So, did I get my college textbooks for free?

[Tab]

Alright, on monday school started up again so I had to buy books for the new semester. Went down to the bookstore, got my books and paid with my debit card. This automatically takes money out of my checking account and cashier had no problems with my card. They also require that you have your Student ID with you, I assume they keep a record of your purchases. I was a little worried about my account balance as I knew I only had a little over $400 dollars in my account, I saw the transaction and I only had $27 left in my account. I also noticed that transfer from my bank account to paypal acccount hadn't gone through, so I checked it again the next day. The history of the $400 transaction is gone and all the money replaced.

It's now Thursday and I still have $400 in my account. Am I legally responsible for my bank's error? I have a lot of stuff to do and I really need to focus on school...

 

[QurazyQuisp]

I got away with paying just $55 for books after selling all the unimportant books. It'll get taken back, don't get your hopes up. I had a free dell monitor for 4 weeks, then I finally got charged for it, I was going to call them soon to tell them I still hadn't been charged.

 

[skim milk]

that happened to me a couple times... what usually occurs is that money will be taken out of your bank soon

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Tab
Alright, on monday school started up again so I had to buy books for the new semester. Went down to the bookstore, got my books and paid with my debit card. This automatically takes money out of my checking account and cashier had no problems with my card. They also require that you have your Student ID with you, I assume they keep a record of your purchases. I was a little worried about my account balance as I knew I only had a little over $400 dollars in my account, I saw the transaction and I only had $27 left in my account. I also noticed that transfer from my bank account to paypal acccount hadn't gone through, so I checked it again the next day. The history of the $400 transaction is gone and all the money replaced.

It's now Thursday and I still have $400 in my account. Am I legally responsible for my bank's error? I have a lot of stuff to do and I really need to focus on school...

It'll get charged, in a couple days itll be charged.

 

[intogamer]

Could be taking a long time processing cause of large purchases?

 

[BooGiMaN]

screw what these people are saying go out and have a grand old time with those 400 bucks!!

actually i have seen this before as well ...they will take it out in a few days....

 

[Thegonagle]

Ha ha. The first stage of the transaction, the "holding charge," was just released. The holding charge is not the same thing as the money automatically being taken out of your account. The money is still there, but the holding charge just prevents you from spending or withdrawing more before the transaction is finalized.

This is usually reflected by the amount shown as your "available balance." The available balance = actual balance minus holding charges, sometimes shown as "pending."

Tomorrow, the final transaction will post, and the money will really be deducted from your account.

It's not a bank error--it's your error if you don't understand how these things work and you spend the money and end up in the red.

 

[Eeezee]

Make SURE that there is enough money in your account unless you have overdraft protection. You should be charged soon.

If a month from now you're not charged, chances are it was a bank error (but this is unlikely to happen)

 

[JS80]

The school has not yet processed the batch. The bank shows it as an activity but it will not post until the school processes the batch.

Not a bank error. If you use the money you will get overdrawn whcih will cost you more money.

 

[Tab]

Thegonangle - I already know there's a account balance and ending buissness day balance - I've looked at each and they're both the exact same.

Eeezee - I won't be taking any money of my account anytime soon, but if they're going to take it out I'd like it to now rather than later.

Remember, I did see the history of the transaction in my account history, now it's gone completely.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: Tab
Thegonangle - I already know there's a account balance and ending buissness day balance - I've looked at each and they're both the exact same.

Eeezee - I won't be taking any money of my account anytime soon, but if they're going to take it out I'd like it to now rather than later.

Remember, I did see the history of the transaction in my account history, now it's gone completely.

When I check my balance online it shows transactions that disappear sometimes, then a couple days later its back.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: buzzsaw13

Originally posted by: Tab
Thegonangle - I already know there's a account balance and ending buissness day balance - I've looked at each and they're both the exact same.

Eeezee - I won't be taking any money of my account anytime soon, but if they're going to take it out I'd like it to now rather than later.

Remember, I did see the history of the transaction in my account history, now it's gone completely.

When I check my balance online it shows transactions that disappear sometimes, then a couple days later its back.

Yep. Happens all the time to me. Generally, at my bank, if the holding charge disappears and the available balance goes up that evening, the true charge will show up sometime during the next business day. Usually, it all happens the same day, but not always.

JS80 has the simplified (and correct) explanation: the school is just moving more slowly (at transmitting their "batch" of sales) than most places you've used your card, so that's why you're seeing the unusual behavior--in the mean time, the pending activity expired and disappeared. But your bank will still pay the charge out of your account when the electronic request for the funds finally arrives.

 

[SampSon]

I'll bet you $400 that the charge comes back.