14 DAY TRIAL // A 20-year-old college student from Winnetka, Illinois, was kind of distracted when she paid for a short cab ride and ended up being charged almost $800 (€574) instead of less than $12 (€8,62).
On December 17, Becky Siegel was running late to meet some friends at the Sweetwater Tavern and Grille, so when she got off the Metra train at the Ogilvie Transportation Center, she immediately jumped into a cab.
The young woman says the driver seemed very friendly, so she didn't suspect he could defraud her in any way.
“He was apparently very friendly and chatty, and was talking about pedestrians crossing where they shouldn't,” Becky's mother, Susan, told Fox 32 News.
When they arrived at the restaurant, which was less than two miles from the train station, Becky asked if she could pay the under $10 (€7.18) bill using a credit card and the taxi driver agreed. He took her card and swiped it through a Square device attached to his phone. Becky asked him to add a $2 (€1.44) tip then signed the application.
Nothing suspicious so far, but several days later, Susan Siegel was shocked when she saw a $787.33 (€565.69) transaction while she was checking her credit card charges. After talking to her daughter, she realized it was the bill for the nearly two mile cab ride.
“I guess I didn't pay attention or I didn't look…I just signed my name with my finger and I left,” Becky said, according to Chicago Tribune.
Ms. Siegel contacted her credit card company to see if there was any solution for the overcharge, but given that her daughter had signed off the transaction, they refused a refund.
“Cardholder is mistaken, based on evidence, transaction is valid. Advise cardholder to contact merchant for further resolution if needed,” the letter received by Siegel from the bank read.
So, she decided to contact the driver, Ali Ghazanfari, who stood behind the nearly $800 (€574) charge. However, the man changed his attitude when Mika Stambaugh from the Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection got involved.
“I remember exactly what happened. I made a mistake on the fare,” Ghazanfari admitted.
“I don't know what happened. Everything happened so fast. Then I went home and checked my transactions; I realized I charged the person $787.33 (€565.69),” he added.
The driver claims he tried to contact Square and his bank to return the money to his client, but they told him it was impossible to refund the sum without specific information about the cardholder.
After Mika Stambaugh contacted Square, the company promised to send Siegel a check for $787.33 (€565.69) on Friday.