How a $46 Shuttle Ride Turned Into a $4,600 Credit Card Charge

A teeny-tiny decimal point is quite the powerful thing, not to be overlooked. Unfortunately, if you don’t pay attention to it, you could end up paying way more than you planned to, like one consumer did when paying for a ride to an airport.

Mary Morehead of Seattle was in California for a wedding and took a shuttle from the Long Beach Airport to Los Angeles International Airport after returning her rental car. The ride cost $46 including tip, and when she signed the credit card receipt, she saw it said $4600, reported KOMOnews.com. Morehead signed it, saying she thought the small receipt was formatted to omit the decimal point.

The next month, she saw the $4,600 charge on her credit card statement and called her issuer to dispute the charge. They issued Morehead a credit but later called her to say the driver presented the receipt for $4,600, so she would be charged in a later bill. If she wanted her money back, it was up to her to find it.

It took Morehead many months and several phone calls to resolve the problem, KOMOnews.com reported. She tracked down the driver’s phone number earlier this month, and when she called him, he said he didn’t know the total had been entered incorrectly. The driver wired Morehead $4,600 on Dec. 7, about five months after she took the shuttle. At least the ride ended up being free!

Not only is Morehead’s experience a lesson to look closely at a receipt you’re signing, it also shows the importance of reviewing your account activity. You don’t have to wait for your monthly credit card statement to arrive in order to review your purchases, and the sooner you spot an error, the more quickly you’re likely to resolve it. The longer it goes unnoticed, the more likely fraudulent activity or incorrect information could be reported to the major credit reporting agencies, which can damage your credit score until you get the errors fixed. (Here’s a quick guide to disputing an error on your credit report.)

You can use your credit information as a way to spot errors and fraud, and you can get two free credit scores every month on Credit.com. As Morehead learned firsthand, seemingly small financial mishaps can get very messy, so don’t underestimate the importance of closely and frequently checking your account activity.

More on Credit Cards:

• How to Get a Credit Card With Bad Credit
• An Expert Guide to Credit Cards With Rewards
• How to Get a Credit Card With Good Credit

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