A credit card transaction did not show up
 

I am not sure whether this is is the good place to post this thread, but I did not find a better place. So, please remove this thread to another place is necessary.

This was what happened to me:

On August 13, 2017, I purchased some gift cards from Sam's Club to get some cash back. On August 14th, I did the same thing. These two transactions had exactly the same amount. After purchasing, both transactions appeared in the Pending section of my credit card. Several days later, the transaction I made on August 14th, 2017 was posted. However, the one I made on August 13th, 2017 directly disappeared. Today is October 20th, 2017, and the transaction I made on August 13th, 2017 still did not show up on my credit card.

I certainly do not want to take advantage of that. I think that I need to pay off that money that I spent.

I called Sam's Club.com, and they said that they could not do anything because the transaction was not made via their website. They mentioned that I need to contact the local branch of the Sam's Club. I then called the local Sam's Club. They said that they could not do anything and I had to contact the credit company. I finally called the credit card company. The credit card company said that they could not see the transaction and the only way to deal with it is to go to the store and make the transaction again. I told them that I have already gotten the items that I purchased. But they insisted that the transaction did not go through because they could not see it.

What should I do right now? Just take the money and enjoy it? What if the transaction finally show up after a certain amount of time?

I know this kind of things have been discussed somewhere else (http://www.oregonlive.com/finance/in...on_your_c.html), but my situation is a bot different: The amount of the transaction was not small.

Any comments or thoughts are highly appreciated. Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend!

Do your available credit take into account your transactions in question?
If so, maybe it will finally post.
Some cards will drop the pending transaction but available credit still consider these hidden pending charges.

Seems to me like you have done your best to clear up the issue. Enjoy you free $ with a clear conscience, you've done more than most would have

Leave a message for accounting at the Sam's Club in question. Or write them a letter. If they don't respond, you're good. I believe they can collect on their original authorization well after it drops off the account, however, so I would still expect it to reappear eventually.

Thanks for the reply. I checked it and found that the available credit card does not take into account this transaction.

Yes. Maybe they will show up sometime in the future. I will keep an eye open on that.

Thanks. The thing is, they might show up after a certain amount of time. If I use that money now, I might not be able to pay off the bill in the future. Thanks.

I had somewhat similar experience and was never charged. There is nothing you can do but keep the money and try to provide them with your contact info. They can’t charge your card anymore without your presence. In their mind they think you must be mistaken.

A few years ago Staples ran a promo online where you get $10 off of a $300 Visa Gift card bought online, max 2 per purchase. I proceeded to buy as many sets of $300 VGC as possible before they ran out/site crashed. I ended up getting close to $10000 in VGC but 3 of the $600 transactions came through as $300 transactions.

I always thought they’d get around to finding me but they never did. I put the $900 in my pocket and went on with my business.

Easy to resolve - just mark the $ off from the available credit line as already "spent". If several months down the charge still not shows up, then it should be evident that the charge would never show up. You then can spend the excess.

It has been for a while for the missing transaction. Until today, I still did not see the transaction posted. I called the Credit Card again, and they said that there is nothing they can do. I have also written a letter (e-mail) to the company (SAMS) to explain this. I am waiting for their reply.

It's not up to credit card company to make things right. It's Sam's Club issue. If you are really determined, you can go back to the store the cards were purchased from and speak to the manager. Show them the receipt or have it looked up through your account since you know the date of purchase. You can always purchase a new set of cards and leave those w/the management. If the management doesn't bother to do anything then it's their loss. Move on.

Thanks for the advice. I actually went to the same store where the gift cards were purchased from this afternoon. I talked to the people working in the Customer Service Center. They first checked my ID (drivers license) and did not find something wrong on my Sams Club account. I then showed them the original receipt. They said that since the gift cards have already been successfully activated and used, the transaction should go through. I explained to them that the transaction initially showed up as PENDING but then disappeared. It never showed up again until today. They said that this is really a rare case and they cannot do anything at this point. They even mentioned that they are more than happy to charge me this money, but actually they really cannot do anything.

So, I guess that I need to forget that and move on.

You've done enough to meet your moral obligations. I doubt you'll ever forget it, but I agree that you should move on.

Thanks for the nice word. Have a nice weekend!