Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon has asked the Consumer Affairs Division to investigate incidents in which PriceSmart customers were charged for purchases they did not make on Friday, then reimbursed less than the original amount.
In a brief telephone interview on Monday, Gopee-Scoon said the situation was brought to her attention on Sunday and she has since asked the division to look into it to ensure customers are not “disadvantaged.”
She hoped work would begin immediately to resolve the issue.
Over the weekend, scores of customers noticed unknown transactions on their credit-card accounts dated October 13 that emanated from PriceSmart. Customers told Newsday their banks are blaming Pricesmart, while PriceSmart is blaming the banks.
Newsday is awaiting a response from the Bankers Association and PriceSmart. RBC was reportedly involved in many of the incidents and is said to be investigating.
One customer also told Newsday they are exploring legal action.
In a Facebook post, Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture Avinash Singh said he was a victim of one such incident.
Irate customers took to social media to express their discontent, and even set up a dedicated page on Facebook.
Using her mobile banking, Diego Martin resident Shelly-Ann Johnson, 40, noticed a deduction of $3,745 from her credit card account charged on Friday. She also saw a reimbursement of $3,707.80, a net loss of $37.20. Though she uses her credit card regularly at PriceSmart, the last time she bought anything there for a comparable amount was on August 31, at the Port of Spain branch, for $3,683.75. She told Newsday she called her bank, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and was told the issue lay with PriceSmart. She said a representative said the difference in reimbursement could be due to foreign-exchange rate differences, because the chain pays in US currency.
But she said when she contacted PriceSmart, a representative said it was an issue with the bank. She said she is concerned that the bank allowed the incident to happen. "This is something you pick up on. These things can't be happening without your authorisation. Where is your security?" she said. "It has me a bit flustered as to how they could do that."
Sherlana Jaisarie was also a victim of a "black Friday" transaction. Also, a customer of RBC, saw two charges at the PriceSmart La Romaine branch on her account dated October 13, one for $2,793.20 and the other for $1,623.82. While these totalled $4,417.02, she only received $4,350.94 in reimbursement, a net loss of $66.08.
The last time she had a PriceSmart bill close to these figures was on August 16, when she used her credit card to pay $2,757.01. Unlike Johnson, she was unable to contact her bank or PriceSmart for clarification. "You feel like your security is compromised. You're not sure who has access to your card information to charge you weeks after the fact. You're not sure if you want to go and use your card anywhere again," she said.
She said many people discovered the error through mobil
