How do I deal with a credit card transaction mistake?

Question

Last July, I attended a trade show to sell and promote my products. I processed credit cards manually and made a mistake w/ one transaction and over charged a customer by $80. She called my attention after she received her bill and I profusely apologized for the mistake. We both agreed that I will I send her a check for the refund. Then in October, my checking account had been breached and the bank closed it. I transfered my account to another bank. Yesterday, Nov. 2, this lady called me, extremely irrate, threatening to ruin my business' reputation. She said she tried to cash my check JUST YESTERDAY and of course it bounced! I explained what happened and offered to send her another check but she's demanding that I pay her the bank surcharge and interests. Should I be responsible for this? I mean, I understand that I made a mistake.....but wait for 2 months before cashing a check and now demanding that I pay interests and surcharges ?! Does this make sense to anyone?!

Answer 1

Regardless of how long she waited to cash the check, the credit card mistake was ultimately an error on your part. You should send her the $80 and also cover any bank charges she incurred as a result, along with a note apologizing for the error. Mistakes happen, but it's how you deal with them that will leave lasting impressions on your customers and the reputation of your business.

Answer 2

Make good the check, pay the bank fees.

I don't know what 'interests' she could be claiming, especially since she sat on the check so long.
Have her list all the charges, then tell her you will send a cashiers check or USPS money order, her preference, for $xx.xx -- just add the bank fees to the $80 & ignore the rest.

If she argues, say it was your mistake, this settlement will cover her losses, and it is what you believe is fair.

If you are going to do business at trade shows you must act like a business person.

You have undoubtedly lost any future business with this woman. She can not ruin your business' reputation. She could haul you into court, wasting everyone's time & money -- some people do that. This is a business risk for everyone.

You have to do the right thing because people will know if you are a cut corner person. It is so easy to spot, believe me.

Answer 3

She probably shouldn't have waited 2 months to cash the check, but when your account was closed, did you look to see if there were any outstanding checks? And do you have any more like that which could come back to bite you? Maybe you might have contacted those recipients at the time.

Maybe by discussing that both of you might be at fault, you could agree to split the difference of the additional charges.

If she is more headache than it's worth, then maybe you can just let her know that the first mistake was yours, the second mistake was hers, you'll send her a cashier's check for the original amount, and thank her for her business, but you're not willing to take abuse for any further business.

I guess it depends on how big an account she is or could become, and how much influence she really has.

You should check out Timothy Ferriss' The 4-hour Workweek for his story about how he came to understand that the majority of his clients that were taking up the majority of his time yet only accounted for a small percentage of his sales. It's the 80/20 rule at work.

Answer 4

You are responsible for the lady's incurred expenses. It's not HER fault that you screwed up her credit purchase in the first place, and it's not HER fault that you had issues with your bank checking account.

If you had done your bookkeeping properly, you would have realized that this woman had not yet cashed your check, and that you still had an outstanding liability. At that point, you should have called or written the woman, explaining that this account was to be closed and that you would issue different form of payment.