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Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

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El129
New Visitor

Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

I monitor my credit card online. Recently my husband and I spent two nights of vacation at a hotel, the total charge being $508.00. This charge showed up as pending and ALSO posted to our account. The result was that our statement showed available credit as zero - since we have only $750 in credit and the two charges of $508.00 totaled $1016.00. How can a charge be pending and posted at the same time, thus doubling the charge? When I explained this, I was told that the pending charge had to be removed by the merchant, so I called the merchant. They were most helpful and said they had been paid and were not holding anything - they even sent the credit card company a fax to that effect - yet the credit card people still have the charge listed as both pending and posted. I even went online and paid the full $508.00, but this has not altered anything. Is this legal? Can I do anything? We're very careful about our credit and don't want it to appear as though we went over our credit line when we didn't.

Message 1 of 25
24 REPLIES 24
SSA_2013
Frequent Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

If the hotel faxed a document to the bank you must fight it with the credit card company now. It seems as if they are placing a hold on their end. If you do nothing it will probably take about a week for it to sort itself out but I wouldn't settle for that. I would ask for a supervisor.
Message 2 of 25
ezdoesit
Valued Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?


@SSA_2013 wrote:
If the hotel faxed a document to the bank you must fight it with the credit card company now. It seems as if they are placing a hold on their end. If you do nothing it will probably take about a week for it to sort itself out but I wouldn't settle for that. I would ask for a supervisor.

One of the big questions is since you have both pending and posted does the cc company see it as you going over your limit?  And are they going to hold that against you in the future.  If they are not going to hold it against you I wouldn't worry about it to mush becuase your zero available credit would just be a temporary inconvenience.  Actually in the long run this could work out in you favor they might either give you a auto cli because they might see that you need more credit of course providing you have a good payment history.

Message 3 of 25
john398
Senior Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

Welcome to the Forum

 

Its odd you would see the hold and the charge for the same exact amount, I guess it is possible, and hopefully the hold part will fall off soon, I feel bad for people who have very limited credit and something like this happens because it could litterly ruin a vacation if you were cointing on using the available credit

Message 4 of 25
El129
New Visitor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

Thanks for replying. My problem so far is that the credit card company is claiming the fault lies with the hotel, but the hotel was very cooperative and has said they are willing to do any additional thing (besides having already faxed the credit card company) to help me. The credit card people, on the other hand, just claim repeatedly that the hotel is holding the money. I can't imagine how it can be legal to hold and post the same amount, effectively doubling the amount I appear to owe. If this was standard practice,  every expenditure for which you use your card would have the potential to lower your available credit by twice the amount spent  - by appearing as a billed amount and a pending amount at the same time.

Message 5 of 25
ezdoesit
Valued Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

I feel bad for people who have very limited credit and something like this happens because it could litterly ruin a vacation if you were cointing on using the available credit.

 

+1

Message 6 of 25
El129
New Visitor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

Yes, that's part of my concern. My available credit now shows as zero, even though I didn't spend up to my limit (or even close to it) and I have already authorized my bank to pay the full amount of $508.00 (but NOT the imaginary additional $508 that is pending). I wasn't planning on using that credit because we're always very careful not to get near using the full amount - but I don't want it to appear as if we haven't been as careful as we really are, and I don't want our hard-won credit to be affected.

Message 7 of 25
kroberts67
Established Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

This happens all the time.  Many cards will automatically release the hols once the charge has posted, but some do not.  The holds may be for a longer period of time than the date the merchant actually runs their batch, finally taking the payment.  It is the bank hold at that point, not the merchant hold.  The bank can see that it has already posted and release it for you.  This is their choice.  My CU will release if I ask, as long as they see it has already posted.

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Message 8 of 25
El129
New Visitor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?

Thanks, I'm less concerned about the hold falling off soon than about any possible adverse affect on our credit. We never use anything close to the full amount available, and we pay off the entire amount every month. I'm concerned about the appearance. I've printed out the online conversations I've had with the credit card company, as well as the online statements that show the same amount both in pending and in posted transactions. I'm not even sure if this documentation will do me any good, since assistance from the hotel office manager hasn't worked. 

Message 9 of 25
ezdoesit
Valued Contributor

Re: Can a charge be posted and pending at the same time?


@kroberts67 wrote:

This happens all the time.  Many cards will automatically release the hols once the charge has posted, but some do not.  The holds may be for a longer period of time than the date the merchant actually runs their batch, finally taking the payment.  It is the bank hold at that point, not the merchant hold.  The bank can see that it has already posted and release it for you.  This is their choice.  My CU will release if I ask, as long as they see it has already posted.


USAA does it to me if I get gas or pay for peapod delivery.  50 of gas and they sometimes charge me with 50 dollars posted for gas and 100 dollars for pending.  Meanwhile citibank never does that to me only the exact amount of charge.

Message 10 of 25
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