Wal-Mart customers hit by computer glitch

It was the only retailer affected by a hardware glitch at First Data Corp.

By Linda Rosencrance

April 5, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

Computerworld - A computer hardware problem at First Data Corp. that affected some 800,000 credit and debit card transactions caused some Wal-Mart shoppers nationwide to be billed two or three times for the same purchase, according to Staci Busby, a spokeswoman for the Denver-based electronic payment processor.
Busby, who said she didn't know the exact cause of the hardware problem, said Wal-Mart was the only retailer affected.
She said the overcharges on the MasterCard and Visa accounts occurred on March 31 and were reversed on Friday, April 2, but could show up on people's accounts as late as tomorrow.
"We regularly run reports and we saw this on a report, and we corrected it as soon as we saw it," Busby said.
She said First Data has established a toll-free customer hot line, (888) 893-0626, for questions about the incident.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company has also posted the hot line number in all its stores.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Retail

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.