Can a store charge your credit card 4 MONTHS after you've made a purchase?

Question

in addition, i dont have a problem paying for what i receievd, the problem is that it was 4 months later and i wasnt expecting it so now i have a $40 over the limit charge as well, which isnt the compnays fault i know, most things have a time limit though. a payroll check for example "void after 180 days" there is a reason for that. i dont think you should be able to just charge someone anytime you decide to, i bought the item in July they should have charged me in July.

i think some of you are not getting my point. yes I AGREE I should pay for the merchandise as i stated earlier, however I dont "balance" my credit card, its all online and when you use a credit card the transactions usually always go through within 2 days. on top of that i would not balance a check book on the same transactions for over 4 months anyway so you cant really use that as an example but like i said i dont "balance" my credit cards all of my transactions are reconciled online so if something wasnt to be debited i probably wouldnt know. and i have never heard of someone holding more than the amount of purchase i dont think that would be legal in any sence. and on top of that i contacted the merchant and they have been aware of the problem this whole time. the problem affected 100's of people who purchased from this store.they wouldnt let me take the items and pay whenever i wanted to so i dont think they should be able to charge my credit card whenever they want to

Answer 1

Dr. Deth above has the key point: is it a valid charge or not? That matters more than when they processed it.

Answer 2

You have received the item, so of course you should expect to pay for it. And the overcharge is your fault. When you ordered, the amount of credit available to you on that card was reduced. This is called "placing a hold" which, incidentally, does not have to be by the same amount as the amount of the order. In fact, some people are complaining about businesses (gas stations, for example) that are automatically placing a hold for an amount that is way too large just to make sure that they will be able to get paid. If you, on the other hand, need that amount to be available to you, it's just too bad, even if you end up going over the limit without really going over the limit. That is, you would actually charge less but exceed the limit because of the holds.

Within the next few days, either the company is actually charging you, in which case the actual transaction amount replaces the hold, or else the hold expires. However, if you received the goods, of course you can, and probably will, be charged at some point. If by then you cannot pay without going over the limit, you will have to suffer the consequences.

This is somewhat similar to a checking account. If you sign a check, you have to make sure that you have the money in your bank account and that it stays there until the check actually appears on your bank statement. If, for example, you have five hundred dollars and you sign a check for three hundred dollars, you cannot spend more then two hundred dollars (minus whatever you need for bank fees, to keep the bank account open and have a few dollars left, etc.). If you spend the money because you don't think the check will be cashed so quickly, or after a long time but not before the check expires, and then it is cashed when you don't have enough money, you are responsible.

You have the same kind of responsibility when the money in question is not real money but the amount of available credit in the case of credit card transactions, and if you exceed the limit, it's your fault.

Answer 3

You did get the merchandise and you did authorized the debit. I don't understand why after a couple week the debit didn't go thru your account, and you did try to contact the merchant/store to see what is going on? That would have save you the overdraft fee now.....sorry, but you should pay for the merchandise and it is not too late for them to charge you.

Answer 4

Not unless you authorized something. If they forgot to process the transaction, the store should probably cover the over the limit fee. Check your statements from the date of purchase. If it's a double charge, file a chargeback.

Answer 5

Usually not. You need to contact the store. Normally you make a purchase and then there is a charge and then it shows up on your credit card. You need to contact the store and get the whole story.

Answer 6

If you made the purchase using your credit card and it wasn't charged at the time, yes they can. Why not? You got the item, so you have to pay for it.

Answer 7

Dispute the overcharge.

Merchants are required to settle their accounts on a daily basis, just to prevent these things from happening. It's the credit card companies job to police this!

Dispute this and make them remove it, or threaten to stop using the card.

Answer 8

I agree, contact the CC company to see if they will waive the fee.

Answer 9

contact your credit card company..............the number is on the back of the card

Answer 10

if they forgot to process a transaction, they can do it anytime - you got your merchandise didn't you? they should get their money