A Penny?

[CancelMyService]

Also, my bank only charges fees if a check overdraws my account. If a debit card purchase puts me over, I just have a balance of negative *amount purchase put me over*. I think they charge if it stays negative for a certain amount of days, but I guess different banks have different rules and fee standards.

[Andara Bledin]

Really? What bank are you with?

^-.-^

[CancelMyService]

Citizen's Bank in PA.

To be honest, I think my account's like that because I got a free upgrade to their more fancy-schmancy checking when I worked for the county many moons ago..

I just know that once or twice in my between-jobs periods I had stuff hit my account before I thought it would, leaving me temporarily negative.

[Andara Bledin]

Other than the rent check fiasco, I haven't overdrafted since my ex stopped being a factor.

I don't even keep a register. I just round all my expenditures up to the next $5 increment and have an idea of what I started with.

^-.-^

[meme]

I didn't believe the customer about the penny putting him over because in order to check out the car in the first place there would have to be $100-$200 available on his card for the deposit.
The glitch could have come from us or Priceline. There's no way to know.
In such situations, most banks will take off the fee if a credit is issued for whatever put them over.

I didn't have a problem him getting a coupon. I just thought it was funny that such a ruckus was caused by a penny.

[Andara Bledin]

Yes, but the deposit is a hold and it counts when figuring things such as overdrafting.

I actually ran into this once with a hotel. They failed to inform me of the hold they were placing on my card when I checked in and it totally fubared my finances for the weekend. I didn't overdraft, but that's only because the bank denied the charge. I ended up writing a check to a friend, and they paid the bill at the restaurant.

Thankfully, they were quite decent about it when I complained at the desk, and removed the hold. Since then I have made a point of blocking everything that can garner extra charges on a room, since I never use them, and if I want them badly enough, I can have the desk re-add them later.

^-.-^

[justZu]

I still find it almost impossible to believe he was exactly up to his limit, to the very penny. He probably made other charges that put him over and is using your company's penny glitch as his excuse. I have had credit cards for many years, and sometimes have been uncomfortably close to(or over) my limit, but I have never heard of anyone being right on the penny, up to the limit. Smells like an excuse to me.

[MrSunshineState]

I would ask for a copy of the customer's credit card terms and conditions for verification. Because most credit cards have a "minimum charge" usually of $0.50 to $1.00.


Speaking as somebody who works in banking, this customer seems to be full of it.

[protege]

Smells like an excuse to me.

It smells like something alright I think it's too much of a coincidence that only a penny would put him over his limit. I think he spent too much with his card, and is now looking for someone to blame.

[draggar]

Why would we assume the customer was lying when the OP mentioned that a computer glitch caused the error?

That one is easy, and I see it quite often with company mistakes. They realize the company made a mistake so they try to get as much out of it as possible.

Now, the fact that one penny put him over his limit is highly improbable, since your average credit card has a limit that a penny wouldn't make a difference ($500, $5000, $10,000 etc..).

So my HUGE question is, was it really thepenny that put him over, in other words, did his next statement show that he owed Limit+$0.01? If that is the case, then yes, the penny put him over, but what about the 'hold' rental car companies put on your card? Could that have caused it? Interest and fees could have also put it over.

[volatile]

The customer was probably lying. Unless he actually produced evidence that would show that the penny caused the overdrafting. Either way, if a PENNY caused him to go over then the dude is stupid to begin with if he can't manage his money. If he has that little money how was he planning on filling the tank back up before he returns the car? He woulda been hit with a fee for not topping off anyway.

[Boozy]

I think its highly likely the customer was lying about the penny putting him over.

But I don't think that matters. You guys have a glitchy computer. Glitchy computers can make costly mistakes.

Your company needs to accept this as a relatively cheap lesson and fix the computers before they cause a customer more significant problems.

[digilight]

Question. Was the penny "charge" actually a charge or was it a open ended hold. Where the car rental company does an authorization for a penny at the time of rental to make sure that the card is valid to hold the card open for charges at the end for damage and fuel (if not returned full). This was my first thought when I heard the scenario. Chances are if the guy was telling the truth (doubt it) but I agree with most everyone else on the fact that the company should cover the OD fee. But how in the hell to you blow up your card to exactly max without going over (you gotta take into account finance charges will be accrued unless paid in full before the xx # of days) so I call BS on his story.

[Andara Bledin]

Not necessarily.

I could, right this second, drop my bank account to precisely $0 and a single penny charged without my putting money back in first would play havoc with my finances.

For most applications, my bank card is no different than a secured credit card.

^-.-^

[mrtauntaun]

It is possible he is lying, sure. But it is also possible and quite easy to verify this. Just have the customer fax in a copy of his banking records to show that .01 did in fact put him over his limit.

Improbable? Most certainly. But it is possible.