Last week I noticed two fraudulent charges pending on my business checking account, using my debit card number. The perp also had security information such as my address, expiry, and CV number. The online purchases were at two different stores, in MN and FLâ?? I live in WAâ?? for several hundred dollars each. I called my bank within 15 minutes of when the charges were initiated. My debit card was cancelled immediately, but I was told the pending charges would "drop off," and the bank couldn't do anything until after they did. Sure enough, one of the pending charges eventually disappeared from my register. But this morning I noticed that the bank has paid the other oneâ?? and charged me an NSF fee for the resulting deficit. I called the local branch of my bank, having been sorely displeased with my interactions with the fraud department. I was told I would need to come into the branch and fill out some forms. I have many layers of complaints here, including the contradictory instructions I received from the fraud department ("do contact the merchant yourself" and "don't contact the merchant yourself"). I've had two interactions with the merchant, the fraud department has had none. The merchant contacted me the morning after I saw the initiated charge, and when I told them it was fraud, they said they'd suspected that, had not shipped the order, and would cancel the charge immediately. Now that my bank has paid the charge, I called the merchant back. They assured me they had cancelled it. So the merchant didn't get my money, and the thief didn't get his $360 golf shoes, but I still can't use that money to pay my bills because my bank has deducted it from my account and will sit on it until they go through their old fashioned paper work. The merchant, not my bank, said from their experience that can take up to two weeks. We all know there are thieves out there. The most sophisticated of them are wearing suits and smiling at us from across the desk. If you you know of a bank that doesn't fit that description, I'm looking for a place to take my business.
I keep hearing that. Right now I'd love to hear an erudite explanation of the bank's need to do things this way. The fact that I'm not getting one from the bank further erodes my trust.
Sorry to hear this happened to you...very frustrating. I agree, credit unions are a lot more personal, but you can certainly run into the same issue with a credit union too. This is really the main reason why I don't like debit cards and never even activate mine. Credit cards provide so much more protection for the consumer, and you would never run into a situation where "your" money is withheld from you and you have to wait to get it back. On the other hand, since debit cards are linked directly to your checking account, the risk of this happening is always there.
Oh, and since you're in Seattle, I would check out BECU if a credit union sounds like a good fit. Local small businesses are their target market.
Thanks, Josh. I'll take a look at BECU. But I had a much better interaction with the bank this afternoon when I went to the branch in person. There's some paperwork to fill out (you'd think they could have told me that 5 days ago), and then I'll get my money back by midnight. Although I haven't been emailed the paperwork yet...... I kind of feel like I just ran a 50 miler.
