HELP! Starbucks overcharged me yesterday and now I am negative in my account!!!

[North of Mouse]

I always thought it silly to use a debit card for a small purchase-and this proves why

This is 'exactly' what I use my debit card for -
Our credit union pays big bucks for X amount of debit transactions used monthly. They also are 'on the ball' about any data breaches (like lately) and send a new card immediately (mine for Target, dh for Home Depot) Not affected by KMart.

Larger purchases go on our credit card for cash back, and is paid off monthly.

Love our cards and our credit union.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Is this really a serious post? If I knew that I had $11 to my name I probably wouldn't spend 50% of it on a drink at Starbucks. Jmo

 

[NewRVLady]

This is 'exactly' what I use my debit card for -
Our credit union pays big bucks for X amount of debit transactions used monthly. They also are 'on the ball' about any data breaches (like lately) and send a new card immediately (mine for Target, dh for Home Depot) Not affected by KMart.

Larger purchases go on our credit card for cash back, and is paid off monthly.

Love our cards and our credit union.

What are you calling Big Bucks? How does credit Union make $$ from debit purchases?

 

[ebradley23]

Everyone needs to read their bank disclosures. I've read a lot of sweeping generalities. Each bank can choose how they process transactions - they just have to disclose the process. Making a deposit today (or last night at an ATM) wouldn't have mattered at one major bank. They process transactions in the order the transactions took place. Meaning the card was swiped before the deposit so a fee would have applied. Another bank I know of is open and processes transactions every day but Christmas. They don't operate according to Federal holidays, so that debit card transaction could very well have posted yesterday despite it being a holiday. Of course she could have made a deposit at that bank yesterday which would have posted yesterday before the debit resulting in no fee assessment. My point is that you need to know YOUR bank and its policies/procedures.

For the OP, I am baffled at your reason for coming here for advice when your relative works for your bank. Why would you go to strangers with only guesses about your situation and your financial institution when you could go to an expert?

I would also recommend you opt out of allowing your debit card to approve transactions into the overdraft. There is a federal regulation which forces all banks and credit unions to give you this option. If you were opted out, the cashiers error would have resulted in your card being declined. No fee could be assessed on a declined transaction. This would have allowed you the opportunity to question the $ amount at the time of purchase instead of after the fact.

You can also dispute the charge with your bank. Not having a receipt does not negate your ability to file a dispute. It will cause your bank to refund any overdraft fees assessed if the dispute is approved. The approved dispute is not a guarantee, but the dispute process is the to help try and protect you from these types of situations.

 

[ebradley23]

What are you calling Big Bucks? How does credit Union make $$ from debit purchases?

Banks make big bucks on the interchange fee.

 

[bettymae1121]

I don't get having a separate debit card/checking account for fun money either. If you get $X amount of fun money per week/month/quarter/whatever just keep track of what you have spent and stop when you get to $0. Heck, just take it out in cash and keep it in a separate part of your wallet if you are just buying things locally vs. spending online. Budgeting programs like Mint or YNAB make tracking purchases and their related categories a snap.

I charge every penny I spend to my AMEX and track it all in YNAB. I never worry about my checking/debit account going too low because I never use my debit card for purchases and I only pay bills out of the checking account. But because I use YNAB I know I've spent $334.78 on groceries and have $165.22 left to spend for the rest of October. I know that I've spent $10.61 on my kitty this month and have $19.39 left. And I know I haven't spent any money from the Entertainment category yet an still have the full $50 I budget for Entertainment each month left so we can go to the pumpkin farm/carnival this weekend.

Keeping a separate "fun" category is great, but keeping it actually physically separate from the rest of your finances seems like it is way more work than it needs to be, especially once you get down to the last couple of dollars and are susceptible to these kinds of issues.

 

[tyniknate]

But think how inspiring it is to know that so many people can manage to get through life without ever making a mistake!

 

[NewRVLady]

Everyone,
Yes, this is a serious post and yes, his is my FUN account and I only use it for things like this. I have more then $11 to my name but this account only had $11 in it until I get paid again. I purchased a few things this weekend but forgot how much as left.

My SIL is the branch manager and she said that I should deposit a few dollars in my account via the ATM tonight so it will get posted as the pending items will not post until tomorrow night.

Starbucks also said that IF I get any charges due to this, they would pay for them.

I am sorry if people feel the need to criticize me about Starbucks purchases but if shouldn't really matter WHAT I got. I knew this purchase would bring my account down a few dollars more but would still have a few before I got my next check.
Thanks!

Diane

To me-if this is your "fun' account, then do you have a 'serious' account?
One with some $$ in it? i'd simply online load $$ from that one to the other?

 

[ilovediznee]

Update:
For those that asked why I didn't consult my SIL first, I did - she was out of town as it was a holiday, so I came here as others do for assistance.

For those that asked why I don't keep more money in my account - I cannot. Already working two jobs and this was a treat for my DD.

For those that asked why I would not keep track - I thought I had and with this transaction, I still would have had money left - not much, but enough.

I was really asking for advice on "how" to go about handling this, which I got, but in all the years I have been on these boards, I have never received this much criticism for how I am doing things wrong.

We all make mistakes and I am sorry if those feel that I could have avoided it all together. Yes, I could have. Yes, I should have kept track more, but I was looking for assistance as this is what I thought these boards were for, not that I would have to get all these responses about how I am not handling my money the right way.

I have received numerous PM about how others have done the same thing and that I need to have thick skin on these boards or I could be ripped to shreds and I thank you -

I will be scanning, but not posting for awhile as this experience has shown me that the "assistance and advice" days are basically over when it comes to these boards and the "what you did wrong" days are here now.

I love these boards and have gotten and shared a lot of info on them over the years but I am very disappointed in some of the responses I received. . Come walk in my shoes for a week with caring for a sick parent out of state, a husband who just got out of the hospital, a child in cheer, two jobs and a house to tend too. We are all human.

 

[JanaDee]

Update:
For those that asked why I didn't consult my SIL first, I did - she was out of town as it was a holiday, so I came here as others do for assistance.

For those that asked why I don't keep more money in my account - I cannot. Already working two jobs and this was a treat for my DD.

For those that asked why I would not keep track - I thought I had and with this transaction, I still would have had money left - not much, but enough.

I was really asking for advice on "how" to go about handling this, which I got, but in all the years I have been on these boards, I have never received this much criticism for how I am doing things wrong.

We all make mistakes and I am sorry if those feel that I could have avoided it all together. Yes, I could have. Yes, I should have kept track more, but I was looking for assistance as this is what I thought these boards were for, not that I would have to get all these responses about how I am not handling my money the right way.

I have received numerous PM about how others have done the same thing and that I need to have thick skin on these boards or I could be ripped to shreds and I thank you -

I will be scanning, but not posting for awhile as this experience has shown me that the "assistance and advice" days are basically over when it comes to these boards and the "what you did wrong" days are here now.

I love these boards and have gotten and shared a lot of info on them over the years but I am very disappointed in some of the responses I received. . Come walk in my shoes for a week with caring for a sick parent out of state, a husband who just got out of the hospital, a child in cheer, two jobs and a house to tend too. We are all human.

How did you solve the problem of the overdraft? Did you deposit money to cover it?

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I can't understand having any account with a balance of less than $1000. If you keep less than $1k in it, it probably shouldn't be a separate account. Furthermore, use a credit card. They are free, have rewards, and allow you to not pay for something if someone makes a mistake. In this case, you get Starbucks to fix it before you pay the bill.

While this may work for some, I imagine there a lot of people out there that can't keep a minimum $1k in their bank accounts. And probably many of those don't want or can't get rewards cc's. Or maybe they do but use debit for some things.

Especially if the account is free I can't understand what the harm would be in physically separating money, however much, if that's what people prefer.

Advice around here sure comes with a lot of judgement.

Anyway, OP, I know you got things settled and I hope it all works out.

 

[kamik86]

For those that said a credit card would never have this issue... yeah it could.

Here is one. It was my simple mistake but still happened. I had a credit card I would pay off every month (still do actually) because it has good rewards. One day when I go to pay I pick the wrong bank account (I have two, one was a local bank to where I went to college and one local to where I grew up and live now. The interest and online features of the one from college are much better so I keep most of my money in a savings there and use that checking for most things, but have a small amount deposited into my checking locally since they have free ATMs in the area and the other one does not. It takes 3 days to transfer money between the two accounts with different banks.)

What I owed that month was a bit over half my limit (I was a few months into my first full time job and it never occurred to me that now that I make 4 times as much money maybe I should ask them to raise my limit) so when the payment bounced off the account (only had a few hundred as that was my more fun local account not the main one) the credit card company put a hold on the account equal to the payment. Since that was in addition to what I owed the card got declined at a store (how I first noticed the problem).

After I noticed I called the bank set up a payment and since I had bills that showed up on this card monthly asked if there was anything I could do to stop it from appearing over the limit until the payment posted. Yeah they waived the fee for declined payment (was the first time this ever happened) AND raised my limit so that even with the hold I was still under my maximum. So it all worked out but still a little issue caused a bit of a mess for a day or two.

 

[kymom99]

While this may work for some, I imagine there a lot of people out there that can't keep a minimum $1k in their bank accounts. And probably many of those don't want or can't get rewards cc's. Or maybe they do but use debit for some things.

Especially if the account is free I can't understand what the harm would be in physically separating money, however much, if that's what people prefer.

Advice around here sure comes with a lot of judgement.

Anyway, OP, I know you got things settled and I hope it all works out.

Yes if you don't have x amount of money in the bank or $500,000 in assets, I guess you are supposed to go jump off a bridge. And heaven forbid someone makes a mistake and admits to it.

 

[kymom99]

I don't get having a separate debit card/checking account for fun money either. If you get $X amount of fun money per week/month/quarter/whatever just keep track of what you have spent and stop when you get to $0. Heck, just take it out in cash and keep it in a separate part of your wallet if you are just buying things locally vs. spending online. Budgeting programs like Mint or YNAB make tracking purchases and their related categories a snap.

I charge every penny I spend to my AMEX and track it all in YNAB. I never worry about my checking/debit account going too low because I never use my debit card for purchases and I only pay bills out of the checking account. But because I use YNAB I know I've spent $334.78 on groceries and have $165.22 left to spend for the rest of October. I know that I've spent $10.61 on my kitty this month and have $19.39 left. And I know I haven't spent any money from the Entertainment category yet an still have the full $50 I budget for Entertainment each month left so we can go to the pumpkin farm/carnival this weekend.

Keeping a separate "fun" category is great, but keeping it actually physically separate from the rest of your finances seems like it is way more work than it needs to be, especially once you get down to the last couple of dollars and are susceptible to these kinds of issues.

To each his own. What about the people who actually physically put money in envelopes?

 

[Nayan]

To each his own. What about the people who actually physically put money in envelopes?

The difference is that you would see it and when it's empty, that's it until next month. I allot myself a certain amount of 'fun cash' each month. Cash, not debit, credit, etc. If I choose to spend it all, I do. If not, it get's added into next month's fun cash fund. That way I can't spend what I don't have .

 

[nkereina]

You certainly need to look into getting over draft protection on that account.
Wells Fargo will cover up to $5,000 in overdrafts on my debit/checking account. If I pay back the money within 30 days there is no charge. Just a $25 annual fee.

This. My bank offers a small one up to $500 (God help the person who overdraws by more than $500!) and there is no annual fee. There is interest that will accrue if you let it go longer than 30 days. It's basically just a line of credit, but covers you in the event something like this happens.

I work in banking and considering the low amount overdrawn and assuming it doesn't happen often, they will likely waive the fee if you contact them ASAP. They'll likely say a "one time courtesy" and urge you to apply for overdraft protection.

At the end of the day, I guarantee Starbuck's will NOT cover those charges. They are not the ones calling things close on your bank account. In a normal circumstance, it would be a non-issue.

 

[smiths02]

I am glad it got worked out OP.

I am not here to criticize because I have made mistakes with fees. Example one...I had two credit cards with two different banks. The banks merged, so then I had two credit cards (one Visa, one Master) with one bank. I THOUGHT I paid one online, but I had paid the other. The bank was kind enough to reverse my late payment charge. Just recently, I paid my Target card a day late, oops, I had to eat the fee (no reason, I had the money, just didn't pay attention enough).

But I highly recommend cash for "fun" money in tight situations rather than an account with a very low balance. It is much easier to keep up with.

 

[Judique]

But I highly recommend cash for "fun" money in tight situations rather than an account with a very low balance. It is much easier to keep up with.

The more cash type fun money I have the faster it goes out the window!

Good luck, OP. I hope you didn't get stuck with a big fee.

 

[North of Mouse]

What are you calling Big Bucks? How does credit Union make $$ from debit purchases?

Have no idea how, but we make more on that, than an interest bearing checking or savings account.

 

[KristenCarll]

I can't understand having any account with a balance of less than $1000. If you keep less than $1k in it, it probably shouldn't be a separate account.

Furthermore, use a credit card. They are free, have rewards, and allow you to not pay for something if someone makes a mistake. In this case, you get Starbucks to fix it before you pay the bill.

Are you serious??? You do realize not everyone has $1000 to leave in an account right????

OP, my sympathy to you. Some of these posts are extremely rude. If you want to spend a couple bucks of YOUR money on Starbucks, GO FOR IT! Heck I have had a few dollars left in my spending account and still spent it at Starbucks. I do not have the ability to leave $1000+ in an account, EVER. We would love to have a buffer, but that is just not always reality for people. Don't let anyone beat you down!