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Range-Shoddy t1_jbod8ct wrote

Reply to comment by Bdubs737 in Lasell University Student Steals $547,000 in Credit Card Scam by mass1080

Some places let you do it. It’s a terrible idea and this is why.

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Bdubs737 t1_jbofg13 wrote

Just So I understand, some places you can return something you bought w/ cash or another card and they will refund it back to a different card? What if your cc has a 15K limit? How do you return a 20K purchase to 15k limit card? I was under the impression the article messed up, as apparently no one proof reads anymore, and meant to say debit card.

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SwitchARoux t1_jbokd5b wrote

It's possible. I used a cc to pay for a cruise that was eventually refunded because of COVID. By that time I had paid off the card completely, so I just had a -$1300 balance (basically a credit to spend).

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cyanclam t1_jboosbf wrote

While paying 18.9% interest back to you, right?

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theknyte t1_jbr2mj8 wrote

>While paying 18.9% interest back to you, right?

Damn, that should be a law! Like how when you put power back into the grid via solar or such, and the power company has to pay you at the same rate they charge you for it.

If your Credit Card is in negative balance, then the credit card company should legally have to pay the same interest they charge on it.

Edit: After further reflection, they'd just probably cut you a check the second your account hits negative. Wishful thinking though.

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Bdubs737 t1_jbr8q1i wrote

Thats a great idea. You know the govt would never let that hapoen cause of how much money their lobby gives them.

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GTdspDude t1_jbpi9ze wrote

Well keep in mind in the scenario you described, if the 15k limit card had zero balance, the 20k refund would take it to -20k balance and now you have a 35k limit card. The negative balance is a thing any CC will allow, as it’s basically you giving them an interest free loan

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Boofaholic_Supreme t1_jbsqsbn wrote

What’s absolutely insane is in ~2018 I pre-paid $1000 to a Bank of America credit card with a $2500 limit and no outstanding balance. Tried buying a $3K trip, wouldn’t go through because it was larger than my credit limit… phone call was no help and there was no way to spend over $2500 until the payment processed. I had to borrow money to put on another card to make it work, even though I already had the money on the card

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GTdspDude t1_jbt9uhq wrote

Wow that’s nuts, too bad the vendor couldn’t break the transaction in 2 for you

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Boofaholic_Supreme t1_jbtggye wrote

Thankfully the travel site did! Only had to borrow ~$500. BoA was completely inflexible

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GTdspDude t1_jbtgnvf wrote

Oh wow so you couldn’t run the card 2x (edit: or rather I’m surprised that failed)? I was thinking I could see how they’d block one large transaction over the limit, but 2 transactions below the limit and a balance below limit might go through.

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Boofaholic_Supreme t1_jbtk93x wrote

It was one of those experiences that left me feeling like I was in the Twilight Zone. I’m guessing at that time (early 2017 now that i think of it) while the $3K transaction was being attempted, BoA calculated my available credit as $credit limit minus the $ i’d charged and not paid, but the charged amount couldnt be negative. The $1K prepayment was completely cleared and on the app said -$1000 balance and once the $2500 transaction owed balance was the correct $1500 with $1000 left to spend. It just took a couple days post-transaction. Too long to wait hence borrowing and using another card for the remainder. It just seemed to be a really stupid feature during the authorization &/or processing end of things.

The conversations with BOA’s employees were what really left me scratching my head and doubting reality but I no longer remember many details of them. It was a lot of “that’s another department,” among whatever else.

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GTdspDude t1_jbtof87 wrote

Yeah that sounds miserable, but I’m sure those employees also likely had nothing useful they could do for you as I imagine you stumbled into a series of SW if/then loops that took you down this bad path.

This is one reason why (if you have self control) it’s useful to increase credit limits (another being keeping utilization %’s low) - often times people ask “why bother, I don’t need it”.

Edit: not as a commentary on you by the way, just general observation - your situation I’d just log as unfortunate

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BrandonNeider t1_jbt000p wrote

Negative balances are possible. I’ve had it prior with my Amex

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