Anyone charged twice for a booking recently?

[JohnK]

I booked a BNE-SYD return flight on 31 March and the charge appeared on my AMEX credit card the next day.

The AMEX statement for the month then closed with the charge from Virgin Blue.

I look at my credit card account online this morning and notice that there is another charge from Virgin Blue for 31 March for exactly the same amount. I have not booked any other flights since 31 March.

Called Virgin Blue today and was told there is definitely only 1 booking on that day and they do not understand why I have been charged twice. I was told to contact Amex and dispute the transaction.

Called Amex later and was told that this was happening regularly with Virgin Blue recently. Is there any truth to this rumour or was I being told lies? IT problems?

Anyway I am not happy as the charge has put my credit card account above it's limit and it is going to take 5-7 days to be reversed.

 

[fanix]

The EXACT same thing happened to me. Booked a flight about 1.5 weeks ago. Today viewed my statement, and they charged AGAIN yesterday, for the same flight...

Bloody hell...

 

[markis10]

Anyway I am not happy as the charge has put my credit card account above it's limit and it is going to take 5-7 days to be reversed.

Chargeback/dispute rules for Visa and Mastercard require the bank to remove the disputed amount from counting towards any credit limit these days which is good.

12 or so years ago I put a Y return to SIN on my ANZ Visa which was then billed twice by travel.com.au, putting it more than 50% over my credit limit, bank rang me once on a Saturday and I missed the call, they then cancelled my card which was linked to my savings account resulting in no money for the weekend and a painful three weeks getting the mistake fixed and account reinstated. Apparently the credit card section thought it was my fault that I had been billed twice!

 

[fanix]

I called NAB, and apparently It could take up to 60 days to reverse the transaction and get my money back... WTF Virgin Blue... Gsus

 

[Misha]

I did my work Amex account yesterday and found that from early March a flight to Sydney was charged once, but I was hit with the carbon-offset three times. All on same day as three individual transactions.

Won't chase it up as it is a way for our company to contribute to the environment :mrgreen: ...I'm the only one who offsets

 

[oz_mark]

Chargeback/dispute rules for Visa and Mastercard require the bank to remove the disputed amount from counting towards any credit limit these days which is good.

It seems an odd way for Virgin Blue to handle the problem - I would have thought that having lots of chargebacks would not be a good look!

When Qantas made a mystery charge (which they were never able to explain) they reversed it themselves.

 

[JohnK]

Chargeback/dispute rules for Visa and Mastercard require the bank to remove the disputed amount from counting towards any credit limit these days which is good.

Unfortunately my Amex credit limit still includes the disputed charge so I do not have access to these funds.

These companies must think that most people have an endless supply of credit available. Will have to wait the 5-7 days promised by Amex.

 

[Mal]

It seems an odd way for Virgin Blue to handle the problem - I would have thought that having lots of chargebacks would not be a good look!

Yeah seems very strange - and an indication that they don't know themselves how to resolve the issue...

Chargebacks are the last thing a reputable business wants. They cause all sorts of issues with the merchant accounts (eg could affect their merchant rate, trigger a "we don't care any more because you have too many chargebacks" and as a result, any chargeback is closed without question in the cardholder's favour or cause "investigation fees" to be added to their account)

Very strange.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Merchants have an obligation to stay under 1% chargeback ratio as per Visa/Mastercard/Amex agreements. I'm sure DJ is way under the threshold, but at ~$20 per chargeback + fee + pain of dealing with it, refund certainly is easier and cheaper in the long run!