Question about payment after refund is received

[Remedios]

I think I know this one but... 

My daughter received a notice from school she had to pay $1800 for various supplies and lab fees. She went ahead and paid it right away. 

A week later, fun starts with "oops, you didn't have to pay, error, blah, we will issue a refund by 01/23/2023 

So, if refund is not completed prior to statement date, she would still need to pay   entire amount then ask for issuer for refund, correct? 

Reason I'm asking is her billing cycle ends on 1/20, so there is a chance card will be refunded right after the statement cuts. 

She used her Discover card, I guess she can ask via chat, getting her to make a call is nearly impossible 

It's early, not enough coffee, hopefully my rambling made sense 

I think I put this thread in the right forum 🤷‍♀️

[coldfusion]

As for needing coffee, I think I can help.

How is the refund going to be issued?    Will school cut a check and send to AdultGirlChild, or will they credit the total amount back on the card (expected)?

[Remedios]

Refund will be issued to her Discover card 

[coldfusion]

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@Remedios wrote:

Refund will be issued to her Discover card 

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Assuming that the school meets their committment,  worst case should be that the statement will report the $1800 charge, refund will be processed,  next statement will reflect a $0 balance.

She should keep tabs on the account online regularly for the next 2 months.   She should be able to see that the refund is processing and then processed with balance adjusted properly well before the next due date,  and to make sure that Discover doesn't do something stupid like try to assess trailing interest or conflate a valid refund with applying cashback to a balance.

[ptatohed]

My advice would be to pay in full by the due date, even if you are told a refund is coming.  This is the only way to guarantee there will be no interest charge or late fee.  I would not feel comfortable relying on any given date that you are told the refund will happen.  If the refund happens before the due date, great.  Otherwise I'd recommend PIF.  

She'll have a negative balance if/when the refund comes in after PIF.  I have never had a neg balance that large so I don't know if she can request a check from Discover or if she is to just continue spending until the negative balance is positive.  I'd probably just leave the neg bal but I'm sure a college student would want the cash.    

Good luck.  

[FireMedic1]

@Remedios 

"If you have a rewards credit card (that is a credit card where you earn cash back or miles points when you spend) any credit card rewards you earned on a purchase that was returned, such as cash back rewards or miles, will not be awarded after your refund is processed.

Maybe you’ll like to keep your rewards. You can ask the merchant to refund you in the form of store credit. However, that means you will still have to pay for the purchase on your credit card."

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/card-smarts/what-is-a-credit-card-refund/ 

[mgood]

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@Remedios wrote:

I think I put this thread in the right forum 🤷‍♀️

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If it's in the wrong forum, @Remedios will be along shortly to move it.
 . . . oh, wait

[ptatohed]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

@Remedios 

"If you have a rewards credit card (that is a credit card where you earn cash back or miles points when you spend) any credit card rewards you earned on a purchase that was returned, such as cash back rewards or miles, will not be awarded after your refund is processed.

Maybe you’ll like to keep your rewards. You can ask the merchant to refund you in the form of store credit. However, that means you will still have to pay for the purchase on your credit card."

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/card-smarts/what-is-a-credit-card-refund/ 

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That advice from Discover doesn't make sense to me.  They are basically saying if you want to keep your rewards now but lose them later, ask for store credit.  Unless lab fees happens to qualify for 5% CB this quarter but only 1% next quarter, what's the point in store credit which won't earn you any CB when you go to use it?  

[FinStar]

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@ptatohed wrote:

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

@Remedios 

"If you have a rewards credit card (that is a credit card where you earn cash back or miles points when you spend) any credit card rewards you earned on a purchase that was returned, such as cash back rewards or miles, will not be awarded after your refund is processed.

Maybe you’ll like to keep your rewards. You can ask the merchant to refund you in the form of store credit. However, that means you will still have to pay for the purchase on your credit card."

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/card-smarts/what-is-a-credit-card-refund/ 

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That advice from Discover doesn't make sense to me.  They are basically saying if you want to keep your rewards now but lose them later, ask for store credit.  Unless lab fees happens to qualify for 5% CB this quarter but only 1% next quarter, what's the point in store credit which won't earn you any CB when you go to use it?  

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I don't think that's the point of this discussion. Rewards really weren't in question. Lemme re-read it again 🤔

[Remedios]

Question is, if statement on the 20th says she owes $1800 then couple of days later card receives credit from school for $1800, is she supposed to pay statement balance then ask Discover for refund or does the balance "adjust" once credit is issued?  

It's not a big deal about paying it, just trying to avoid additional complications.  

She can just have it sit on her card as a credit but it would sit there for a very long time because she's mostly using her CSP. 

She can chat Discover and ask, but I'm always 😱 when I have to take CSRs word and my daughter really doesn't like to make calls.  

And yes, she used discover 😐