# Free Debit Card Purchases? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094 "2003-09-07T14:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/1 "2003-09-07T14:44:55Z")
Recently my family and I went on a nice long trip to California, and spent a whole bunch of money. We’ve come home to crappy old Wisconsin, and in the course of balancing the checkbooks, we found that we still had way too much money. When we examined it closer it turns out that some (but not all) of the purchases we made with one particular debit card (from a credit union) seem to have been lost forever. Not all from one specific place or time, but spread out over a period of 6 days. We recieved a “free” boat ride, a “free” bar bill, a “free” dinner from a restaurant in LAX, and even a “free” tank of gas from a Wisconsin gas station. All in all it totals approximatly $500.00. Now, whether this is a test, or a gift from God is better left in GD, what I want to know is what are we looking at as far as the absolute best and worst case scenario’s. Assuming I want to pay the money back, is there anyway to fix this without worrying about eventually being double billed for it, how would one go about straightening this payment out, when for all we know the transactions could be in the works somewhere. Also assuming I go the evil route, and decide to keep the money, is there any chance of this eventually coming back to us? I know most checks are considered dead after 3 or 6 months, but does the same limit apply for debit cards, Its only been a month, but in my experience most debit transactions are instant, or near instant. Would we have a legal leg to stand on in disputing it, or is there no "statute of limitations " on debit card purchases. Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/2 "2003-09-07T14:46:31Z")
How long has it been since the trip? It is likely that the business establishments simply haven’t gotten around to posting their debits to your account yet. They sometimes don’t do it right away. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/3 "2003-09-07T15:17:39Z")
I’m with **friedo** on this one. Sometimes it takes up to a week to post on your account. Especially if you used the debit card in “credit card” mode, there can be quite a delay in when the deduction shows up. If this turns out not to be the case, and you ant to go the “honorable route”, call the bank that issued the debit card, and ask them about it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/4 "2003-09-07T15:18:41Z")
Those debts can take as long as 30 days to hit your account, so I wouldn’t spend that money too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/5 "2003-09-07T15:21:43Z")
Whoops thought that I included the dates we made the purchases. I meant to anyway. All of the purchases took place between Aug 8th and the 13th so it has been almost a month. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/6 "2003-09-07T16:28:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ottoerotic \* > \*\*Whoops thought that I included the dates we made the purchases. I meant to anyway. > > All of the purchases took place between Aug 8th and the 13th so it has been almost a month. \*\* If this was just one vendor it might be a salesclerk’s clerical error and you might never see the charge, however, if _all_ the charges made on the card at that time are not yet posted it is _very, very unlikely_ the debts have been “lost” but simply delayed. It’s barely been 30 days since the debts were incurred. If it is an error and not simply a delay, a some point the unpaid vendors will come back against the bank issuing the card, and there will be a reconciliation and correction of the error. If there is an administrative processing error being corrected it may take a month or two (or three) before the correction shows up on your bill, but chances are quite high it will show up at some point in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Tommyturtle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Tommyturtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommyturtle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-debit-card-purchases/200094/7 "2003-09-07T18:02:14Z")
Can you check your debit card account online? I just rechecked my Paypal debit card account and this is what they say: > [@](#): > > My purchase has been ‘Pending’ for over 10 days. Why? > > There are 2 possible reasons: > > The merchant may not have completed this transaction in a timely manner, and they have not sent a final amount to be charged. Because merchants can send a final charge amount 10 days after the date of your purchase, your purchase will continue to be “Pending” until the final charge amount arrives. If nothing arrives after 10 days, your funds will be released automatically on the 11th day. > > The merchant has no intention of actually charging you. Merchants commonly place a hold on customers’ funds, but they may not send a final request amount. If this is the case, your funds will be released automatically after 10 days If those specific transactions are not showing on your bill yet maybe they still have the ten days AFTER they submit the charges and for some reason have not not been charged to you through some error In short I wouldn’t be spending that money just yet If you have visions of keeping that money you might contact your card company and ask them a “hypothetical” question what their policies are on this type of situation I would think there must be some time limit for charging your card since there is for most things to do with debit/credit cards if only so you can dispute charges in a timely manner while you still have your records