Unauthorized charges?

[king1]

Madge,
Joining RCI about five years ago was one of my stellar decisions. Now 55 or so exchanges later, I've been mostly happy with your company. I've trusted RCI with my credit card info and let them charge my account over the years, with only minor complaints--until now.
Several days ago a check of my CC account showed charges for fifteen exchanges in one day; exchanges that I didn't make or know anything about. That $2460 did show up as a credit in my RCI account, so it wasn't really used for any exchanges. I called RCI, wound my way through all the phone hoops, long holds, and rude, incompetent guides to finally get a supervisor who pledged to take care of things. While all this was going on, three MORE $164 charges showed up on my CC, with no offsetting credit in my RCI account this time.
The problem has now been fixed on RCI's end; my account credit has disappeared, but there is still the little detail of over $3,000 charged to my card.
My question is this: What can I do to insure that RCI doesn't unilaterally charge me in the future? One of the people that worked on this implied that it was all because of my reliance on INTERNET trading. Online trading is the only kind that I can live with, so hopefully we can find a solution that doesn't require me to do my exchanges on the phone.

 

[BKnTsDad]

Well, if your CC is citibank they have something called virtual account numbers. Basically it's a one-time use card number you generate online at their site. Once it's used once, it's no good anymore so there can't be duplicate or unauthorized charges. I use it whenever I buy anything online.

Not a terrific solution for you, especially if you're not a citi cardholder, but it's something.

 

[johnmfaeth]

The previous suggestion is a good one. Another to consider is to supply the card number of a $25 Visa gift card. Then any charges will be declined. Use your real card when you do a real trade but do not have your real card as the primary card on file.

 

[jlwquilter]

Tell Me More?

Well, if your CC is citibank they have something called virtual account numbers. Basically it's a one-time use card number you generate online at their site. Once it's used once, it's no good anymore so there can't be duplicate or unauthorized charges. I use it whenever I buy anything online.

Not a terrific solution for you, especially if you're not a citi cardholder, but it's something.

I've been a Citicard holder for year (heck, used to work for them!) and haven't heard of this (not surprising though). Is there a cost to have a virtual number produced? Are you limited to X numbers in a certain timeframe? Is the virtual number generation instantaneous? I assume the transaction is credited to the "real" credit card...?

It sounds like a great idea - I do alot of on-line purchasing.

 

[janapur]

I had a similar experience with RCI charging me for additional exchanges which I never made. It was corrected with a phone call, but still very disturbing. I need to check my account online more frequently so one doesn't slip by undetected.

 

[Madge]

king1,

We have seen situations in the past where the member receives an error message just when he is trying to process the payment. If he uses the back button and tries again, he can be processing charges each time. However, you guys are so web savvy that I find it hard to imagine that's what was happening in your case.

Please send an e-mail to feedback@rci.com with Attn: Madge in the subject line. I'd like to review your account to see what may have happened.

We take the handling of our members' credit card information very seriously. I'm sorry to hear that this happened - it is indeed alarming.

One thing I might suggest is that you ask us to "hide" your most recent credit card transaction (this is what creates the number on file). That way, the Guide must get the number from you each time you call.

 

[king1]

Madge,
It seems to me that this wasn't an operator error--I avoid calling like the plague, and all my recent transactions have been on line. I think I may have put a week on hold at that time, and charged the 164; then the next charge was another 164, then 328, then 492, then 656, then 820(all multiples of 164).
All of those monies were credited to my account. The last three later 164 charges are different since there was no activity to trigger them, and they didn't show up as a credit--that money is just gone!
I'll send an email, but I'd like to request a complete and detailed review of my account for at least two years with all charges and credits identified. I can surely be forgiven for wanting to know if this has happened before. My holding and exchanging habits make it very difficult to keep track of my account, even for me. It would be much simpler for both of us if holds didn't require a payment.
You still have over $3,000 of my money.

 

[jimbiggs]

king1,

All your friends here at TUG thank you for the free exchanges.

I know. That's not funny. Hope your problem gets resolved soon.

 

[BKnTsDad]

I've been a Citicard holder for year (heck, used to work for them!) and haven't heard of this (not surprising though). Is there a cost to have a virtual number produced? Are you limited to X numbers in a certain timeframe? Is the virtual number generation instantaneous? I assume the transaction is credited to the "real" credit card...?

No limit to the number of virtual numbers generated. No charge to use it. Generates it right away (I go there after I start the checkout process at an online retailer). You can download an app to your local pc or generate them via the web. Yes they get charged to the real card. There's nothing on your statement to distinguish them actually. You can sign back in to the Virtual Account Number system to see which ones are active, which ones were used for what and close the unused ones (e.g. if you use one to reserve a rental car or something and it never gets charged). It's really a cool system.

Look for the box at the top right next to the sign out button when you log into your Citicard account online.

 

[Madge]

Madge,
I'd like to request a complete and detailed review of my account for at least two years with all charges and credits identified.

king1,

Be sure to include this request in your e-mail and the Communications Team can be sure you get the statement.

 

[king1]

Madge,
This may not be relevant, but my account has quite a few duplicate entries.
My one ongoing search is shown twice.
There are 36 confirmed exchanges listed, but only 21 should be. Three should be in "history" since they are history. Twelve are duplicates.
Could this be the source of some of those extra charges? It seems unlikely to me, since most of the duplicates are not recent exhanges and the incorrect charges are all very recent.

There is still no credit on my CC account. Why can your charges reach my account faster than the speed of light(I know what Albert said), but the credits take days?

 

[king1]

Some good news this morning. There is a $2296 credit on my CC. Still about $656 to go by my rough figures.

 

[Madge]

king1,

Glad to hear the refunds are starting to appear. The process on our end for putting charges through is pretty much the same as it is for refunds. Credits are delivered to our credit card processor, Chase Bank, same-day or next-day. They take 24 hours to get the credit to your bank. From there, it's all up to your bank.

Debit cards tend to be processed very quickly; however, credit cards can take up to 30 days. I personally don't see delays quite that long, but up to a week or two is not unusual.

 

[king1]

Madge,
It looks like my account is in balance, or nearly so. Due to large amounts of activity and poor record keeping on my part, I can't say for sure. Your people are going to work up a complete history of charges and credits for me to compare with my confirmations. Until that gets done, I'm suspending my trading. Then when activity starts again with a clean slate, I can record every transaction and know for certain about my account. I've been very pleased with the way this has been handled after it happened, but less than happy with the fact that RCI can just wildly charge thousands of dollars to my account. This all happened within one monthly CC cycle and didn't entail any over limit charges, but that might have been different. I suspect that somebody at RCI is already working to see that it doesn't happen again.

 

[Madge]

king1,

This is definitely the kind of scenario RCI wants to avoid for its members!

 

[Nona]

Does anyone know if calling Rci would be a better way to avoid this from happening in the future?