|
|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Thu Feb 14 2008 - 09:42:19 EST
The same sort of thing happened to us on Endeavor. Two charges for 3 or 400
dollars shaowed up several weeks after we left Oiental. Since we had the
monthly statements with us, we showed Visa thet we were properly charged on
the
dates we were in oriental, and them showed that the bogus charges were not
possible, because we had new charges where we actually were during the dates
they
tried to scam us on the same card. They did remove the charges. Visa, World
Perks.
This is a warning of a scam to all T&T members who cruise south every
winter on the ICW.
We caught on to this scam mainly because we did not take HOBO down the
ICW this year. Our December VISA bill from Bank of America had a
$1016 fuel charge from the Oriental Inn and Marina in Oriental North
Carolina. We had pulled into this small Marina just across from the
public dock at Oriental, N.C. twice in previous years. This year the
boat remains at our dock on the Chesapeake six days north of
Oriental. Being at home to see the charge we caught it right away.
If we had been South on the boat we might not have caught it so
quickly, if at all, among many other fuel charges! There were no
other fuel or any other false charges made against this card.
Naturally, we instantly notified Bank of America, cancelled the Visa
card and notified the marina that they had been scammed. The marina
insisted that HOBO was at their dock on Dec. 2, explicitly and
insistently remembered by the dockmaster who says that he/she
discussed the name and the homeport with the skipper, both of which
items he claims he SAW painted on the vessel. Incidentally, the name
of the home port they reported for my HOBO is WRONG!! Their bill of
sale copy sent to us by the Bank of America shows that the card was
not scanned but keyed in and that it was not signed by me but by
someone named "Ray Parker" without any authorization by me (the
cardholder). My card was never lost or out of my possession. The
marina supplied Bank of America with the name and address of a Ray
Parker who lives about 35 miles from me in Maryland, is not a boater
and can prove that he was at home during the time period involved.
The marina claims that his address shows that he may be in my "circle
of influence" !!?? They claim to have obtained this info on Google
(strange detective work, no?).
The really astonishing thing about this is that Bank of America,
after what they call a "careful investigation" demands that I pay the
disputed charge! They know that I did not sign for this $1016 and
that the card was not scanned. Not only was my boat nowhere near N.C.
in 2007 but there is no other Maryland boat of this size, type and
name home ported on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The whole thing is
bogus and nevertheless Bank of America is sticking me with the charges.
BEWARE! Do you carry a Bank of America credit card? Use it regularly
on the ICW? Sign in at the marinas where you stay overnight with the
usual info such as address, phone no., name of boat which stays in
their records along with your credit card no.? (Note - they do not
ask for homeport at sign-in which they assume must match your home
address but this discrepancy in their demand for your money will not
trigger suspicion by Bank of America). It is plain that Bank of
America has a priority which is not the security of your credit card
or protecting you from fraud.
>From the evidence which I have supplied, who do you think is the
perp here? What do you suggest that I do? What is clear from this
tale is: Boater beware! Double check those credit card bills!
Frank Lawlor (the trawler HOBO)
**************
The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy
Awards. Go to AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)
_______________________________________________
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering
To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change email address, etc) go to: http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/trawlers-and-trawlering
Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
|