Progressive Direct Ripoff, fraudulent credit card charge Tampa Florida
Some time in late 2003 or late 2004, Progressive autocharged my credit card $500. I never have had an agreement where they bill my card automatically for insurance payments and my bill has never been anywhere near $500. I pay a lump sum each six months (for the paid-in-full discount) and call their customer service and pay by credit card each time.
I never knew any of this had happened until I got a check from Progressive made out to me for $500. I thought what in the world is this?! I called Progressive and they told me I must have made an extra accidental payment to them by credit card, so I should just cash the check. I did not believe this person so I called back and got another person who said almost the same thing and that I must have forgotten about the extra payment or had been overcharged previously. I asked for a manager and the manager told me to go ahead and cash the check- that the money was for being overcharged.
I cashed the check. Then, 2 weeks or so later, Progressive sent me a bill for $500. I called and asked why and they told me I was given a check for that much on accident and that I should not have cashed it. I told the person I had called twice to ask about it and was told it was money they overcharged me for. I made a credit card payment for $500 and dismissed the incident. The next day, I found out when I watched the financial news that it was the end of the financial quarter and the quartlerly reports to investors had just been due.
It caused me to wonder if their accountants make charges like this to beef up their books just before shareholder showtime, return the cash very quickly, and then later say ooops, it was our fault. I am not saying they did this. It just makes me wonder. Why?
1) my payments were never ever anywhere near $500
2) the payment was supposedly made in the middle of one of my 6 month policy renewal periods
3) I have never ever agreed to any automatic bill payments
4) no representatives or manager could see the normal information (account notes) they would see when a customer makes a bill payment such as what representative processed it on the phone, or if it was done completely online by me, or if it came by postal mail
5) when I called them after getting the bill, the representative was completely unable to tell me why or how I got overcharged $500 unauthorized on my credit card-she simply said it was an accident and she didn't know how it was happening
6) happenstance coincided with investors' quarterly report
If this happened to many people, it can be a way to boost company revenues briefly or make interest from masses of bogus payments. Because nobody knew why or how it happened, I think it was caused by someone higher in the company.
Liz
Covington, Kentucky
U.S.A.
8 Updates & Rebuttals
Liz
Covington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
One Fabulously Rich Mutha
#9Author of original report
Sun, February 05, 2006
I "supposedly" cashed the check for $500 on November 5, 2003. That falls in the middle of the last quarter of the year- the key time to have accounts looking tidy.
I have no intention to debate people on this. Take it or leave it, Jane Q. Consumer. I am just sharing that they did this to me.
Oh, my favorite part was after I cashed the check and they sent me a letter saying I needed to pay the $500 IMMEDIATELY before my policy is interrupted or worse. LOL I pay my bills the same day I get them so I found being talked to like I was a retard (I have a master's degree, a nice credit score and I'm a model long term customer) was charming.
My pal (very cynical) told me it wasn't an accounting scheme. She hypothesized it was to lure me into spending it before Christmas and then sock it to me for not being able to repay it immediately. I don't care why it happened. I just thought it was weird and made me not trust them (especially since no one could fully explain it other than to say "no idea what happened on that, ma'am, but do you have any _other_ questions for me today?").
Mike
Clearwater,Florida,
U.S.A.
Your "Rip-off" report is more a testament to Progressive's diligence than anything else.
#9UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, February 05, 2006
Dear Liz,
After reading through your report, I can't see why you are so upset. It appears that Progressive made a mistake which was quickly corrected. As for the insinuation that Progressive was "cooking the books" before the quarterly shareholder report, let me put that to rest now:
Progressive is an honest company, they encourage disclosure of bad news among all levels in the company, as well as their customers and shareholders. They operate under a "core values" system, which all employees must adhere to. Progressive's management reciognized the growing mistrust in america's large corporations due to the scandals in the early new millenium.
For this reason:
In July of 2003, Progressive voluntarily became the FIRST fortune 500 company to begin publishing earnings per share on a MONTHLY basis.
Why would a company that reports to their shareholders on a monthly basis need or want to cook the books before a quarterly report? It wouldn't make any sense to do so when the previous, and next month's report would show a discrepency. The policy they have taken is truly one of full disclosure, I can't imagine the amount of coverup it would take to "cook the books" every 30 days.
As for your complaint itself:
They made a mistake. IT HAPPENS. It's bound to happen every so often with over 10 million customers. Over the years, I've had my credit card double charged, charged on the wrong day, charged for cancelled orders, charged $75 for $10 worth of gas, and charged by a company I never did business with. And EVERY SINGLE FRICKING TIME IT WAS A HASSLE AND A HALF TO GET MY d**n MONEY BACK. It looks like you're complaining because they gave your money back TOO FAST. You are alleging conspiracy and "book-cooking" when in fact, the only thing they are guilty of is catching the mistake quickly and correcting it so fast you hadn't even caught it yet. So they reversed a charge and the system still sent a check? Big deal, at least you didn't have to scream at somebody, reverse the charge yourself, send certified letters, or place a fraud report on your account to recover your money. (I've done all of the above)
Be happy that they saw the discrepency and made it a priority to fix it. Have you ever seen the Fedex commercial where the guy is complaining because Fedex delivered the package on-time? Your report reminds me of that commercial.
My usual disclaimer, for the record:
I am presently IN NO WAY affiliated with the Progressive Corporation. I am an EX-employee and in fact, I currently work for a competitor. I am just calling it like I see it.
Hope this helps.
Mike
Clearwater,Florida,
U.S.A.
Your "Rip-off" report is more a testament to Progressive's diligence than anything else.
#9UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, February 05, 2006
Dear Liz,
After reading through your report, I can't see why you are so upset. It appears that Progressive made a mistake which was quickly corrected. As for the insinuation that Progressive was "cooking the books" before the quarterly shareholder report, let me put that to rest now:
Progressive is an honest company, they encourage disclosure of bad news among all levels in the company, as well as their customers and shareholders. They operate under a "core values" system, which all employees must adhere to. Progressive's management reciognized the growing mistrust in america's large corporations due to the scandals in the early new millenium.
For this reason:
In July of 2003, Progressive voluntarily became the FIRST fortune 500 company to begin publishing earnings per share on a MONTHLY basis.
Why would a company that reports to their shareholders on a monthly basis need or want to cook the books before a quarterly report? It wouldn't make any sense to do so when the previous, and next month's report would show a discrepency. The policy they have taken is truly one of full disclosure, I can't imagine the amount of coverup it would take to "cook the books" every 30 days.
As for your complaint itself:
They made a mistake. IT HAPPENS. It's bound to happen every so often with over 10 million customers. Over the years, I've had my credit card double charged, charged on the wrong day, charged for cancelled orders, charged $75 for $10 worth of gas, and charged by a company I never did business with. And EVERY SINGLE FRICKING TIME IT WAS A HASSLE AND A HALF TO GET MY d**n MONEY BACK. It looks like you're complaining because they gave your money back TOO FAST. You are alleging conspiracy and "book-cooking" when in fact, the only thing they are guilty of is catching the mistake quickly and correcting it so fast you hadn't even caught it yet. So they reversed a charge and the system still sent a check? Big deal, at least you didn't have to scream at somebody, reverse the charge yourself, send certified letters, or place a fraud report on your account to recover your money. (I've done all of the above)
Be happy that they saw the discrepency and made it a priority to fix it. Have you ever seen the Fedex commercial where the guy is complaining because Fedex delivered the package on-time? Your report reminds me of that commercial.
My usual disclaimer, for the record:
I am presently IN NO WAY affiliated with the Progressive Corporation. I am an EX-employee and in fact, I currently work for a competitor. I am just calling it like I see it.
Hope this helps.
Pete
Valley View,Michigan,
U.S.A.
I have one question.
#9Consumer Comment
Sat, February 04, 2006
This supposedly took place 'some time late in 2003 or late 2004?' You are either 1) very rich because you wouldn't notice $500 being charged to your account or 2) very slipshod in the handling of your credit card. I would have noticed it immediately if I had a $500 charge on my account.
Liz
Covington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
Important details I left out...
#9Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
I checked with my credit card company and found that Progressive reversed the $500 charge just after it had gotten out of "pending" status (this usually takes only a few days up to a few weeks) which means they got paid for it by the credit card company and then quickly returned the funds back to the credit card company.
After the payment posted to my Progressive account, the Progressive system auto-generated a refund check since the unathorized $500 credit card payment left a credit balance with them on my insurance account.
Whomever reversed the credit card payment failed to take into account the autogenerated refund check. Briefly, they got $500 more for their accounts (perhaps when it mattered) and then briefly they lost $500 (perhaps when it didn't matter).
Whatever the reasons, because no one could explain it to me at all, I think these folks are unprofessional and I sometimes worry about doing business with them.
Liz
Covington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
Important details I left out...
#9Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
I checked with my credit card company and found that Progressive reversed the $500 charge just after it had gotten out of "pending" status (this usually takes only a few days up to a few weeks) which means they got paid for it by the credit card company and then quickly returned the funds back to the credit card company.
After the payment posted to my Progressive account, the Progressive system auto-generated a refund check since the unathorized $500 credit card payment left a credit balance with them on my insurance account.
Whomever reversed the credit card payment failed to take into account the autogenerated refund check. Briefly, they got $500 more for their accounts (perhaps when it mattered) and then briefly they lost $500 (perhaps when it didn't matter).
Whatever the reasons, because no one could explain it to me at all, I think these folks are unprofessional and I sometimes worry about doing business with them.
Liz
Covington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
Important details I left out...
#9Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
I checked with my credit card company and found that Progressive reversed the $500 charge just after it had gotten out of "pending" status (this usually takes only a few days up to a few weeks) which means they got paid for it by the credit card company and then quickly returned the funds back to the credit card company.
After the payment posted to my Progressive account, the Progressive system auto-generated a refund check since the unathorized $500 credit card payment left a credit balance with them on my insurance account.
Whomever reversed the credit card payment failed to take into account the autogenerated refund check. Briefly, they got $500 more for their accounts (perhaps when it mattered) and then briefly they lost $500 (perhaps when it didn't matter).
Whatever the reasons, because no one could explain it to me at all, I think these folks are unprofessional and I sometimes worry about doing business with them.
Liz
Covington,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
Important details I left out...
#9Author of original report
Sat, February 04, 2006
I checked with my credit card company and found that Progressive reversed the $500 charge just after it had gotten out of "pending" status (this usually takes only a few days up to a few weeks) which means they got paid for it by the credit card company and then quickly returned the funds back to the credit card company.
After the payment posted to my Progressive account, the Progressive system auto-generated a refund check since the unathorized $500 credit card payment left a credit balance with them on my insurance account.
Whomever reversed the credit card payment failed to take into account the autogenerated refund check. Briefly, they got $500 more for their accounts (perhaps when it mattered) and then briefly they lost $500 (perhaps when it didn't matter).
Whatever the reasons, because no one could explain it to me at all, I think these folks are unprofessional and I sometimes worry about doing business with them.