It's started with something we all have done, walk into a convenience store and buy a quick snack. But for Kenjuan Nichols it didn't go so smooth.
He tells Troubleshooter Diane Wilson, "My life changed January 16, 2008." Kenjuan bought a juice and a bag of chips from a Durham Buy Quick gas station. He paid with his debit card. He adds, "When I put my pin number in I was shown $5.10 total and by the time I pressed pin code and got receipt I was actually charged $1,167.42. You heard right, $1, 167.42 for a drink and chips." Kenjuan says, "I ended up paying for the most expensive bag of chips ever."
Kenjuan says he immediately pointed out the mistake to the cashiers at the Buy Quick, but says they didn't know how to reverse the charge. He adds, "I offered to come back next day and have transaction reversed." But when Kenjuan returned to the store the next day he says the owner was no help. He adds, "When I got back and talked to the owner he acted as if he had no knowledge of the incident."
In the meantime, since Kenjuan didn't have the $1,167.42 in his account, overdraft fees piled up. He had more than $300.00 worth. Kenjuan did dispute the charge with his bank and they did work with him and did not make him pay the overdraft fees. They also started their own investigation, but that investigation could take up to 45 days.
Not able to wait that long for his bank to take action and since the Buy Quick was not returning his money from the mistake Kenjuan turned to Troubleshooter Diane Wilson. He tells her to tell the owners of the store, "Refund me the money and they won't have to worry about me anymore. I will not go buy another $1,000 bag of chips and drinks again."
Troubleshooter Diane Wilson went to the Buy Quick to get answers. She asked the man behind the counter, "Are you the manager?" Buy Quick employee: "Uh I'm working here, but he's out." The gentleman, who wouldn't give us his name, said at first he didn't know anything about Kenjuan's $1,167.42 transaction. The worker said he didn't know how to get a hold of the owner, as he said the owner's out of the country. But Kenjuan insists the man Troubleshooter Diane Wilson talked to is the owner since it's the man he dealt with and he claimed he was the owner.
After Troubleshooter Diane Wilson asked more questions, this man did seem to know what I was talking about and he insisted the owner would take care of Kenjuan. Within hours of Troubleshooter Diane Wilson's visit, Kenjuan had the money back in his account. Kenjuan tells Troubleshooter Diane Wilson, "Thank you, thank you guys. I got my money back."
Kenjuan says he'll think twice about using his debit card again, instead opt for credit. The best advice, if this ever happens to you or there's a questionable charge, dispute it right away with your bank, which Kenjuan did.
