO cars, just the ONE I'm buying. She kept repeating "as I tried to explain to you, this is done to verify the card..."

Am *I* missing something?! Since when is it "normal" to charge a customer TWICE the amount of their purchase just to verify the card is good? :confused:
 
That's not a common practice. I have seen an error happen that results in a second authorization, but that does drop off, but never charging for the product or service twice, as they only would need the one authorization if it was for the full amount in the beginning.
 
Codegerm said:
That's not a common practice. I have seen an error happen that results in a second authorization, but that does drop off, but never charging for the product or service twice, as they only would need the one authorization if it was for the full amount in the beginning.
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Yeah, that's what I thought. But the snippy rep kept saying that it's necessary in order to verify the card is good, etc., and I kept saying, no, it's not NECESSARY to double charge for that purpose.

BTW, I contacted PayPal and they can't do anything until the transactions are 'complete' (right now one is still 'pending').
 
Last year when I bought my N4, Google put a hold for the full amount on my card until the phone shipped (which was a day later than projected), but the hold dropped when the full charge was processed. I don't recall ever seeing the charge twice.
 
I've been at this online shopping thing for a LONG time, and I cannot ever recall a double charge before--I mean one that wasn't in error, a deliberate double charge like this one. I don't get it. And I'm getting more pissed off the more I think about it! :mad:
 
It could simply be a reporting lag with the bank. Give it time to process out and if it's still there, file an exception. If it was an error and you got double charged, Lowes will be charged the transactional fee twice on the bad order (once to place it and once to reverse it). If it was only a lag, then it just disappears.
 
I think I've seen this sort of thing happened on bank statement, but it was an issue with bank. Call your bank first, ask them whats going on. You can always dispute charge with payapal it will be a moment. For future reference, always pay for things with credit cards, if any dispute occurs its always easier to work with it than if you used your debit card. Don't waste time calling anyone just file dispute, its not worth time and effort proving things, you are going to get money back either way.
 
unnamedny said:
I think I've seen this sort of thing happened on bank statement, but it was an issue with bank. Call your bank first, ask them whats going on. You can always dispute charge with payapal it will be a moment. For future reference, always pay for things with credit cards, if any dispute occurs its always easier to work with it than if you used your debit card. Don't waste time calling anyone just file dispute, its not worth time and effort proving things, you are going to get money back either way.
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Thanks, unnamed. This is a MasterCard--it's a PayPal MasterCard. So PayPal is the 'bank' in this scenario, and when I contacted them they were unable to do anything until both charges were out of 'pending' status.
 
MoodyBlues said:
Yeah, that's what I thought. But the snippy rep kept saying that it's necessary in order to verify the card is good, etc., and I kept saying, no, it's not NECESSARY to double charge for that purpose.

BTW, I contacted PayPal and they can't do anything until the transactions are 'complete' (right now one is still 'pending').
Click to expand...

If it is a soft charge (charge not completed) It will sit there until it times out. Depending on the agreement they have with Visa, Master Card etc, that can take up to a week, but it usually does go away. Watch your account, as long as that second charge doesn't go from pending to fully posted you should be fine.

It is poor business practice on the retailers part though. An actual hand written letter to their corporate HQ politely expressing your dissatisfaction in the way customer service handled it, would be a good idea.
 
I worked as a supervisor in a large store and handled many cc transactions. This is common but not the normal procedure. Though it should correct itself within a day or two. In fact, many debit cards (and almost all EBT cards) won't let you do two purchases of the exact amount on the same day in the same store. So, it was an error and the customer service person should have acknowledged that and assured you it'll be okay. The only place that I know of that holds a significant charge on Credit cards is at the gas pump. (Sometimes up to $50).
 
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