So I just received a long distance call from an elderly woman. She verified my name and explained that she was calling about some flowers I sent to my best friend back in Feb 08 (She gave me the name and address).
“I know you may not realize this, but that charge never went through. Can you give me that credit card again?”
I was a little stunned, and told the woman I was at work and would have to call her back. I took down her phone number, and she said she realized it was a long time ago but her books had been a mess and she was trying to straighten them out.
Of course, I’ll check back through my records and journals. It’s common practice for me to send flowers from time to time - and I generally use local places. It all seems vaguely familiar.
But 26 months after the fact? Doesn’t that seem a little past the statute of limitations?
Don’t speak to her again? That sounds like massive scambait and it isn’t your problem anymore even if it is legit for some bizzare reason. If you feel really guilty, have her put together the documentation for exactly what it was, how much it costs, the date when it was sent, and who it was sent to and have her mail you the information to research and decide what to do. DO NOT just give her your credit card. You can call the credit card company yourself to see if it was ever processed if you don’t have the statements from that time period.
If the charge didn’t go through, did your friend get the flowers? And don’t businesses usually know right away if a charge doesn’t go through? And if she has your name and phone number, why doesn’t she have the credit card info?
Maybe I just don’t understand the process, but it sounds suspicious.
That credit card number from '08 wouldn’t work - I’ve had 2 new credit card numbers issued to me since '08. The card was issued through my bank - so I’m going to call them tonight after work.
I think it is probably a scam. She needs to reprocess a credit from 26 months ago? Check your statement and see if it was processed. Check with your friend and see if they remember getting flowers from you at that time. Then if it all adds up get a mailing address where you can send a payment with a cashier’s check.
No. Even if it’s not a scam, the onus is on them to keep track of their books. They must not need the money if it takes them that long to notice that it never went through.
Even if it is legit, so what? It was over two years ago. I wouldn’t pay it. You acted in good faith at the time, and she acted unprofessionally. Her inability to properly run a business is her issue, not yours. I’d consider the case closed, and say so. NO WAY would I try finding out anything about what happened; whether the charge went through, if the friend got flowers, nothing. That falls squarely under the file headed NOT MY PROBLEM.
I can pull statements myself for free from my American Express for the past 5 years. If she asked nicely and it was for a significant amount I’d probably check a year’s worth and then give her the number if I couldn’t find a record of the charge.
Looks like I can only go 3 months back for free on my Mastercard. So, sorry dear - you get to go to a lot more effort to persuade me if you claim it was on my Mastercard.
I would say I’m very sorry, but my records don’t go back that far so I can’t help you. Whoever was formerly in charge of your books should have done a better job to resolve this in a timely manner. Have a nice day. Goodbye.
Whatever you do, calling the credit card is basically useless- if they say no charge ever happened all that proves is no charge ever happened, which, if a scam, proves nothing. If you talk to her again, a fun way to determine if its a scam is to bait her. Sound totally unskeptical, and tell her, well I checked the credit card, and there was no charge. Are these for the flowers I sent to Sue McDonald for her anniversary in 2008?"
If she says yes, she’s obviously either a scammer or a liar, though keep in mind that if she doesn’t say yes, that certainly doesn’t prove its not a scam.
Well, these things do happen. I bought a bottle of wine at a wine fair, and the woman operating the portable credit-card gadget had never used it before. I noticed about a week or so later that the charge had never gone through, called the winery, and they confirmed that, indeed, they’d screwed up the charge. I gave them my credit card number, they thanked me for being an honest sort, and that was that.
This was just a week’s delay, though - and I wouldn’t have bothered, except that it was genuinely very good wine, and I think people should be compensated when they do good work. I’d have felt bad if these folks didn’t get paid.
Two years is nuts, though. I’d stick with “I’m sorry, I can’t readily verify a transaction from two years ago.”
If their books are such a mess that they missed a transaction from two years ago, it’s possible (maybe even likely) that the charge did go through and their records are just screwed up. You paid it, but they don’t have a record of it.
I MIGHT pay it if they could absolutely prove it was never paid, but I’m not sure what I’d accept as proof.
As a legal (hypothetical) question, and not an ethical one, can you just decide not to pay for it? They offered a service. You agreed on a price and offered payment. At what point can you say, “Not my problem”?
26 months? It’s kind of crazy to be trying to call in debts due to poor management.
Having said this if you clearly remember the purchase, and if there is no charge on your CC records corresponding to this purchase, from an ethical perspective (I did make the purchase after all) I might send her a check or a money order, but no way on giving her my credit card number again.
They cannot possibly say with certainty that the charge did or didn’t go through. They’ve admitted that they have no idea what the hell they’re doing. How could I know they aren’t wrong now? I’m all for paying what I owe, but more than two years later is preposterous.
Having said that, people calling you and asking for a credit card number is the very definition of a scam. **You should never give your credit card information to someone who calls you and asks for it. **Never, never, never, never, never, no matter how nice they sound. My answer would have been, “I’m really sorry, but I won’t give my credit card information to someone who calls me and asks for it, that’s very poor security practice and would be very unwise of me.”