This *almost* looks like output from M-x psychoanalyze-pinhead

[tim]

Clipper Card Customer Service custserv@clippercard.com

6:06 PM (2 hours ago)

to me

Dear Clipper Patron,

On August 30, 2011 you made a payment to Clipper for value added to your Clipper card. Unfortunately, at that time, your Visa card was mistakenly billed twice. The first of these charges occurred on August 31 while the second, duplicate billing, occurred the following day, September 1, 2011.

We identified the duplicate billing soon after it occurred and processed a credit to your Visa card during the period September 13-19, 2011. However, we have just been informed by our payment card processor that Visa had also identified the duplicate billing transactions and issued a credit to your Visa account on September 1, 2011. Consequently, Clipper® added value to your card without having collected any payment.

After identifying this error, Clipper’s payment card processor charged your Visa card on May 11, 2012 for the same amount that should have been collected for your purchase on August 30, 2011. You will see this charge on your credit card statement for this billing period.

We apologize for the confusion this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding. If you have any questions about this issue please feel free to contact us at the phone number or email address listed below.

Sincerely,

Clipper Customer Service

877 878 8883

custserv@clippercard.com

Thank you, Clipper Customer Service, for making my day just that much more surreal!

Comments

[dharma_slut]

You've reminded me of this comedic gem which I often heard as a kid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUJLO6lMhI

[tim]

Why yes, dealing with Bay Area transit agencies is much like getting hit by a barrel of bricks :-D

[cleverthylacine]

Oh man, that post.

Eventually in late April Clipper told me that they couldn't refund the money because Paypal (my card provider) wouldn't let them. I called Paypal to verify that this was the steaming pile of BS I thought it was, and when I told them the whole story they reversed the charges on Clipper and credited me. After this I got calls from a very unhappy "customer service" rep who lied through her teeth to the BBB (to which I'd also reported them) and basically was trying to get me to reverse the chargeback.

I refused to do so under any circumstances, and I told them I did not want them to pay me any more, I had my money back and would take no action to improve their well earned bad reputation (seriously, go see what the BBB has to say about them) and that if they sent me money now it would be an unsolicited gift which I would treat as a gift (perhaps they were trying to apologise?) Clipper then decided to send me a paper cheque in the mail (which they mailed the day AFTER I got the charge back) and then, when I cashed the damn thing, they ran a charge on my Paypal card again, which I also got reversed, and when they tried to claim they had paid me back with the check and shouldn't have got a chargeback, I informed Paypal that they sent me that cheque AFTER the first chargeback and claim was resolved in my favour, and that they were trying to extort me into shutting up and clearing their record, and that their sending me an unsolicited gift payment was not sufficient cause for them to run my card without my consent. Paypal agreed, so essentially I finally got double my money back, although I did have to have my card reissued because their fraud dept said the only way to keep them from trying to charge it was to change the number.