Connections Stole $563 From My Bank Account!! Warning!!

[addie]

I am so mad at myself for going with them! I should have known better from all the negative posts on them!!!

They billed me once on the 25th for $563.27 (the right amount) but then again on the 29th for another $563.27!!!!! I can understand a slip up of an extra membership charge, but $563 billed on another day (so it’s not considered a duplicate charge by my bank-I think they know this) is pure robbery!

Here is the bummer. I charged it to my debit card, we leave in 10 days and that was all of our spending money. Fortunately, if we don’t get the money back in time we will be ok, but not every family is fortunate enough to go without almost $600 for 2 weeks, while it is being investigated.

My bank tells me I can file paperwork that may take up to 10 days to get processed then they can investigate! Connections billing was closed when I called. I talked to someone in customer (NO) service, and they said they will report it, but no one is in to help with billing problems after 5:00. (more on this scam later)


HOPEFULLY something good will happen tomorrow. HOPEFULLY I will call connections and they will refund it right away, and it will be settled tomorrow, and we will have our money soon, hopefully!

Yes, I am furious with Connections, they are participating in fraud, stealing money from my bank account. This happens so much I doubt it’s a mistake. HOWEVER, I am furious with myself for trusting them as well. I have used them 1 time before with no problems, so I thought I could trust them, BUT SHOULD HAVE KNOW BETTER

There is way more to this story (what the Customer NO Service person said) but I don’t have time to write it now, I will update tomorrow. Please just Beware!!!

I can’t say I was not warned!

Who has this happened to? Did you know that when you call them and just ask for a refund it does not get reported to the credit card company? They might be doing this to earn interest off OTHERS money then settle it with you, refund your money and do it all over to someone else and the credit card company never knows what is going on.

If this has happened to you please let me know. I’m going to write the credit card companies. Also- if this happened to you, how long did it take for them to get the refund in your account?

Thanks!

 

[DMRick]

I can’t say I was not warned!

I'm ducking as I ask:

If you had read all the threads, why did you purchase with a debit card? That seems to be the card that gets the double billing. I'm not saying this should have happened at all..but for others..never pay with a debit card..something about debit cards and this company make for a bad time. I have no idea why the problem with debit cards, but some time ago, I went through these threads for complaints for something that was being written (there were actually less than I thought..many were by the same three people), and most all of the complaints involved debit cards.
Sorry you have to deal with this, when vacation is all you should be thinking about. When others had the problem, they were pleasantly surprised at how quickly their money was refunded, in spite of the timeframe they were given.

 

[Aubrey]

In my experience debit cards frequently attract this type of "mistake" since the investigation process is more cumbersome and lengthy than with credit cards. With a credit card, you can dispute the charge and the credit card company will withold payment to the merchant until it is resolved. With debit cards, your money is gone (hopefully temporarily) and the bank is not as motivated to get the problem straightened out because no one but you is at risk of losing money.

I hope you get quick satisfaction from your bank but in any event, don't let this bad experience spoil your trip. Otherwise they rob you of more than money.

 

[addie]

why did you purchase with a debit card?

Answer: Because I'm an idiot! I have the "it will never happen to me" syndrome.

Good to know people have gotten their money back fast Thanks!

 

[elfbo]

With connections, when i used a debit account, what they did was put a hold on the entire amount. They did not remove the hold when they posted for the payment amount. After 10 days, the debit account hold was released as they didnt go through with that transaction, so the first payment was relased back into my account, and only the second charge was taken out.

So for about 2 days, it looked as If i were double billed. Find out if the initial amount was just a hold, and have the hold removed now that the payment was made.

The problem is, most companies put a hold of just a dollar, and then they remove the hold before charging for the purchase. Connections seems to do this incorrectly.

 

[TreeOfLife]

You are not an idiot for using your debit card. You are legally entitled to do so anywhere it is accepted.

The problem is not you, it is Connections.

 

[Cinders]

How do they (Connections) know you're using a debit card? Ours has a Visa logo and our credit union told us when we use it to always say "Credit" when they ask Credit or Debit. Ours has a $200 limit per day for ATM and Debit use but with Credit its unlimited with any overdraws coming from our savings.

 

[DMRick]

You are not an idiot for using your debit card. You are legally entitled to do so anywhere it is accepted.
The problem is not you, it is Connections.

I agree she's not an idiot..it's just that debit cards sometimes don't work as they should.

And you are legally able to send cash too, but I wouldn't LOL.

Something about debit cards and on line buying. Something sometimes goes strange with them, and you don't have the recourse of a credit card. I don't know if the first charge doesn't appear to go through (it's not a credit card..banks have to make sure you have the money with a debit card), if they put the hold on first, or what it is..but some companies seem to have a problem with Debit cards..even Disney : (

Of course since several have posted about debit cards and Connections..I'd rather err on not using one and avoid problems if I could.

 

[DisOrBust]

Connections is Notorious for double billing. I think 2 years ago we had a thread were several Disers were double billed. One Diser who had "worked" in this business stated this is a common ploy by these companies. Sorry this happen, the good news is that eventually it will be take n care of.

FYI -I remember some Disers were contacting their CC companies BEFORE purchasing from connections and placing a limit to the amount that could be billed prior to placing an order to avoid being double billed. Anyone remember this???


TIA!
Sue

 

[DMRick]

FYI -I remember some Disers were contacting their CC companies BEFORE purchasing from connections and placing a limit to the amount that could be billed prior to placing an order to avoid being double billed. Anyone remember this???

I don't believe you can do that with a debit card..a debit card is similar to sending cash in most instances.

Hopefully, this will be taken care of for her..it seems that lately Connections has been a much better company.

 

[CarolA]

While I know there are a lot of people on this board who pride themselves on never using credit cards, this is why I never use my Debit card for much! I don't want ANYONE having access to my bank account just by getting ahold of that number on the card! The protections are NOT as good and I don't care what the banks say if you read the little black and white print...... it works in thier advantage!

 

[claudia]

I have always found the "I never use credit cards" blah, blah, blah amusing. What difference does it make if you use credit cards if you pay your balance every month. They are so much safer to use than a debit card...and you are right CarolA, the banks are looking out for themselves.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by elfbo
With connections, when i used a debit account, what they did was put a hold on the entire amount. They did not remove the hold when they posted for the payment amount. After 10 days, the debit account hold was released as they didnt go through with that transaction, so the first payment was relased back into my account, and only the second charge was taken out.

So for about 2 days, it looked as If i were double billed. Find out if the initial amount was just a hold, and have the hold removed now that the payment was made.

The problem is, most companies put a hold of just a dollar, and then they remove the hold before charging for the purchase. Connections seems to do this incorrectly.

Same thing happened here. The charge will get released after a couple days.

 

[wdwstar]

for the first time, i got my monthly statement on my debit card and i was surprise to find double billing at 2 local restaruants,
as you can imagine, i was then i looked my statement over again and found that the bank must have caught the mistakes and creidt my account back the $$$$.

connections is not the only ones that double bill, now im
using my debit, maybe ill start using my credit card to go out to eat instead, aand start earning those % back.

 

[nasmith]

I'm not sure if the law has changed recently or not- but as of last year ---if your Credit Card is stolen (whether your wallet is stolen, or someone gets the number and uses it online, etc.(some dishonest employee who takes the card in the back to ring it thru)) you are only liable for $50 of their strolen purchases.

If your Debit card is stolen (same scenario)- then you are liable for the ENTIRE amount of their stolen purchases. You can dispute the charges of course, but the automatic protections are not in place as they are with a CC -----This is the main reason I use a CC and don't even carry a debit card with me (yes, I pay the CC off every month). (If there are new protective laws out there- let me know).

I shop alot online (see my tag- LOL) and would never use a debit card that has access to my bank account. Even with paypal - I set up a secondary bank account with a minimal balance so that they would not have access to my primary accounts. I wish I could trust everybody- but unfortunately, there are crooks out there- and it's better to be safe than sorry!!

I truly Hope that you get your money back!!! Jill

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by nasmith
I'm not sure if the law has changed recently or not- but as of last year ---if your Credit Card is stolen (whether your wallet is stolen, or someone gets the number and uses it online, etc.(some dishonest employee who takes the card in the back to ring it thru)) you are only liable for $50 of their strolen purchases.

If your Debit card is stolen (same scenario)- then you are liable for the ENTIRE amount of their stolen purchases. You can dispute the charges of course, but the automatic protections are not in place as they are with a CC -----This is the main reason I use a CC and don't even carry a debit card with me (yes, I pay the CC off every month). (If there are new protective laws out there- let me know).

I shop alot online (see my tag- LOL) and would never use a debit card that has access to my bank account. Even with paypal - I set up a secondary bank account with a minimal balance so that they would not have access to my primary accounts. I wish I could trust everybody- but unfortunately, there are crooks out there- and it's better to be safe than sorry!!

I truly Hope that you get your money back!!! Jill

Debit cards vary from bank to bank. I am only liable for the first 50.00 with my bank's debit card with the MC logo.

 

[addie]

Update- Hi Connections did refund my money. Just beware. Their customer service is like talking to a wall.


On another good note I did receive my vouchers in the mail! I have to get packing, we leave in just a few days and I’m so behind!!!

I’m grateful everything worked out ok. Good Luck if you use Connections!

 

[CarolA]

Debit cards vary from bank to bank. I am only liable for the first 50.00 with my bank's debit card with the MC logo

Mine is that way too. HOWEVER, if they clean out the account it can take several hours/days to get this fixed. Let's say they steal your card on Friday and you don't realize it. It is Sunday and you have no funds. GOOD LUCK! I have friends this happened to. The bank could NOT seem to do anything on the weekend and it actually took about 7 days to get all but the $50 back in thier account. (My friends did have a Visa card with cash advance that they had to use for the rest of their vacation in Alaska!)

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by addie
Update- Hi Connections did refund my money. Just beware. Their customer service is like talking to a wall.


On another good note I did receive my vouchers in the mail! I have to get packing, we leave in just a few days and I’m so behind!!!

I’m grateful everything worked out ok. Good Luck if you use Connections!

I think your money would have been put back into your account regardless if you fought with them or not. The way they bill is they authorize your card when you order and then charge it when they ship. Unfortunately their system is set up different so it looks like you are billed twice, but the first charge will drop off. It shows up as a "pending authorization" not a charge, so this means it has to drop off. People that use credit cards probably aren't aware of this because when the statement comes the authorization already dropped off. If you are like me and check your bank account daily, and used a debit card, you will see that it looks like you were billed twice but a few days later that money will be back in your account. All companies do this...but they usually do $1.00 for the authorization.

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by wdwstar
for the first time, i got my monthly statement on my debit card and i was surprise to find double billing at 2 local restaruants,
as you can imagine, i was then i looked my statement over again and found that the bank must have caught the mistakes and creidt my account back the $$$$.

As an accountant for a restaurant, what probably actually happened was a smart accountant caught the double charge when the sales and receipts didn't match and credited the card back. I know I have caught double charges / overcharges and they are (almost) as frustrating to the accountant as to the customer.