What can I do about this? Debit card charged 7 months late!

So, the on-campus market here at Western Washington University began taking credit and debit cards for transactions in September of last year. I frequently purchase drinks or a burrito, despite the fact that the market is run by Sodexho. The university just informed us that purchases made from October to December of 2006 were not charged to the bank. They are just now charging these purchases.

Unfortunately, the odd $3.75 purchase will slip by me as I try and keep track of my bank balance. When the various lunches I had purchased back in October were all charged together, I received an overdraft fee on my checking account. Is there any legal recourse I can seek against the school? This was a human error on the part of the market management. Can I do anything about this or am I stuck with a $35 overdraft fee because of someone else's mistake? (Before criticizing me for seeking legal action over $35, remember that this is happening to thousands of other students...)

but basically it was your responsibility to keep track and/or hunt down the discrepancies.

someone sold it to you in good faith (I assume), you owe it.

I never balanced my checking account in college and just before graduation I thought I didn't have enough $ to rent my cap and gown. I went to work in the cafeteria to make up what I thought was the shortfall. Months later I realized that I had a positive balance and had not needed to work at all to graduate. BALANCE YOUR BOOKS! Lesson learned!

Send them a paper letter, with a cc to your student gov't body and the manager of your bank branch, explaining that you were charged an overdraft because you were not informed that this charge would be placed on your account, and that you expect within a month that the overdraft fee would be reimbursed to you by Sodexho. Give them a deadline of 1-2 weeks for a reply.

Do that and you never have to worry.

against the school. What am I missing? :shrug:

You are supposed to have the money in your account to cover all withdrawals. I always deduct them at the time of purchase in my checkbook. They should have charged you for them back then. However it's not their fault you are overdrawn.

I had a charge that took about one week to go through. This pissed me off. I talked to them and they said their policy is 90 days for a charge to get processed. I use a credit union.

They also said Wal-Mart consistently waits forever to push through charges.

Bank of America is not really known for its lenient policies. I think my best hope is to write the manager of our Dining Services (which oversees the markets on campus) to ask for reimbursement. Normally I keep up to date on my charges, but after 7 months those small charges slip through the cracks.

They fucked me over so bad a couple of years ago. Long story short. I made a deposit at the ATM for $20. I had about $1500 in my account at the time. I had accidentally put a receipt into the ATM instead of the check. I was talking to a co-worker at the time and slightly distracted. The next night I went out to dinner, my card was rejected when I went to pay the bill, they suspended my account. My girlfriend at the time picked up the tab. So I call the bank and they tell me I need to go to the branch I started my account at to reset the account. The problem.. I started my account in Eugene and I was living in Portland. How the fuck do I get 120 miles without any money? They were not helpful. I did end up getting to Eugene and I closed my account on the spot.

And hey, I went to see The Decemberists the other night to. Good show.
http://www.last.fm/user/johnpowell/

Looks like we have some artist in common.

They played their last show of the tour here at WWU. Great show, though they seemed a little tired from touring.

Talk to a manager there. Tell them if they don't reimburse you for the overdraft fees, you'll bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to campus before you'll buy another burrito from them. And you'll tell all your friends about it, too.

You can balance your checkbook online every day. It takes five minutes and is well worth it. Pay the fee and consider it a good lesson.

Really? Never thought of that... The fact that it takes a week for many card transactions to show up anyway makes it pretty easy to let small purchases like this slip by. The problem comes when they charge 15 small purchases 7 months later. Thanks for your advice. :sarcasm:

processed.. My son had the same thing happen to him.. He had $60 dollars in bank charges for a total of about $7 worth of stuff :grr:

It's worth a try to see if either BofA will revoke the charge or if the vendor will make some remediation, but either way chalk up this experience as a life lesson.

The bottom line is that once you authorize a transaction the money should be treated as spent. If you don't want to keep a running list of these small transactions that haven't been charged against your account then you need to keep a bigger balance so that you don't get surprised again.

Did the vendor ever assert that you would be charged immediately? Probably not. They had a screw up at their end of things and it worked in your favor until the day they charged the account. Had you kept the money in the account in anticipation of those charges you'd still be ahead of the game because they in effect gave you a seven month loan.

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR FUCKING ACCOUNT.

I still have checks left!" :-(

Ultimately you did make the charge and you are responsible for paying the fee. Consider it a lesson learned, (and $35 is a cheap lesson).

Welcome to the real world.

It is up to you to keep accurate records of payments you authorize. Whether the vendor posts those payments promptly or waits, you have no control over.

I do know that sometimes actual checks are void after 90 days, maybe you can go at it from that angle.

to make sure you keep you account balanced. Keep your receipts from all debit card purchases and make sure they get charged to your account within a week.

I still prefer the old fashioned way.....budget how much money you need to live on before your next paycheck and keep it out in cash. Pay your bills through bill pay, set aside your savings and direct your investments, then go to the ATM, get your cash out and put the card away. You only have to go to the ATM once and you can pay cash for what you need on a day to day basis.

Sorry, but this was not someone elses mistake. Taking a victim's position is always easier but live and learn not to let it happen again and go on.