Technical question regarding Pending vs Posted transactions & time frames

[xerostatus]

This might get a little long-winded and technical, so low-attention-span people are forewarned.. =P

Is anyone aware of any policies (between merchants and card services, i.e. V/MC/etc.) which state the maximum allowed timeframe between when a card is, say, swiped and when the transaction is processed? What if the "swipe" is done for online purchase, does that make any difference?

Allow me to explain a bit further:

I made an online purchase, and the transaction showed up as a pending charge. The order eventually shipped out, but the pending charge never posted.

Now, I am aware that there is some sort of policy or mechanism otherwise in place that if a pending charge just floats, it eventually disappears as long as the merchant does not further process the charge. However, I have seen cases where I "swiped" for a purchase, the pending charge would appear, disappear, then after all that a posted transaction would appear at the end of it all.

But in this case, the pending charge disappeared, and the charge never posted. I know what you're thinking, "give it some time, it'll post eventually" as I know that would be the case 99% of the time. But in this case, I've waited 1.5+ months with nothing happening, no charge, no new pending charges, nothing posted. The charge just honest-to-goodness disappeared, and I ought to mention that I've also long since received the goods ordered. Go figure..

Now, with all that being said, I wanted to know if anyone was aware of any technical rules/policies regarding situations like this. My main concern is, is a merchant allowed to process an "old" transaction much, much later down the line? Or are they bound by some sort of "reasonable" timeframe dictated by the card servicer? While I am no way implying that I'm trying to actively get away with not paying for this particular purchase, I'm not exactly desperate to offer up to help "fix" their mistake.

Ultimately, what I'd like to know is, what if much, much later down the line, say 2~3 months after the initial purchase, the merchant realizes from their year-end bookkeeping, that they up-and-forgot to process a particular transaction, can they put the charge through that much later, after the fact? Or is there is "window" of time which they can swipe, process, and get paid for any given transaction?

[jsucool76]

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@xerostatus wrote:

This might get a little long-winded and technical, so low-attention-span people are forewarned.. =P

Is anyone aware of any policies (between merchants and card services, i.e. V/MC/etc.) which state the maximum allowed timeframe between when a card is, say, swiped and when the transaction is processed? What if the "swipe" is done for online purchase, does that make any difference?

Allow me to explain a bit further:

I made an online purchase, and the transaction showed up as a pending charge. The order eventually shipped out, but the pending charge never posted.

Now, I am aware that there is some sort of policy or mechanism otherwise in place that if a pending charge just floats, it eventually disappears as long as the merchant does not further process the charge. However, I have seen cases where I "swiped" for a purchase, the pending charge would appear, disappear, then after all that a posted transaction would appear at the end of it all.

But in this case, the pending charge disappeared, and the charge never posted. I know what you're thinking, "give it some time, it'll post eventually" as I know that would be the case 99% of the time. But in this case, I've waited 1.5+ months with nothing happening, no charge, no new pending charges, nothing posted. The charge just honest-to-goodness disappeared, and I ought to mention that I've also long since received the goods ordered. Go figure..

Now, with all that being said, I wanted to know if anyone was aware of any technical rules/policies regarding situations like this. My main concern is, is a merchant allowed to process an "old" transaction much, much later down the line? Or are they bound by some sort of "reasonable" timeframe dictated by the card servicer? While I am no way implying that I'm trying to actively get away with not paying for this particular purchase, I'm not exactly desperate to offer up to help "fix" their mistake.

Ultimately, what I'd like to know is, what if much, much later down the line, say 2~3 months after the initial purchase, the merchant realizes from their year-end bookkeeping, that they up-and-forgot to process a particular transaction, can they put the charge through that much later, after the fact? Or is there is "window" of time which they can swipe, process, and get paid for any given transaction?

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I know I had a $1 gas station pending charge on my citi double cash account for 2 weeks, and they told me after 30 days , if nothing happens, they (citi) can remove the charge. 

That is all I know though  

[chwebb1]

I was told by Discover that they have 10 days to process the transaction from when they got the authorization. I think it depends on the bank.

[Anonymous]

Not sure but I wouldn't necessarily put this in terms of posted and pending.   AFAIK, there is nothing to prevent the merchant, when they realize that the money was not received, just reissuing the charge, in the same way a merchant might send you a bill.   I would expect that this has a long permissible time frame.

[Gunnar419]

I understand the curiosity about the technical aspects of the situation, but since the order was legit and you received the merchandise, wouldn't the best thing just be to contact the merchant or the cc company to make sure that the charge gets applied to your account?

[xerostatus]

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

I understand the curiosity about the technical aspects of the situation, but since the order was legit and you received the merchandise, wouldn't the best thing just be to contact the merchant or the cc company to make sure that the charge gets applied to your account?

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Yeah, no.

As I've already addressed, I'd have no qualms about paying for the purchase if/when it comes down to that. But, no, I'm not going to get all Eagle Scout and actively seek them out to help them catch their mistake. If they didn't take the money initially, I feel no moral obligation to spend MY time to get them to take it, after the fact. 

With that being said, this is more of a thought-puzzle for me (and anyone else interested in the topic) than anything else. But no, I will not contact the merchant and tell em, "hey you forgot your money." 

[ojefferyo]

I'm sure that if YOU forgot money somewhere you'd be more than appreciative if someone found you and said hey here's your money. It's the right thing to do.

[Anonymous]

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@ojefferyo wrote:

I'm sure that if YOU forgot money somewhere you'd be more than appreciative if someone found you and said hey here's your money. It's the right thing to do.

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OK, thought experiment.   You are driving, and TO YOUR HORROR, you find you are exceeding the speed limit by 5 miles an hour.   Do you drive (at or below the speed limit) to the local police station and explain that you were speeding and can they give you a ticket so you can pay?   Sort of the same, but speeding is much more dangerous to others, so volunteering for the fine is certainly the right thing to do.   As I'm sure you know and do.

[OnTheRebound]

I tried to do the "RIGHT" thing once with my bank. Called them after my visit and explained to the girl that they made a $50.00 (about) mistake in my favor. She flat out told me "we don't make mistakes". OK. I replied, I don't know how many mistakes this branch made today collectively but I do know at the end of the day when you balance your books, you will be at least $50.00 short. She said thanks for calling and hung up. Witch with a capital "B". I will never do the "right" thing again.

One other time, at the same branch, I withdrew $200.00 from the ATM. It spit out an extra $20 bill. Did I do the "right" thing? Hell no.

[Gunnar419]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ojefferyo wrote:

I'm sure that if YOU forgot money somewhere you'd be more than appreciative if someone found you and said hey here's your money. It's the right thing to do.

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OK, thought experiment.   You are driving, and TO YOUR HORROR, you find you are exceeding the speed limit by 5 miles an hour.   Do you drive (at or below the speed limit) to the local police station and explain that you were speeding and can they give you a ticket so you can pay?   Sort of the same, but speeding is much more dangerous to others, so volunteering for the fine is certainly the right thing to do.   As I'm sure you know and do.

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Not analogous at all. Exceeding the speed limit is breaking an often arbitrary rule imposed without your consent by powers you have little control over. If you haven't harmed anybody or put anybody at risk, nothing is owed to anybody.

Ordering something that YOU want and YOU receive because of your own initiative is a completely different situation.

I don't think it's a horrible thing to not seek out the seller in this case, but I can only say that if it were me, my conscience would bother me if I never paid for merchandise I ordered. I believe contacting the seller is the right thing to do, but I can also understand why somebody wouldn't do it.