WWYD: The Mystery Payment
In this installment of “What Would You Do,” a mystery payment:
A payment was made to my credit card that I didn’t make. The amount was so specific (not a round number, down to the penny) that I was sure that it was a misapplied payment intended for another account. I filled out the online dispute and in the response I was asked to call customer service. When I did they said that the payment was mailed in (I always pay online) and that the payment department verified the payment and it was intended for my account. What would you do? — Amanda
Trying to figure out a mystery payment on a credit card is better than having to figure out an unauthorized credit card charge, and in this situation, I would have done exactly what you did: Call the credit card company and ask about where the payment came from. I would have also asked the customer service rep if it could be possible that a payment is made to a cardholder account by accident, and what happens next if that’s the case. Would I receive a notification about the mistake? Could it be possible that the credit card company wouldn’t realize its mistake until a few years from now and then make a correction then? If the rep can’t provide a clear answer to this, I’d ask him or her to get someone on the phone who could, and then write his or her name down.
No one has access to my account numbers except for me, but I’d also call up my parents to check if maybe one of them made the payment. If the mystery benefactor never reveals herself, I’d continue making my regular payments as usual and pretend like the mystery payment was never applied. That way, if a correction is made later down the line, the account would still be in good standing.
Email me your WWYD experiences to me with “WWYD” in the subject line. See previous installments.
I feel like you did everything you could do, Amanda!
Could you ask for a copy of the check? Otherwise, yup, you did all you can do!
you should get some sort of written confirmation of that. Maybe an e-mail or something? Just so you can prove that you did everything you could, if push comes to shove…
Thanks, everyone! I sent this in and I did do most of the suggestions already. I asked my parents and I have the name of the representative I spoke to along with the time and date of our conversation. I’ve made my payments still and my account is currently overpaid by this payment. I will call one more time to see if they can put it in writing and provide me with a copy of the check used for payment.
Have you asked to see a copy of the check? Most credit card companies have a record retention requirement of 90-180 days for stuff like that so they should be able to send you a record of the payment if it was recent enough. If it was further back they could get it from their bank. The standard retention period for bank deposit items is 7 years.
This happened to me once, and it turned out that my dad had paid my bill secretly. On the one hand, aw, dad, you’re the best. On the other hand, -1000 adult points.
@cliuless I always have serious mixed feelings when my folks give me money or pay for stuff for me! On the one hand: Yay, free stuff! My parents are so sweet/generous! And on the other hand: “Ugh, y’all are retired and I’m in my 30′s and seriously, shouldn’t I be treating you guys now??” and then I feel like a total dingus because of all the adult points I just lost.
I would insist the company send you a copy of the cancelled check that was mailed in, or something. Paypal once deducted $600 from my checking account because of a clerical error involving someone who had a similar name and bank. I would not put it past your credit card company to have made a similar mistake with a payment.