I hate Wachovia, Ulta & In-Style magazine!

[NicksWifey]

Sometime in June, I went to Ulta to get some stuff. I used my Visa check card to pay for my items. The salesgirl asked me if I wanted to try one RISK FREE issue of In-Style magazine. I was already in their system because I have the Ulta rewards membership program so all she needed me to do was intial the In-Style card. She told me I would get the free issue and then after, they would send a card in the mail asking if I wanted to continue to get a year's subscription. She said if so, to sign and mail the card back in with payment information and if not, to just throw the card away. Well I had the magazine sent to my parents house because that was the address in the computer. I remember telling my mom I was going to get a free issue of a magazine. She gave it to me when I got it and I trashed it since it didn't appeal to me. Nothing else happened, no cards in the mail, no more magazines.
I'm on Wachovia's site this morning checking my account and see those bastards charged me $23.88 for a year's subscription, WTF!! It's on my check cards hold section. I immediately go off. $23.88 might not be a huge deal to some people, but it is to me. Because of them, my account is going to go over into the red by $12

I live paycheck to paycheck. So I call Wachovia, demand for them to stop payment or something, they refuse because they're jerks. The woman didn't even offer help, pretty much saying it wasn't Wachovia's problem. I realize she was doing her job, but she could've more nice about it, instead of giving this huge 'tude. She pretty much didn't give me any options, so I hung up on her.
I get ahold of In-Style's joke of a customer service department and get this lady on the phone. I explained to her the situation and that she needed to take the charge off. She said she would issue a refund and they they didn't need to contact my bank, they would just refund the Visa. She even had the nerve to offer me a People Magazine subscription, WTF!
I swear, people are serious crooks these days. It just pisses me off that Ulta would lie when I straight out told the girl "as long as I'm not going to be charged for anything, I'll take the free magazine." I'm pissed off because Wachovia is a bank of jerks that I'm seriously considering withdrawing my money and going elsewhere. I'm also pissed because In-Style thinks they can charge my card at the drop of a hat. Sorry, I'm just ranting & raving!

 

[KikiB]

Trust me, all those "free mag" offers are just a ploy because they will keep sending you the magazines even after the free one-and charge your card. The easiest thing to do when confronted with those is say "No, thank you." Granted they do have a quota of how many subscriptions (and that is what I see it as) that they have to add on. It's retail-it's similar in some ways to credit cards. If you need another excuse, just say "I don't read magazines-I only read books" or something like that.

 

[NicksWifey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KikiB Trust me, all those "free mag" offers are just a ploy because they will keep sending you the magazines even after the free one-and charge your card. The easiest thing to do when confronted with those is say "No, thank you." Granted they do have a quota of how many subscriptions (and that is what I see it as) that they have to add on. It's retail-it's similar in some ways to credit cards. If you need another excuse, just say "I don't read magazines-I only read books" or something like that.

Bless you for posting that! This is good to know. The little card the salesgirl @ Ulta gave me said nothing about charging me in the fine print. It's just ridiculous how companies can get away with doing some shady stuff like that.

 

[MrsRjizzle]

call your bank tell them it was un authorized. They are required to file a dispute. They will cancel your check card and and send you another so nothing else can be charged. I know with my bank anything under 25.00 they dont waste time with and they just credit it back. i have had this happen numeros times!

I got a credit card from bank of america at a giants game a year or so ago... they signed me up for sports illustrated and other dumb magizines which i got charged for! I called them and told them i dont read that shit! I swear, your info is never safe!!!

 

[Juneplum]

I beg to differ - Though the rep you spoke to may have been a "jerk", Wachovia cannot do anything about the charge since the transaction is still on hold. Checkcard transactions where the pin isn't used are placed on hold for 3 business days. Once the hold falls off, and the transaction hard posts to your account, they can do a dispute.

Now, if you can get a hold of a supervisor, they can do a 3 way conference call with you and InStyle and if In Style verifies that it was a trial subscription and you did cancel it after the free issue, THEN Wachovia can delete the hold WITH InStyle's permission.

If that isn't possible and you have to do a dispute, any NSF fees incurred will be refunded by the bank.

(I was a branch manager for 10 years with Wachovia - can you tell

)

 

[MiCHiE]

That's why I always decline that crap. You have to go thru hell and high water to cancel future copies or you wind up forgetting about it altogether and get charged at the most inopportune financial times. If it was something I was genuinely interested in, I would already own it.

 

[NicksWifey]

Juneplum, thank you!! I've just had several bad experiences with Wachovia in the past and today was the icing on the cake with the rude customer service rep.
I wish you could've helped me instead, lol

 

[Juneplum]

You're welcome love

 

[Krasevayadancer]

Those free mag offers are so shady. Seriously, nothing is ever free anymore. I definitely can relate!

 

[MrsRjizzle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juneplum I beg to differ - Though the rep you spoke to may have been a "jerk", Wachovia cannot do anything about the charge since the transaction is still on hold. Checkcard transactions where the pin isn't used are placed on hold for 3 business days. Once the hold falls off, and the transaction hard posts to your account, they can do a dispute.

I thought the item had already posted. I didnt realize it was still pending. But as you stated. "Once the item posts" they are required to file a dispute if the customer requests it.

 

[rbella]

I still love WAMU. You should make the change, nick. Make the change. Do it! Do it! Do it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[COBI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsRjizzle call your bank tell them it was un authorized. They are required to file a dispute. They will cancel your check card and and send you another so nothing else can be charged. I know with my bank anything under 25.00 they dont waste time with and they just credit it back. i have had this happen numeros times!

That's not necessarily your bank's choice. There are guidelines and regulations with every program (visa, mastercard, etc) as far as what dollar amount can be put back through as a chargeback, and the smaller amounts are essentially the bank's to bear as the cost of doing business with the cc company.

Even for errors on checks, the Federal Reserve Bank sets a threshold for the dollar amount that corrections can be requested through the Fed channels because in most cases, it is cheaper for the bank to expense it than for all of the people/expenses involved in reversing/correcting small amounts. I think the Fed threshold is around $25 now, also.

NicksWifey, I would definitely contact your bank, though, regarding it as an unauthorized charge. If nothing else, they should give you immediate "provisional" credit keeping your account in the positive. Provisional credit is essentially a credit while the transaction is reviewed/investigated/charged-back; if it is deemed that the transaction was authorized (i.e. they provide your signature), you will receive the charge again.

We wouldn't automatically reissue a card in this type of circumstance unless the customer requested as it's not really a security breach. Many customer's don't like new cards reissued (like me) because they have recurring payments set up with their card number.

Good luck. As a rule, I always say "no thanks" often before I've even heard the offer.

 

[NicksWifey]

Thanks everyone & thanks Laura, I know you are a bank/finance guru

Luckily, my mom wrote me a check to help my account not go into the negative and deposited it on my lunch break so it will be in there this afternoon. I still want to call Wachovia back and tell them I talked to In-Style and they said they didn't need to authorize or give any information to Wachovia, just to refund my Visa. I just want to make sure the refund goes though as quickly as possible with no bumps in the road.

 

[feenin4makeup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbella I still love WAMU. You should make the change, nick. Make the change. Do it! Do it! Do it!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a HUGE fan of WAMU too! I think I've been a member since 1997 (they used to be Bank United). I've never had any problems that weren't caused by me (I too, live paycheck to paycheck

) and I've always had great customer service.

 

[TDoll]

Oh lord! Thats a shitty situation... They try to offer me that crap EVERY TIME I go to Ulta...so annoying. That's pretty shady of magazine companies to do stuff like that. I hope everything works out!

 

[lsperry]

I listen to clarkhoward.com all the time and he calls the VISA/MC bank cards "FAKE" Visas and MasterCards because they do not offer you the same protection as a regular VISA/MC credit card.

My husband purchased plane tickets through priceline.com several months ago. As he's navigating through the site to purchase the tickets, a trial offer for Great Adventure (I think that's the name) offered a free membership for 30 days. He said he didn't click on "yes", but a week later a charge for $29.99 appeared on our credit card. I called Citicard and they immediately removed the charge that same day and said they would send us a dispute request form to sign it and mail it back. They didn't ask questions as to how the charges got on our account or who did it (I didn't know at the moment I called them -- cause the charge said "PayPal"; they were very accommodating in removing it form our account.

Great Adventure called and offered us a $10/yr membership and I've declined again and again despite the numerous "checks" they've sent for $10 and $15.

So my point is, using your bank card for some purchases is risky. I use my bank card all the time for gas, groceries, restaurants and regular shopping but never for on-line shopping, "offers" and such 'cause you don't get the same protection as you would with a regular credit card.

 

[COBI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsperry I listen to clarkhoward.com all the time and he calls the VISA/MC bank cards "FAKE" Visas and MasterCards because they do not offer you the same protection as a regular VISA/MC credit card.

There is definitely a difference in the level of protection. However, banks are also obligated to provided a certain level of protection as part of their contract with the logo-sponsor (Visa, Mastercard, etc) as well as filing all paperwork (electronically now) (including chargebacks) within the company's standards and guidelines.

It is a good point: your DEBIT card is *not* a CREDIT card. The primary reason your bank has entered into agreements with Visa/Mastercard is for your convenience (you can use it and access your funds virtually anywhere) which helps with customer retention. It is to "debit" your account; with regards to a deposit account, to debit your account is to withdraw money from it.

 

[aziajs]

A. A lot of those agreements are shady and you have to read the fine print. Whenever I sign up for one I always make sure to hold onto all the info they give me. I make sure to read it to see what my cancellation options are despite what the clerk says. Best Buy does this type of offer all the time. You just have to be very careful.

B. The problem with contacting your bank is that it is REALLY the luck of the draw. You never know how cooperative the rep is going to be. And in a lot of cases if you don't know your rights or the bank's policies off the top of your head you are screwed. If you don't know your options you are at their mercy.

 

[glamdoll]

I cannot believe Wachovia said that. When a fradulent (which this was because you did NOT approve it) charge was made to my account I called my bank, and they stop payment immediatly, refund my card and investigate why my card was charged. This happened to me twice. What you got was flatout bad C.S.

 

[CantAffordMAC]

I knew exactly what this was about as soon as I saw the title.

I went to Ulta ummm last Christmas (the day after) and I was asked if I wanted the free issue of In Style. i figured, why not. Well she told me if I didnt want to keep getting it after the free one, to call the number and have them cancel it. So the day i got my free issue, I called In Style and had them cancel it...I think they offered me more subscriptions as well. But after that I had absolutely no problems.

Good luck getting it fixed. I had to pay ohh, I dunno....$70 in overdrawn fees in the past 2 weeks.. It wasnt really my fault..long story. But I have Commerce.

edit: I guess Im lucky lol....I know a lot of stuff like this happens all the time, but I really did get my free issue of In Style and got it cancelled with no hassle, and that was the end of it.