Columnist Muriel Stevens: Credit card problems revisited

Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping column appears Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Fridays. Reach her at 259-4080 or muriel@lasvegassun.com.

Finally, something good to report after so many strange shopping adventures.

Just after my column about my experience with Wards ran (they want me to pay for merchandise not received), I received an e-mail from a reader who works as a regulatory compliance officer for a major credit card company.

The information she so kindly shared with me could prevent my having to pay for undelivered merchandise, and protect my credit rating. I'm not sure if the Truth in Lending Act, also known as Regulation Z.20, would apply in all cases, but it does appear to apply to mine. I've learned that "within Regulation Z there are special protections warranted to credit card transactions."

It was Wards that told me that I had no recourse except to pay the sizeable bill when it came (I had charged the purchase to my Wards card), and then file a claim with the bankruptcy court. Not a very happy solution to an expensive fiasco.

Wards, of course, did not share any other possible options, except to pay a bill I didn't owe. It was just not interested in any customer concerns.

But my newfound friend knew there were other possible solutions. She cited the consumer protection laws, explained them in the simplest terms, and gave me step-by-step instructions to following through. It was a caring thing to do.

It won't be easy to see this thing through. It takes time and patience, and there are some loopholes. Here are a few: The item purchased has to have had a value greater than $50, and has to have been purchased within the cardholder's home state or within 100 miles of their primary residence. My situation fits.

Thanks to my good Samaritan I feel that I have a good chance of getting off the hook. It's interesting to note that no one else I asked saw any solution to my dilemma. Thanks again, e-mail friend, for the terrific crash-course in consumer problem solving.

More craziness: It doesn't take long to shop at Wal-Mart. What does take long is getting answers to questions that pop up at the check-out stand. I used a credit card for recent purchases. It was accepted and swiped; I was asked for a photo ID and supplied it. Such precautions benefit the cardholder and the store.

But I was absolutely dumbstruck when my card was slipped under a portion of the sales slip, rubbed over with a crayon to make a sort of carbon copy -- the kind no longer used because scammers took information from the discarded carbons. "Why are you doing that?" The reply was the kind that sets my teeth on edge. "It's store policy." "Why?" "I don't why. I'm just supposed to do it. Should I call a manager?"

No need. Unbidden, a manager had arrived. Again I posed the question and got the same response. By now those behind me in line just wanted me to leave (as though I didn't), and so did the two additional managers who had suddenly appeared.

Impasse. If I didn't let them keep the crayoned copy they wouldn't let me have my bags. I gave in.

Monday I called Wal-Mart determined to understand this policy. Manager Tim explained that large numbers of "charge backs" were hurting the store. It was difficult to understand. You charge something, your signature is on the credit card slip. How can buyers deny the purchase?

Their signatures are on file. If the two match how can they deny they made the purchase? Tim offered to get the answers from the "Sign Support" rep who happened to be in town.

Meanwhile I checked out Wal-Mart's credit card stories with Citibank and American Express. Both claimed that if signatures match, cardholders must pay. If they're convinced a store's claim is just, the customer is obliged to pay.

"Not so," said Wal-Mart District Loss Prevention Supervisor Dale Henry. "Every month we have stacks of charge backs from customers who deny purchases. The extra copy we make proves they were in the store the date noted on the original charge slip."

It wasn't easy trying to make sense out of this. It defied logic. Henry offered to let me sit in one time with the accountants when the charge backs come in, so I could see for myself how big is the problem.

Not all Las Vegas Wal-Mart stores have this crayon-carbon policy. It's only in the stores where the losses are the largest. This isn't the only problem some stores have. With low-cost tools, readily available in electronics stores, twisted customers can "redesign" a credit card and make purchases. When the bill arrives the real card-holder complains, the credit card company denies the charges and, Henry says, "We lose again. In some stores the losses are tremendous."

As for me, I'll shop at the Wal-Mart on Serene Avenue that doesn't have this policy.