DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Some credit card users get $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge

Glitch hits Visa users with more than $23 quadrillion charge

By Jason Kessler
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A technical snafu left some Visa prepaid cardholders stunned and horrified Monday to see a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements.

That's about 2,007 times the size of the national debt.

Josh Muszynski, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was one Visa customer aghast to find the 17-digit charge on his bill. Adding insult to injury, he had also been hit with a $15 overdraft fee.

He noticed that his debt exceeded the world GDP while making a routine balance inquiry on his online Bank of America account. According to his statement, he had spent the profound sum in one pop at a nearby Mobil gas station -- his regular stop for Camel cigarettes.

"Very, very panicked," he jumped in his car and sped to the station.

Had they perhaps noticed any "outrageous" charges come across their books recently, he inquired of the cashier there. She checked the records. They had not. VideoWatch the story of an astounded customer in Memphis, Tennessee »

Muszynski wondered aloud what he might possibly have asked to purchase for such an astronomical price. "Can I buy Europe on pump 4?"

He next called Bank of America, the issuer of his Visa prepaid debit card. The bank kept him on hold for two hours, during which time he contemplated the impossibly bleak financial future that might await him. He also felt a stab of fear that he had saddled all his unborn grandchildren -- and their grandchildren -- with a lifetime of debt. "Down the generational line, nobody would have any money."

Finally, a bank representative told him that the $23 quadrillion charge -- and the $15 overdraft fee -- would be stricken from his account.

Muszynski compared the giant debt reprieve to receiving "an amazing Monopoly card that says, 'Bank error in your favor.' "

In a statement, Visa said the rogue charges affected "fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions" and resulted from a "temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services ... [which] caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts."

The company assured customers that the problem has been fixed and that all falsely issued fees have been voided. "Erroneous postings have been removed ... this incident had no financial impact on Visa prepaid cardholders."

link

Gotta expect this kind of error occasionally with computerized techbankcardnology.

No harm, no foul??

Why can't they make mistakes like this in my favor?

Wel, it was a charge, not a credit. Now if the bank erroneously posts that amount TO my favor, I make as much interest in the short period of time that elapses before they discover the mistake -- and they will -- cash it in, and then counteroffer them a reward for "turning it in."

Just kidding,...I turn it all in,....

I don't know if i would worry about having to pay that off as much as he did. But i would obviously call the bank and ask then what they think they're doing.

Obama went shopping again?

Just food for thought: if instead of a "charge" the error provided these customers with a "credit" would our economic woes be fixed or would we be in an even greater hole?

That scenario reminds me of an Anime, Eden of the East.

I don't know that it would change our predicament. The government prints money, visa just loans it. I mean technically they could give you a huge line of credit so long as they can back it up. I don't know that they could back up that much.

Bank of America? Yes, there's an error with my statement. You have me as making a charge for $24 quadrillion, but the purchase was only for $23 quadrillion. Yes, I'll hold.

How come when the bank screws up they don't credit me an error or overdraft fee. They have no problem charging customers when they make an error, but never return the favor when the mistake is on their end.

Fantastic point.