I comb through mine line by line every month and I often find unauthorized charges and mistakes. Usually little charges here and there... small mistakes that add up. I always take the time to call and get the charges corrected. This month, I'm thankful that I took the time to check my statement and balance my account. I found a charge of $295.00 that I did not make.
In August I stayed at a hotel in Orange County. The La Quinta Inn Costa Mesa. (By the way if you like to breathe don't stay there, it is located right on the 405 Freeway... literally.) You walk out the door of your room and your view is the freeway - the noise and the smog level are toxic. The service was great and the people were nice but the location is horrible!
Back to my credit card story... I paid for the hotel in advance via Travelocity. Everything went smoothly until now, when I opened my credit card statement. The La Quinta Inn charged me $295.00 on a random day during the middle of my stay. I called La Quinta they had no record of the charge and didn't know how to help me with the problem. I called my credit card company and they offered to reverse the charge and deal with La Quinta directly. My credit card company (United Visa - Chase Card Services) has great customer service. In the end after about an hour of phone calls, transfers and being put on hold I got my $295.00 back.
Just thought I'd share this story as a reminder to check and balance your credit card statements every month. You might be losing money you aren't even spending.
2 comments:
I agree! This is an easy thing to do, and I think most people don't realize how common it is to have incorrect charges like this.
When we returned from vacation, I found a charge from a hotel we had not stayed at. We had a reservation there, but when we arrived, they had sold our room to someone else, and they did not have a room available that would work for our family, so we had to hunt for another hotel at 10:00 at night with a screaming toddler in the car. Needless to say, we were not happy.
Then, we returned home to find that they had charged us as a no-show! What nerve! Unfortunately, our credit card company's customer service has been less than stellar. We are still fighting the charge, but I'm determined to win. ha ha
Glad I checked my credit card statement!
Julie, I'm sorry to hear about your hotel mess. Keep at it, you will get your money back!
I hope this post encourages more people to look closely at their credit card bills and their finances in general. The first step to financial success/security is knowing where are spending all your money.
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