Am i Liable for purchases that went through on a depleted gift card?

Question

I didn't know my balance was just over $1.00, and when the card was processed it was aproved for a purchase of $23.89. Now the gift card company is trying to get me for fraud.

This was a Visa giftcard i received for christmas that origanally had $50.00 on it.

Answer 1

The fault is with Visa, they could try and come after you, but not the store. Tell the store that you did not commit fraud, the Visa Computer lost track of the balance. The store is contacting you because getting the money out of Visa will be as hard as squeezing blood out of a stone. Simply claim ignorance, "I wasn't sure what the balance on the card was. It is Visa's fault for authorizing the purchase."

Visa will probably not come after you because it was there mistake. They are responsible for it and either they or the store will eat the loss, probably the store; it depends on the size of the store and how much clout they have.

Keep referring the store to Visa, only if Visa tries to come after you will you need to worry about getting a lawyer. The store is trying to panic you into paying, but although you did commit fraud, Visa should have caught it and they are responsible for it. You can always claim that you did not know the remaining balance on the card.

Answer 2

If what you are saying is that you used your card to purchase $23.89 worth of stuff and they accepted the card as payment for the purchase, if they can prove that it only had $1.00 of value left, then someone made a mistake at checkout time. You have 2 options, return the property that you have not paid for, or pay the remainder of your obligation.

What if you sold something to a friend for $25 and he put a check in an envelope for $1.00. You didn't open it until after he left and noticed that it was only $1.00. Would you simply write that off or would you call up your friend and explain the mistake? Why would that be any different for a company?
If the company can prove the value that had been on the card and you refuse to pay, then I would certainly think they could press charges if they wanted to.

Answer 3

Any idiot, or idiot company, can sue anyone for anything.

When the gift card was depleted, they should no longer have accepted $ against it.

You should not have to keep track of how much $ is left on it.

This was not fraud.
It was incompetence by whatever organization accepted transaction against the depleted gift card.

However, you still owe someone for the value of what you got ... either the store or Visa. Make sure that when you do the payoff, you get something in writing with the receipt agreeing that this is in full settlement to pay off for the product where the error was not yours.

So if one of those clowns comes after you later demanding more money, such as finance charges or interest, you have the signed agreement that you paid in full, and the original mistake was not yours, so the extra should be paid by whoever's mistake it wa.

Answer 4

Yes. I don't care whose fault it was that you were able to use the card. You received merchandise when you were not entitled to receive it. So, in essence, you were unjustly enriched by using a depleted gift card.

I think this should be a civil matter rather than a criminal fraud matter. You are probably being threatened by somebody in a collections department of Visa who thinks he can scare you by threatening a criminal prosecution.

Answer 5

Of course you're liable. If you bought something that was priced at twenty dollars and you pulled out a ten and the clerk accidentally accepted it don't you think you owe the store ten bucks? If not, it's no wonder you get your ethical standards from yahoo questions. Jeez.

Answer 6

Return the item.

Answer 7

Probably not, IF what you say is all that happened. If you are leaving things out, that would change things. I suggest you go talk to an attorney.