Online and mobile banking can be very convenient. But a misdirected bill payment left a Grafton, Massachusetts, woman wondering what happened to her money.
Kristina Singer was paying bills on her mobile banking app last month when she made a mistake.
"I accidentally paid $250 to a deactivated AT&T payee or pay account," Singer said. "I only realized it after it was paid. I called my bank they said it's already paid, you have to call the vendor. So I called AT&T and thankfully I had my paperwork from when I did have the account."
She thought a quick call to customer service would clear up the problem, but it didn't.
"I was just getting nowhere with customer service," said Singer. "I was getting bounced around from different departments on the phone literally hours because you know, you get transferred, you have to be waiting on line to talk, no one could find my account."
The account had been closed for a few years, which complicated matters.
"I thought, this is my error, this is just dumb on my part," Singer said. "But it's an honest mistake and I thought, I didn't mean to do it, it's still my money and where is it? It's in the black hole of the internet, you know...where is it?"
NBC10 Boston Responds
If you’ve been cheated or swindled, NBC10 Boston Responds is fighting to recoup your money.
She was prepared to write it off as a loss, but then decided to reach out to NBC10 Boston Responds for help. We contacted AT&T and let Singer know.
"Literally within hours of getting that email, I got a call from someone in the president of AT&T's office," she said.
Singer got her $250 back. In a statement, AT&T told us: "We returned the full overpayment amount to the customer's bank and apologize for the inconvenience."
"You guys were great. Immediate response, right on it and then immediate response from AT&T, they obviously got your call," said Singer. "I'm very happy, thank you very much!"
She has now deleted all of the old payee accounts she doesn't use anymore on her banking app, and you should too. It will save you a big hassle if you should make the same mistake.
If you have a consumer problem you can't solve yourself, reach out to us at 1-888-521-NEWS or on our website at nbcboston.com/consumer-form/. NBC10 Boston Responds will get back to you.
