Shoppers double-charged on Black Friday

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - We have a consumer alert for you if you hit the stores to shop on "Black Friday."

Some customers who used charge cards were double-charged.

At the stroke of midnight, Toys R Us swung its doors open to flood of Black Friday shoppers. So many, the company's tracking systems were apparently overwhelmed, leading to billing malfunctions.

This deflated the holiday spirit of shoppers such as Stacy Piadlo who found she had been double-charged.

"The three purchases that I made that night, it was all doubled. And I just got sick to my stomach because then I saw the insufficient funds that it caused," said Piadlo.

Piadlo's debit card was not only double-billed, she had overdraft charges against her account.

When she returned to the Toys R Us on Sheridan Driver, she was directed to call their corporate offices in New Jersey. And there she learned about the glitch in the system.

"It wasn't recognizing the switchover from Thursday to Friday so they told me it was charging like a Thursday transaction and a Friday transaction," explained Piadlo.

Toys R Us credited Piadlo's account and took care of the overcharges.

A company spokesperson blamed a systems issue for the Black Friday problem saying in part it resulted in double charges, but they quickly identified the customers affected and posted a customer hotline: 1-800-TOYS-R-US.

News 4 also learned Bon-Ton had similar problems, which a company spokesperson blamed on a systems overload, and offered to make any double charges right.

Their customer service line is 800-444-7422 and customers can get a $25 gift card for their troubles.

Dave Polino of the Better Business Bureau advises that it is always a good idea to check your accounts and report any charges you don't recognize.

"You can't check it enough. You don't want to be paranoid about it, just don't ignore it. If you have access to an online banking then absolutely check it with some regularity," advised Polino.

There's also a new state refund law for shoppers. You can learn more about that here.