In this thread: People who work for banks or tangential industries telling people 'That is just how it works' and ignoring the fact that it only works that way because the banks have chosen the path of maximum returns and least convenience for their customers.

"it is policy" is the modern version of "Natural Law" It is a thought-ending cliche.

All of you defending this need to step back for a second and ask yourself how much of your life is controlled by policy and 'it is what it is' at your own expense and to the profit of the leech class.

Not to defend corporations and banks, but it’s kinda true. When you swipe your debit card, your bank allocates those funds for that transaction, but whoever you’re paying doesn’t actually have it yet, and your bank hasn’t sent it yet. That’s just the way the banking system works. It can take days for them to actually get your money, depending on weekends, holidays, etc. When you request a refund, the process just goes in reverse.

Think of it like a check. If I write a check and give it to someone, I write the amount in the check register as if it’s spent, but until that person takes my check to the bank, they don’t actually have the money yet.

They don't instantly take your money. It's instantly made unavailable to you, but it's still held by your bank for a bit before they receive it.

When they refund money to you, it's instantly unavailable to them, but is still held by their bank a bit before you receive it.

BUSINESS days. Motherfucker, EVERY day is a business day.

Yup. Spent the first two years of my professional career being overpaid. They grabbed that money back within a day of the audit (which I had to ask for).

Was owed money as part of a business trip.

Didn't see a dime for months.

Our banks could front the money to us with virtually zero risk, because the funds are coming back through the system from other banks. They just want to keep it on the books as long as is legal to earn interest.

If you want to change this, you need to vote for people who are not in bed with the banks. That means no incumbents, and especially no Republican incumbents. No, not all politicians are corrupt, but nearly all of them are, term limits for Congress would help mitigate this, certainly better than no term limits.

The entirety of modern banking is predatory pieces of shit doing nothing but using us.

I've been waiting since June! Broke my phone, Samsung's website glitched while I was paying the $99 insurance fee to get it replaced, so they took my money and never created the repair order. So I've been fighting with both Samsung and my bank for three months now; they still have my $99, and my phone is still broken.

I wish I could afford a lawyer.

They didn't take the money in 2 seconds though. That's why it shows as a "pending" transaction.

Lots of comments in this thread that are splitting the details. Which , fine. The underlying issue that is being broadly gestured to is consumer protection vs. corporate protections - or even more broadly just the double standards of rights for organizations vs. people ; look at the LLM piracy that occurred vs. individuals that get caught pirating. Look at the harm against children fee that meta is paying vs what happens to individuals that harm children. With consolidation of power/money consumer choice goes down and with consolidation of wealth corruption goes up leading to less choice w/less protections.

Next time a place tells me that the refund is going to take a week. I'm going to say okay, give me the item and I'll bring it back in a week as soon as the refund goes through.

Fucking amen so Fucking true. I hate hearing that shit. They always say its your bank. Bullshit. Should be laws refunds should come at the same rate you took the funds instantly.

But process attrition helps prevents giving it back.

Business is psychopathic.

You mean the banks want to hold on to the money longer so they can earn interest on it? Shocked I say!

Fuck banks, find a credit union

Transaction time is there so your money is the banks money for a few days.

What really astounds me is that somehow the receiving bank actually knows instantly when a refund is on it's way.

I have a Revolut bank account and recently I went to a shop to return an item. Less than ten seconds after the cashier issued the refund I got a notification from Revolut: a refund is on it's way.

Of course the money was not there instantly but the amount was already listed in the transactions (greyed out until the money is actually there)

I never had this with any other banking app and always had to check regularly if the money has arrived.

I love Revolut for this and many other features that other banks simply won't put into their apps.

Are you aware weeks are only 7 days, not...17?

Be glad you didn't get charged a 25% "restocking fee"