People Who Don't Understand How CC's Work

No, we know that they don't. And many are the tales of yore on this sub of the strange, wonderous, and many varied way that ignorance leaks through from its alternate universe and stains our reality. I do not pretend that this is a better/worse/funnier tales than anything that anyone else has experienced. But, in my own little corner of our common hell, this was, at least, a novelty for me.

It seems that our caller, whom I shall title, "Idiot" in our little drama, had paid for one night of a friend's room. All well and good. The authorization included $50.00 for incidentals, which-we make pains to point out-are released from us at checkout but will only return to his balance once his bank/card company absolutley, politively, has to. Not us.

So, the guest stays, the room checks out, and all is well. Ah, but 'twould not be a TF2D if the Gods had so honored us, would it gentle reader? While our horizons were yet fair and undisturbed, our little electronic missive had fallen into the vortex of a whirlwind of dark and chaotic forces. Mostly stupidity. It's always mostly stupidity. So, after this long intoduction, the brief tale:

Idiot decided to lock his CC after he checked Friend in. OK, fine, people do that. But then he left it locked when Friend checked out. As it happened, that meant that the authorization void from our system was denied by his card. Lost, orphaned, and berefit of home and hearth, of kith and kin, it slipped off into the void and darkness, to be known no more.

So, what does Idiot do? Why, not having restored to him his incidentals deposit, he boldly strikes a blow for liberty! For God, St. George, and Merrie England, he files a dispute with his card company. Not about a charge, not about a refund...but about an voided authorization that he himself had set it up to refuse.

Now, we might be more forgiving yet at this point in our story. After all, like the Sorcerer's Apprentice, those that dabble in the Dark Arts do sometimes trespass on the fringes of magic beyond their understanding.

But this Bozo...

Having sent in the dispute to his card company, he then canceled his card completely.

Now, he has since called us three three times in the past four days, asking us to re-send (which we cannot do) another void (of a transaction we no longer have) to a different card number (which we cannot do). Every call, he cannot understand that we simply do not have it ("But is was refused by my card because it was locked! So you must have it!") but understands-is even fixated on-that his card does not have it ("It was locked! They pinged it back!"). The whole concept of not being able to refund to a different card? Completely clueless. That there is not a manager here to reslove it rightthisveryminute (6pm on a Saturday)? Unheard of. That this is anything other than his fault in the first place? Inconceivable! That we cannot call his card company and tell them to start issuing credits to other charge cards? Incomprehansible. Why everyone (including me at that point) keeps hanging up on him? A mystery.

Finally, he called back today while the owner was here, his bank was open, and somebody cared. It took a LOT of juggling things around but we were able to get him refunded. It is amazing how even difficult matters can be corrected if you go to, talk to, and listen to, the people that can do something about it; instead of annoying the people telling you how to do just that.