Do you share a credit card number?

[mayflowers]

This is what happened to me. I think it's very important to share.
I received my credit card bill showing two charges to the same store on the same day.
I could not remember going back to that store on the same day.
For one thing it was at a Pet shop I seldom visit. I don't own a pet. My daughter does own a cat and I had gone in to make a purchase for her. I did have the receipt for my purchase. I called the credit card company and they suggested I contact the Pet store first.
I went to the pet store. I requested a copy of the receipt showing the disputed purchase. The manager gave me a copy of the receipt for the disputed item. It was made 20 minutes after I had been there and by the same cashier. Hmmm....very strange,first thing I thought was lets talk to the cashier,but That was not allowed.
They said all you can do is call your credit card co. to investigate.
The item that was purchased was a dog bowl. Another reason to say "no way that was me".
I told the manager how I felt,explaining that I had not lost my credit card or misplaced it. I suggested maybe the someone in the store had used my card number.
The manager assured me " there is no way we can swipe your credit card". He said that the customer swipes the card,the cashier never touches the card. And the receipt showed that it was swiped.
I went to sit in my car trying to get myself together before driving home.
I kept looking at the receipt and noticed there was a phone number at the very bottom after the dog bowl item. I called the number. And guess what? The lady that bought the dog bowl answered. I politely asked if she worked at the pet store. She said no. I asked "did you recently purchase a dog bowl?" She said yes I did. Well I told her what I was going through trying to figure out how I was charged for this dog bowl that she purchased.
I told her that the dog bowl receipt showed the same 4 numbers of my credit card.
When I read them to her she said "That's my number". She said she got her CC bill and the charge for the dog bowl is in there.
It's true we HAVE THE SAME CREDIT CARD NUMBER but with two different companies. Can you believe that? I still can't believe that there's someone in my area with the same credit card number. I talked to my CC co. and they said they could issue a new card number. What a mess!
It seems that since she came in just 20 minutes after,swiped her card with the same number I used; The computer didn't know what to do so we both were charged for the dog bowl.
Anyway,just want you all to know that this can happen to anyone.
Check your bills. And know that one day you may be charged for something you didn't buy. It may be that someone else has been issued the same credit card number.
And do your own investigating to ease your mind.
I feel so much better knowing that I wasn't the victim of a thief.
Just crazy credit card companies with too many customers and not enough numbers I guess.
God's peace!

[Reapp]

Wow, that truly is bizarre, nice bit of detective work there!

[Peaches]

Not to ruin you "peace" Mayflower....but which of you read the cc number to the other? This just seems strange that the other customer's phone number was printed at the bottom of the receipt. That's seems like a breach of security in itself.

Ask youself what the chances are that another person would share the same credit card number...and live so close to you...and visit the same pet store within 20 minutes of you. Even both going to Walmart that soon would be a stretch...but a pet store???

One thing you probably don't know is that your credit card number DOES print on the merchant copy. Usually management people are the ones with access to those numbers, but those numbers ARE there.

Was this a national pet store chain?

[JakRussll]

Mayflower. Just to clarify. Are you saying that you share the last 4 numbers with someone else, or the entire 16 digit card number?

[Peaches]

I just caught that you said the same number with two different companies....

The first two numbers on a credit card distinguish the card brand...VISA, Master Card, etc...
The next few numbers determine the bank that issued the card. Two companies can't issue the same credit card number!

People can always find a way to steal money. Here's what I think could have happened...

Mayflowers made her purchase. Somebody with access to the un-encrypted credit card number purchased the dog bowl (notice how this was a purchase of a single item - for which a return wouldn't call attention?) by keying in your credit card number (yes, keying in can be done because sometimes your credit card magnetic strip won't scan). If that person was an employee and not the store owner, that person "returned" the bowl for cash - probably said the customer lost the receipt so as to avoid issuing a credit back to the credit card.

Mayflowers contacted the store, but the manager wasn't concerned enough to address the matter (That manager should have been ALL OVER that!). She found a phone number on the receipt and called it. Maybe the phone rang in the Manager's office - and maybe that manager has caller ID and knew why you were calling.

Maybe this wasn't the first time this has happened, and the manager was prepared for your call. Some people wouldn't necessarily notice two charges from the same store on the same day on their statement. Mayflowers didn't say how much the charge was, but if somebody did that several times a day, it could really add up!

That's why I asked if this was a national chain. If so, you should contact the corporate office and let them know about this. If my theory is correct, they've probably had a sharp increase in returns lately.

If this isn't a national chain, perhaps you should contact your credit card company again and press the issue. If the store owner or an employee is committing fraud, the credit card company can press charges.

[mayflowers]

Thnx Reapp for the compliment.
Peaches, When I called the lady,I mentioned that I had in my hand a receipt for the dog bowl and that somehow it got charged to my account. And I said that the last 4 digits were the same on both receipts,the purchase I made and the dog bowl purchase. I read the numbers to her. I said,"It's strange that "mastercard" would give out the same number." She said "I don't have "mastercard". She said she was also charged for the bowl on her own cc bill. Then she said,maybe we have the same credit card number.
I know what you mean about the phone number.
My husband suggested that maybe she has a card from the store. Btw,the store is PetSmart.
They do offer their own cc. And it could be that Petsmart prints a Petsmart cc customer's phone number on their receipt. For point offers or whatever.
I have no idea,I was just glad the phone number was there.
I didn't make a big deal about her number being on the receipt because I didn't want her to feel threatened in anyway. OR call the store and complain about me.
JakRussll,Yes I am thinking it's only the last four digits. Since that's all I had printed on the receipt.
When I called "Mastercard" the lady I talked to didn't seem to think it was all that unusual. Since all she said was,"We could issue you another card with a different number". She sure didn't say "there's no way you two share the same number".
Peaches I also really thought that it was an inside job. And thnx for the tips.
The store manager was no help. What more can one do when he keeps saying,"There's no way we can swipe your card." And I told him the same cashier ran both purchases.
I thought she should be questioned. He still didn't think we needed to ask the cashier any questions.
I will take your advise about contacting the corporate office about this. My husband feels the same way you do.
I'm going to keep those receipts and bill together.Just in case we have anymore problems.
Keep an eye on all your bills.

[Peaches]

I'm glad you're going to call the corporate office, Mayflowers. I believe two cards could share the same last four numbers, but when the credit card charges are "batched" there shouldn't be any way for two different cards to get charged for the same purchase. If nothing else, that would throw the daily receipts reconcilliation off. That should have triggered some attempt to located the source of the overage.

But, let's say this was a technical error. By calling corporate you might help them identify an issue and get it resolved. Either way, it's a good thing to do...

[bimbo]

i agree with peaches on the "return scam" theory....

[mayflowers]

Here's an update.
I received my CC bill and the charge was not credited.
I called the CC and asked why I was not credited for this charge when I had told them that I did not make this purchase.
They said that first I had to agree to a new credit card and number. They will not investigate or do anything unless I agree to changing my CC number.
So here we are,step two.
They will send me a new card with new number. Then they will look into what happened and why I was charged for a purchase I didn't make.
They did send me a copy of the receipt showing the person's signature and last 4 digits of her CC. The signature is nothing like mine but those last 4 digits are the same.
The other thing is that the CC listed is the same as mine. Which I know is not correct because I talked to the lady and she told me she did not have the type of card I mentioned.
I did not call the PetSmart corporate office since I didn't find a toll free number online.
I did submit an email at their website using the "contact us" option.
I am not happy with this CC company. I have a feeling they are all the same though.

[mayflowers]

I received a reply from the Petsmart corporate office. They took this problem seriously and are going to investigate. At least the reply said,"We will make things right". And they apologized for the inconvenience this has caused.
I thought of buying one of those identity protection plans. I called to talk to "ProtectMyID" customer service. They said the ProtectMyID company would not had helped in this situation. But the man said that what happened to me is not common. And I haven't talked to anyone who this has happened to.
Just remember to look at your bills and make sure every charge is yours.

[Peaches]

YES! I am so glad you contacted Corporate. You'll probaly never find out what happened through PetSmart, but they will get to the bottom of it. You may have helped them more than you will ever know...not to mention their customers.