Charged Twice
Yesterday I was trying to purchase an MO at WM for $498. I swiped my VGC and entered my pin, but it took the CSR a while to hit enter on his register and it said it timed out. I thought there may have been a problem with that VGC (e.g., not properly activated, etc.), so I swiped another VGC (these were Simon VGCs). The second one went through fine. However the next day when I tried to use the first VGC from yesterday to purchase another money order, it failed. When I got home I checked the balance on that VGC and it showed that $498.88 had been charged at Walmart the day before. I checked the second VGC I used the day before (the one that worked) and it showed that $498.88 had been charged at Walmart too. In essence, both VGCs had been charged $498.88 but I only got the one $498 MO. I went back to the store today and explained the situation to an assistant manager. I did NOT tell him I used VGCs. He looked at my receipt and asked if the charge on the first card for which I wanted a refund showed that the charge was pending. I said it couldn't remember (i.e., I didn't tell him that the Simon Mall giftcard site showed that the card had been debited for $498.88). He said that he was pretty sure that on the next business day (i.e., Tuesday) the money would be back in my account and that I wouldn't actually be charged on that card. Rather than argue or tell him that it was a VGC, I thanked him and said that I would be back next week if the amount wasn't credited back to my card.
My first question is whether this first VGC I used will be credited back with $498.88 (since it was not actually used to pay for the MO, the second VGC was)? Can a Simon VGC be credited if a pending charge doesn't actually post? If doesn't or can't get credited back onto that VGC by WM's system, I guess I will have to go back to that WM and talk to a manager again and have them check their system to see if they are long $498.88 on their cash balance for that day and try to get a refund. Anyone ever had anything similar happen? Any advice on my next steps if this first VGC still shows a debit of $498.88? Thanks.