Host Order Mistake: How to Fix Overcharged Pantry Items & Avoid Bank Fees

[jkinak]

I agree with whoever said you need to see a statement showing your $8 overcharge started the domino effect. As a full time banker, people always say it was the fees that caused the snowball of fees, but when you look at their purchases without fees, they are usually overspending.

OK-banker hat off....

 

[jesusluvsu2005]

I agree, ask to see the statement. How do you honestly know it wasn't the $23 charge that would have done it, kwim? The only thing you have to go by is her word and honestly, if you don't even have that much in the bank you shouldn't be buying anything but neccessities.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I feel so sick about this..... I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!

I agree I think I'll ask her to meet w/me at her bank so we can get it straigtend out together.

The big kicker is this person was supposed to have a show w/her daughter - which she now cancelled. Probably a good thing for me if she doesn't have any money.

I also have more shows scheduled with this group of people. I'm sure this story is going to get around the office!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Sigh. I wish I had answers for you.

These kinds of things can snowball rather quickly.

One Christmas, I went to Bestbuy.com and reserved some video games for my nephews. Best Buy put a hold on my card.

I went the next day to pick up the items. Best Buy HIT my card.

The bank treated these as 2 separate charges which both hit ... on the day after Christmas.

I didn't know about it until I went to return an item.

By the time I was able to do anything about it, the bank had tacked on fee after fee after fee after fee ... just for having "continuous overdrafts." They totaled up to $200 in fees, all for something that would not have been overdrawn AT ALL had Best Buy hit my card only once and had my bank not charged me continuous overdraft fees.

The bank agreed to refund all of them, but only if I could get a letter from Best Buy stating what happened. A friend of mine said, "Good luck. You're dealing with an organization that is slightly less bureaucratic than the federal government." I talked to various people from their call center in India who pronounced my name "Day In" and sent me various e-mails in broken English.

I have never shopped at Best Buy since.

 

[jesusluvsu2005]

Rhonda, I hope everything gets straightened out for you. Please keep us updated.

I also don't know for sure she's going to advertise what happened unless she takes it completely out of context. Because ultimately once someone gets to thinking about it they'll realize that she shouldn't have spent money she didn't have.

Try not to worry too much. *hugs*

 

[jesusluvsu2005]

Diane,
Did you eventually get your fees refunded? How horrible!
God bless,
Amanda

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Thank you for all the great support you guys are giving me. I'm in tears now since the shock is wearing off. I hate that I made any mistake at all! I am a perfectionist. I did have a couple other orders from this same show that I was overpaid for (they were outside orders). I attached the refund in envelopes attached to the receipts. I had a note to call this person and tell them about the charge - I just forgot!! I will never do this again (put in a higher amount in PP before calling) - lesson learned. I hope all of you can learn from my mistake!

 

[pamperedpals]

Oh Rhonda, I do agree that you should meet her at the bank.

Good luck hon and I will thinking about you.

 

[byrd1956]

I agree with whoever said you need to see a statement showing your $8 overcharge started the domino effect. As a full time banker, people always say it was the fees that caused the snowball of fees, but when you look at their purchases without fees, they are usually overspending. QUOTE]

I agree w/Jill, although I have no banking background. Go w/her to the bank; show her empathy. Pay the $8 and one fee. Maybe send an apology note afterwards along w/a Season's Best.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Nope, I never got the money back. Ironic thing is that this is the account I use exclusively for PC business ...

Sounds like she would have been a PIA as a host, anyway!

 

[KellyTheChef]

Rhonda...

I don't have any other ideas than the ones stated here...just wanted to tell you that I feel for you! I know that sinking feeling in the bottom of your stomach when something goes so wrong. I pray that you are able to work things out fairly! Don't beat yourself up about this (you have done that enough)!!

{{{HUGS}}}

 

[cookinmama]

That is why I belong to a Credit Union and not a bank. No fee like that, thank goodness

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well I called and left a voice mail for the customer. I said, "Hi this is Rhonda I received your message." "I am so sorry this happend." "I would like to work with you and your bank to get this resolved." "I have also contacted the Pampered Chef and am trying to find out if I can get the credit back to your account."

We will see if she calls me. I would say if my $8.54 didn't really make the difference she won't call me back.

The PC amount cleared her bank. This means she would have had $8.54 less in her account. If that next check was for more then $9.00 she would have bounced anyway!

She stated she didn't want to have a show, which I think she had decided anway because I had called her 3 times to set up the time so I could get her packet out to her and she never called me! Funny she called about the bouncing after I called to get a show time.

I'm just going to do what I can do to mend.

 

[GourmetGirl]

Rhonda, it sounds like you did what you could on your end. I hope this gets resolved quickly for you!

 

[pamperedpals]

Rhonda it is now time to bless and release, because you have done everything you can until (if) she calls you back.

 

[janetupnorth]

That is why I belong to a Credit Union and not a bank. No fee like that, thank goodness

Credit Unions do have fees like that if you have overdraft protection.

 

[peichef]

wow -- how did I miss this!?! Rhonda, I agree with Kelly to stop beating yourself up. You're human, and we all make mistakes. For 90% of your customers, an extra $8 would not be a big deal -- some would probably wondered why you called them abut such a small price adjustment.
I find it interesting that she didn't bother to tell you about the bank charges until you called her -- though perhaps she had lost your contact info?
As some others have said, fix the $8 difference & maybe pay the first overdraft fee, once you've seen that your $8 is what started the ball rolling.
Cut yourself some slack. It just goes to show what a kind & honest person you are that you have taken this to heart

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well I heard back from HO. They say I am responsible for the ALL overdraft charges if the overage did start the snowball. They said I need to get a copy of the bank statement as soon as possible showing the trans. 2-3 days before to current. I'm going to try to call the customer again.!

I just called the customer and asked for her (sounded like one of her children). They said, "just a minute." I could hear talking and then I was told she is in the shower. I asked if they could leave a msg. for her to call me. They said yes. I asked if they needed my number and they said, "No, we have caller ID. I asked them to relay the msg. that I spoke w/the Pampered Chef and we would like to take care of the situation." They said okay. We will see if I get a call back. If I don't I am going to send a registered letter tomorrow.

 

[janetupnorth]

Well I heard back from HO. They say I am responsible for the AAL overdraft charges if the overage did start the snowball. They said I need to get a copy of the bank statement as soon as possible showing the trans. 2-3 days before to current. I'm going to try to call the customer again.!

Who did you speak to in HO? Knowing how O/D protection works, I have a hard time believing your $8.00 caused the snowball and if it did, you only should be responsible for 1 charge because the other charges would have happened anyway. You'd have to see the statement to play out the scenario of when each happened. That will tell the true story rather than assuming!

Also, make sure you speak to the bank, since you are "responsible" instead of the customer of yours the bank will probably waive the rest of the charges for you.

Good luck fixing it!!!!

Also, claim this on your taxes as a business expense!

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I spoke to the Solutions Center Manager. She spoke to Finance about it.

I just want to let others know. Do not make this same mistake. Be very careful when you input your shows.

 

[Addie4TLC]

Who did you speak to in HO? Knowing how O/D protection works, I have a hard time believing your $8.00 caused the snowball and if it did, you only should be responsible for 1 charge because the other charges would have happened anyway. You'd have to see the statement to play out the scenario of when each happened. That will tell the true story rather than assuming!

Also, make sure you speak to the bank, since you are "responsible" instead of the customer of yours the bank will probably waive the rest of the charges for you.

Good luck fixing it!!!!

Also, claim this on your taxes as a business expense!

I just read this thread. I feel so bad for you. I once charged a credit card twice on two different shows!! The customer had been to both shows but paid cash on one. The husband called to tell me of the error and he was not a happy camper!! The good thing is that they were not the "day to day" type. I was sooooo embarrassed that since she bought the grill pan, I gave them the grill press that I got for free in pan o rama. He was happy with that.


I sure hope that what Janet says happens and when they realize it was your error they will credit the extra charges.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Thanks Addie. I figured I wasn't the only one to do this, but mine is just ugly.

I have not gotten a call from the customer yet. I would think she would want to call me back since I said we want to take care of it. I'm starting to wonder if she would have overdrafted anyway and is just telling her husband it's because of the over charge by PC. Who knows. If I don't hear from her by 9 p.m. I will really wonder.

 

[Addie4TLC]

I'm thinking the same thing!! If I were her I would have jumped at that phone if I knew it was you and you were at fault... even if I was in the shower!! Don't stress anymore. This is starting to take a strange turn. She was probably just looking to blame someone. You have handled yourself professionally and sharing this story has also helped us all.

 

[ChefLisa]

Rhonda,

If she does not call you back, I do not recommend sending a letter. The ball is in her court right now. If she is not willing to call you back, then you can consider the matter closed.

If she does contact you, I definitely would work with her bank and see if you can get the charges refunded.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

The only thing that scares me about her not contacting me is the longer the fees go on the more I will have to pay! I need to get the snowball stopped. If I prove in a letter I tried to take care of it I have a date I can stop being responsible for them.

 

[pamperedlinda]

How much over $200 are her bank fees?

Because, the way I'm reading this and the math I'm doing do not add up.

If your $8.54 error caused her check to bounce then her subsequent checks had to total less than $44.54. I'm going to base my math on $200 since I don't know the exact amt that her bank charged her. So, let's assume that all she had in her bank account was $44.54and just enough to cover her checks (which I highly doubt that she's running her finances THAT tightly) that means that your error caused her to have 5 1/2 bounced checks (which isn't likely so we'll call it 5 fees). That would mean that her average check amount was $8.90 - again, an amount that is highly unlikely unless she is a college student and with the use of debit cards these days, why would she write a check for such a small amount when her bank probably limits her number of free checks each month or charges her a fee for each check?

I personally believe this woman made her own mathmatical errors and she's trying to lay all the blame on you, she probably didn't record some debit card transactions. You need to find out how much the subsequent checks were for that bounced and the order they were presented. Anything over $44.54 is her responsibility - I think you should pay the fees for the checks totaling up to $44.54 because they would have cleared w/o your error. (take the checks in the order they were presented, do not add up the lowest check amts). If the first check that bounced was for $30 then pay that fee, if the one after it was for $25, then don't pay that fee because it would have bounced - kwim?

I hope this makes sense to you. Do the math - she's playing you.

Here's my math:
$200 - bank fees
-$8.54 - your addition error
-$36.00 - bank fee b/c of check #1
-$36.00 - bank fee b/c of check #2
-$36.00 - bank fee b/c of check #3
-$36.00 - bank fee b/c of check #4
-$36.00 - bank fee b/c of check #5
-$35.00 - bank fee b/c of check #6
$224.50 - total fees and your debit error that cleared.

 

[Addie4TLC]

I'm very impressed Linda!! Yes, this reeks of foul play!! She is probably worried you have figured it out and are calling her to rub it in. She has no evidence to present to you or she would be calling you and wanting to take you to her bank.

 

[pamperedlinda]

Thanks Addie, I used to work in banking and had to do alot of Teller audits :yuck:

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I believe it is not due to the $8.54 overage either. That is why I will not pay anything until I have her bank acount info from 2-3 days before through current. If a check came in for more then $8.54 on the same day the debit from PC did then she would have been over anyway!

It is 9 p.m. and she has not called me. I'm beginning to think she has told her husband it was the PC's fault - just a thought.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well I spoke to my director she said she would try calling her one more time. So I tried again, with no answer. Left her a VM just stating I hope she got the msg. I called. I would like to take care of the overage and work with her and her bank. Please call me at "my numbers."