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

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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.

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