5 ms·

Facebook, stop charging me

83 points by ibrahimcesar 14y ago

taude 14y ago
Just have your credit card retract the charges?
- akcreek 14y ago
  Or start with PayPal and dispute the transaction. In the resolution center open a dispute and select, " I want to report a transaction that I didn't authorize". Paypal will contact FB and then decide the outcome. If they continue to not respond it will automatically go to you. *Edited to correct grammer.
yuvadam 14y ago
Of course Facebook is about money, it's a corporation, and making a profit is the only reason corporations exist.
- akcreek 14y ago
  Nothing wrong with focusing on profits, but if they charge for a service it had better be authorized and the service had better be delivered. It appears they did neither in this case based off the info supplied in the article.
  - yuvadam 14y ago
    For sure, Facebook is negligently charging this man's credit card, and there's nothing wrong with focusing on profits. But corporations love to talk about acting ethical, changing society for the better, wanting to "help connect people", and other random PR babble. But let's not forget that corporations are here to make $$$, full stop.
- Mvandenbergh 14y ago
  One hates to be a pedant, but that's not strictly true. 501(c)(3) charities are also incorporated as are a whole range of government sponsored enterprises, local governments, and other organisations that are not about making profits.
  - acjohnson55 14y ago
    Does "one" hate to be a pedant, or you specifically?
    - Mvandenbergh 14y ago
      More or less everyone, I imagine.
  - will_brown 14y ago
    Despite the name 501(c)(3), exempt Non-Profits are also about making...profits. It is a giant misconception that non-profits can not make profits, but the reality is that many do make profits. The difference with the non-profit is that there are no shareholders (owners)so profits are not distributed to anyone, instead the profits sit in the 501(c)(3) bank account until they are used. Also, local and municipal governments are not eligible for 501(c)(3) exemption, they may obtain tax exempt status, as you reference, but it is under different section of the IRS Code.
    - Mvandenbergh 14y ago
      Right, but municipal bodies in some places are still organised as corporations.
      - will_brown 14y ago
        True, but they are still out to make a profit, it goes without saying that if they do not at least generate enough revenue for expenses they can not continue to exist at that rate in perpetuity - but the reality is profit is required to create Trusts to pay pre-existing liabilities such as bonds and pensions, not just cover overhead - in fact we are seeing major cities file bankruptcy setting new precedent in bankruptcy law. See, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-31/news/sns-rt-us-stockton-bankruptcybre92u09q-20130331_1_bankruptcy-eligibility-bankruptcy-protection-assured-guaranty-municipal-corp http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-31/news/sns-rt-us... I can not help but like your spelling of organised with an "s", I think I am dropping the "z" and using "s" from now on. Wish I could give a 2nd +1 just for that.
niggler 14y ago
Call your CC, fraud and chargebacks are standard. Especially if you can prove you didn't use or authorize the service in 2013.
- coopdog 14y ago
  I can imagine them banning his account as a 'standard response' to chargebacks. It might not be the end of the world for a personal account but potentially quite annoying for a business with an existing FB presence.
- timdorr 14y ago
  Actually, it looks like he's paying with PayPal. Even better. He can just stop the billing agreement with them and that will stop the charges.
ruswick 14y ago
Obviously, this is an error that needs to be rectified. However, the way that the article regards Facebook's actions is an abject misrepresentation. He states that Facebook is "stealing" from him, when, in fact, no conscious theft took place. In all likelihood, this was simply a bug. Moreover, he asserts that, given Facebook's actions (or lack thereof) regarding his account, Facebook is "about people's money." First, this assertion is itself pretty nebulous. Moreover, it implies that Facebook is willingly shirking their users and advertising customers for the sake of profit, evidence of which has yet to be seen. From everything that has been presented, it can be reasonably assumed that they simply made a mistake with these charges, and that no malicious intent was involved. It's unfortunate that Facebook made an error that cost someone money, but this article is clearly perverting the story and making undefended, specious assertions to provoke outrage or drive pageviews.
- Mahn 14y ago
  He's indeed overreacting. Apparently that works though, because it made it to the front page.
  - uptown 14y ago
    How much should they take from him before he's allowed to be upset?
    - Mahn 14y ago
      No one says he's not allowed to be upset, Facebook DID do a mistake here, and it is legitimate to be angry about it. But calling names and posting a public tantrum about it is not the way to get it fixed; Facebook is not "stealing", they just did a mistake they need to correct, and if they don't react there are ways to request a chargeback or report fraud.
      - uptown 14y ago
        Who called anybody a name?
tzakrajs 14y ago
Facebook is a publicly traded company. Of course they are all about the money - welcome to America.
onemorepassword 14y ago
Facebook is "about" people as much as Soylent Green is... But nevertheless, culturally I would expect Facebook to understand human communication and the need for customer service better than Google.
- loceng 14y ago
  Why would you expect it? Because there's 800+ million people using it? As I keep saying, they don't actually understand social. They're looking at $ numbers, and that's all.
unclebucknasty 14y ago
Another related problem is that FB won't let you remove all credit cards from your FB account once you've added one and/or run ads--at least not through the site. I have yet to try contacting them. I can see this logic if you have recently run ads that must settle, but even after months or years of inactivity, a card must stay on your account.
- nano111 14y ago
  They gave me $4.00 toward the purchase of a gift in the hope I would give them my CC#
helloamar 14y ago
Fake profiles = fake clicks, 3yrs back we were using Facebook ads for 5 months and we gained nothing out of it.

83 points by ibrahimcesar 14y ago

taude 14y ago

Just have your credit card retract the charges?

akcreek 14y ago
Or start with PayPal and dispute the transaction. In the resolution center open a dispute and select, " I want to report a transaction that I didn't authorize". Paypal will contact FB and then decide the outcome. If they continue to not respond it will automatically go to you. *Edited to correct grammer.

yuvadam 14y ago

Of course Facebook is about money, it's a corporation, and making a profit is the only reason corporations exist.

akcreek 14y ago
Nothing wrong with focusing on profits, but if they charge for a service it had better be authorized and the service had better be delivered. It appears they did neither in this case based off the info supplied in the article.
- yuvadam 14y ago
  For sure, Facebook is negligently charging this man's credit card, and there's nothing wrong with focusing on profits. But corporations love to talk about acting ethical, changing society for the better, wanting to "help connect people", and other random PR babble. But let's not forget that corporations are here to make $$$, full stop.
Mvandenbergh 14y ago
One hates to be a pedant, but that's not strictly true. 501(c)(3) charities are also incorporated as are a whole range of government sponsored enterprises, local governments, and other organisations that are not about making profits.
- acjohnson55 14y ago
  Does "one" hate to be a pedant, or you specifically?
  - Mvandenbergh 14y ago
    More or less everyone, I imagine.
- will_brown 14y ago
  Despite the name 501(c)(3), exempt Non-Profits are also about making...profits. It is a giant misconception that non-profits can not make profits, but the reality is that many do make profits. The difference with the non-profit is that there are no shareholders (owners)so profits are not distributed to anyone, instead the profits sit in the 501(c)(3) bank account until they are used. Also, local and municipal governments are not eligible for 501(c)(3) exemption, they may obtain tax exempt status, as you reference, but it is under different section of the IRS Code.
  - Mvandenbergh 14y ago
    Right, but municipal bodies in some places are still organised as corporations.
    - will_brown 14y ago
      True, but they are still out to make a profit, it goes without saying that if they do not at least generate enough revenue for expenses they can not continue to exist at that rate in perpetuity - but the reality is profit is required to create Trusts to pay pre-existing liabilities such as bonds and pensions, not just cover overhead - in fact we are seeing major cities file bankruptcy setting new precedent in bankruptcy law. See, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-31/news/sns-rt-us-stockton-bankruptcybre92u09q-20130331_1_bankruptcy-eligibility-bankruptcy-protection-assured-guaranty-municipal-corp http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-31/news/sns-rt-us... I can not help but like your spelling of organised with an "s", I think I am dropping the "z" and using "s" from now on. Wish I could give a 2nd +1 just for that.

niggler 14y ago

Call your CC, fraud and chargebacks are standard. Especially if you can prove you didn't use or authorize the service in 2013.

coopdog 14y ago
I can imagine them banning his account as a 'standard response' to chargebacks. It might not be the end of the world for a personal account but potentially quite annoying for a business with an existing FB presence.
timdorr 14y ago
Actually, it looks like he's paying with PayPal. Even better. He can just stop the billing agreement with them and that will stop the charges.

ruswick 14y ago

Obviously, this is an error that needs to be rectified. However, the way that the article regards Facebook's actions is an abject misrepresentation. He states that Facebook is "stealing" from him, when, in fact, no conscious theft took place. In all likelihood, this was simply a bug. Moreover, he asserts that, given Facebook's actions (or lack thereof) regarding his account, Facebook is "about people's money." First, this assertion is itself pretty nebulous. Moreover, it implies that Facebook is willingly shirking their users and advertising customers for the sake of profit, evidence of which has yet to be seen. From everything that has been presented, it can be reasonably assumed that they simply made a mistake with these charges, and that no malicious intent was involved. It's unfortunate that Facebook made an error that cost someone money, but this article is clearly perverting the story and making undefended, specious assertions to provoke outrage or drive pageviews.

Mahn 14y ago
He's indeed overreacting. Apparently that works though, because it made it to the front page.
- uptown 14y ago
  How much should they take from him before he's allowed to be upset?
  - Mahn 14y ago
    No one says he's not allowed to be upset, Facebook DID do a mistake here, and it is legitimate to be angry about it. But calling names and posting a public tantrum about it is not the way to get it fixed; Facebook is not "stealing", they just did a mistake they need to correct, and if they don't react there are ways to request a chargeback or report fraud.
    - uptown 14y ago
      Who called anybody a name?

tzakrajs 14y ago

Facebook is a publicly traded company. Of course they are all about the money - welcome to America.

onemorepassword 14y ago

Facebook is "about" people as much as Soylent Green is... But nevertheless, culturally I would expect Facebook to understand human communication and the need for customer service better than Google.

loceng 14y ago
Why would you expect it? Because there's 800+ million people using it? As I keep saying, they don't actually understand social. They're looking at $ numbers, and that's all.

unclebucknasty 14y ago

Another related problem is that FB won't let you remove all credit cards from your FB account once you've added one and/or run ads--at least not through the site. I have yet to try contacting them. I can see this logic if you have recently run ads that must settle, but even after months or years of inactivity, a card must stay on your account.

nano111 14y ago
They gave me $4.00 toward the purchase of a gift in the hope I would give them my CC#

helloamar 14y ago

Fake profiles = fake clicks, 3yrs back we were using Facebook ads for 5 months and we gained nothing out of it.