@UncleB wrote:
@azguy13 wrote:That is extremely obnoxious of Amex. If they felt that it was an emergency, the first thing they should have done is called the primary card holder (you) and requested the charge be approved. The scenario makes me wonder if they have a variation of the "black box" that approves after the 4th or 5th time the charge is requested. I doubt it, but I feel that there had to have been something out of the ordinary going on. I have not heard of this happening before.
+1
I edited my comment as you were submitting yours to say the same thing. It looks like the rental place forced the transation through, which is fine as long as nobody contests it. During my retail days we could do that as an absolute last resort, kind of like a 'Hail-Mary', so to speak, but there was absolutely no recourse if there was a chargeback. That would explain why the OP never got a notification.
If the OP contests it, the rental place would then pursue the daughter (or the insurance company). Personally, as annoying as it is, since it is actually 'legit' the only way I would do a chargeback is if I wanted to use another card (for points, rewards, etc.)
When did you work in retail? I worked retail 2005-2008, and then 2013 and there was no way to force a transaction through. Couldn't do that at my last job (online business). Either the card is declined or it's approved and usually after two or three tries, I would tell the customer to call their bank. I would never try it more than three times.
I think you should be more angry at Amex personally since they should have never allowed the charge. What's the point of setting a limit on an AU card then?
Quicksilver $10,000 | Better Balance Rewards $2000 | Sallie Mae $3500 | Freedom $3500
@UncleB wrote:
@Callandra wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@azguy13 wrote:That is extremely obnoxious of Amex. If they felt that it was an emergency, the first thing they should have done is called the primary card holder (you) and requested the charge be approved. The scenario makes me wonder if they have a variation of the "black box" that approves after the 4th or 5th time the charge is requested. I doubt it, but I feel that there had to have been something out of the ordinary going on. I have not heard of this happening before.
+1
I edited my comment as you were submitting yours to say the same thing. It looks like the rental place forced the transation through, which is fine as long as nobody contests it. During my retail days we could do that as an absolute last resort, kind of like a 'Hail-Mary', so to speak, but there was absolutely no recourse if there was a chargeback. That would explain why the OP never got a notification.
If the OP contests it, the rental place would then pursue the daughter (or the insurance company). Personally, as annoying as it is, since it is actually 'legit' the only way I would do a chargeback is if I wanted to use another card (for points, rewards, etc.)
When did you work in retail? I worked retail 2005-2008, and then 2013 and there was no way to force a transaction through. Couldn't do that at my last job (online business). Either the card is declined or it's approved and usually after two or three tries, I would tell the customer to call their bank. I would never try it more than three times.
I think you should be more angry at Amex personally since they should have never allowed the charge. What's the point of setting a limit on an AU card then?
You can if your POS is set up for it, but it's definitely for 'special' occasions and usually reserved for a manager.
One place I worked for years didn't have a special method, we would simply enter '1' in the auth field and the back-office would push it through. The other place the POS would allow it for managers only (most of us were in the system as managers). You would tab to the auth field and leaving it blank you would just hit 'enter' and the system would prompt for a manager's passcode; enter your password and the transaction would sail right through...
It was only used for very special circumstances, like if you needed to void/re-ring something and the card was declined on the second swipe (but you knew it was approved the first time) you could force the card. I also saw it used once when something was shipped by mistake before the card was run, and when the card was processed it was declined. We 'forced' the transaction and then crossed our fingers. The idea was that whatever was keeping the card from being approved would hopefully be cleared up by the time the charged hit (or the account would be permitted to go overlimit), and that the card holder wouldn't initiate a chargeback (since there is no recourse for the merchant for amounts over the floor limit without an auth). Used in this way it was literally a 'Hail-Mary', since without at least trying there was a definite loss.
On the very few times I had to do it, I was never told of a chargeback.
If this is what happened to the OP's daughter at the rental company (again, we're speculating), it's likely they tried the card a few times, and if they were able to get an auth for an amount under the daughter's limit they assumed the account itself was 'OK'. It was very risky (especially for that dollar amount) and would be a guaranteed 'win' if the OP wanted to initiate a chargeback. Since there are service charges attached to chargebacks (in addition to the reversed sale amount) It would definitely be a 'teachable moment' for the clerk that processed the transaction.
Interesting, thanks for the info. I've never worked anywhere where the POS can do that. I guess all the businesses I've worked for have always been "if the card declines, let it decline."
I found out the chargeback fee at my current job is $50. It's good thing most chargebacks are won! (My last job it was dependent on the merchant account, we had 3, but the highest was $45)
