WALKER, Mich. — Issues at Meijer continue to linger months after their card readers had problems at stores around Michigan. A Coopersville woman reached out to 13 ON YOUR SIDE for help after she still hadn't gotten all her money back.
Back in May and June, Meijer said they were having card reader issues because of Chase Bank, and customers were being charged incorrectly after shopping there. Now, almost four months later, Kari Spencer asked for our help to finally get back the money she'd lost.
It was in May when Spencer took that trip to Meijer which cost more than she could've ever imagined.
"I swiped my card and it didn't work, so I cancelled the transaction and swiped it again," she said. "Thinking it was just a glitch of some sort and it didn't go through."
Employees asked if she had another debit card or cash, which she didn't. That's when she walked across the street to get cash from an ATM to pay for her more than $230 cart-full, but when she got there, her debit card wouldn't work.
"I put it in, and it kept getting declined," Spencer said. "I was like what the heck is going on?"
It turns out, when she'd first swiped her debit card, she had been charged twice.
"So those two swipes that I'd originally done with my debit card actually went through on the bank's end, but not on Meijer's end," she said. "So the ATM wouldn't give me anymore money because I had met my limit."
Spencer went back to the store and told them what had happened. That's when they told her to run her credit card instead, and that went through. But not just once, twice - just as her debit card had.
"So I had two take-outs on my debit card, and two take-outs on my credit card," said Spencer. "Which added up to more than $1,000."
"How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?"
Spencer called Meijer the following day, saying she'd been charged four times for one transaction. They told her they were aware of the problem and were trying to fix it, and to call back in a week or so if she still hadn't been refunded.
After several calls, Spencer said Meijer eventually refunded two of the charges: one from her debit card and one from her credit card. She was happy they'd done something, but she was still out about $230 for that third, extra charge. So, she called again.
"They're still working on it, be patient," Spencer said she was told by Meijer when she continued to call.
And this went on for months, she said.
"The customer service told me to go to the store, the store said go to your bank, and the bank told me to call customer service," said Spencer. "It's like everybody was pointing the finger in other directions and I don't know at that point if they actually knew what happened."
"I was like, well, what am I supposed to do?"
By the end of the summer, Spencer said her bank, Best Financial Credit Union, told her that Meijer had closed her case, and kept the money.
"And I was like, how is that fair?" she asked.
That's when she reached out to 13 ON YOUR SIDE for help, and within days, all of her money was returned.
In a statement sent to 13 On Your Side after our inquiry into the issue, Meijer Corporate Communications said the following:
"We are sorry for the inconvenience the Chase credit issues caused earlier this summer. Once we learned about this customer's issue, we immediately contacted her to solve the problem. We believe that all customers have been reimbursed, but if any customers believe they are still affected we encourage them to call us directly at 1-877-363-4537 or provide their information online at help.meijer.com so we can take care of them."
And even though Spencer had been refunded the money she'd lost, she thought it was still important to share her experience in case someone else was dealing with similar issues.
"I know that there's people out there that struggle and need that money," she said, "and if you don't have it, you don't have it. And it's a lot of money when you look at it."
As previously stated, if you believe you are still being affected by the Chase credit issues at Meijer, you can call Meijer's support team at 1-877-363-4537, or fill out your information online at help.meijer.com.
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