Market Force - Mealed Comped but not really?

Any advice on how to handle this situation with Market Force?
I completed a shop at a cafe/sandwich restaurant. I asked for a receipt and the receipt printed with no items and a zero total. The cashier tried again and said it looked like the transaction did not go through and that my meal was comped. Pretty sure they always know when they are being shopped because of very specific requirements.
As I ate in the seating area, the cashier came over said he knew I wanted a receipt so he gave me one showing the items I ordered as comped.
I figure I would submit the report with the comped receipt and see how it shakes out. There is a high fee bonus so I want to make sure I get that. When I get home have a weird spidey sense and check my credit card on line. Of course, there is a pending charge for the original full amount.
I sent a message to Help Desk and I am putting off submitting the report for a few more hours hoping they will respond before I need to submit it.

Anyone experience something like this with Market Force?

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I'd do what you did... send a message to Helpdesk to assure you're covered your charged amount. Has it posted yet on your credit card transaction or still pending? To avoid being automatically unassigned the shop, be sure to at least answer the first question or two in the report, so your report's shown as "incomplete."

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Something similar happened to me. I captured a screen shot of my online statement, using a paint program blacked all the information except the single transaction, submitted it as a receipt, and the shop was accepted. Just make sure you contact the help desk.

If you're on Windows 8 or higher, there is a sneaky little program on the computer called "snipping tool" that will let you just cut out snippets of whatever page you're on and save the file. It's so handy

MegglesKat

@MountainCacher88 wrote:

If you're on Windows 8 or higher, there is a sneaky little program on the computer called "snipping tool" that will let you just cut out snippets of whatever page you're on and save the file. It's so handy

To clarify, all Windows and Mac have some sort of screenshotting. Same goes for smartphone OS's like iOS and Android

That "Prt Scn" button is what that basically does. Paste it on Paint, then save.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Thanks for the info, I never knew about the Snipping Tool before. I used my Discover Card which lets you print a single transaction with all the details so no need to do any editing. I haven't heard back from the Help Desk yet so I am going to go ahead and submit it as my receipt since I will be away from the computer most of tomorrow morning.

Tarantado, the snipping tool is incredibly easy. I prefer it to a basic screen shot because I can capture as much or as little as needed without having to edit out anything. There is also no need to go into Paint, I just save the snip to the appropriate folder.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Tarantado, the snipping tool is incredibly easy. I prefer it to a basic screen shot because I can capture as much or as little as needed without having to edit out anything. There is also no need to go into Paint, I just save the snip to the appropriate folder.

Agreed, Lisa. All I'm saying is that there are built-in screenshotting features if you're on other devices that's not Windows or Mac, or Windows operating systems older than Windows 7.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Just to update the situation. The Help Desk requested the comped receipt, which I had already attached to the report as an additional photo. The report is now showing as approved but oddly when I try to view the receipt on the status page it doesn't show anything. Guess I will submit another request to the Help Desk just to get something in writing that the reimbursement is for the correct amount.

Have you checked your online statement since seeing the charge as pending? You may want to be sure the charge was actually posted and not reversed.

Lisa is right on target. Be absolutely sure the charge is not just pending but that it has gone through. This happened to a shopper I know. She documented that she had a pending charge for an item and MF approved the shop. Then a week later, MF deactivated her and told her it was for fraud. The client had come back and documented that she was not charged. At that point, she logged back in to her credit card and realized the charge never went through. She saw the pending charge and made an assumption. It became a simple mistake when she didn't go back and check to see that the pending charge did not actually become a charge. To her it was a mistake. To MF it was fraud. She can't shop MF any more.

Yikes, definitely do not want it to be considered fraud. The charge is still showing as pending after 2 days.
I contacted the credit card company and apparently the vendor has 10 days to actually process the charge but that is very rare, mostly for hotel charges when they put a hold for incidentals you may rack up.
I am working with a really great person at the Help Desk. I contacted them again when I couldn't see the receipt. They asked for the proof of the processed charge and I explained the 10 day situation. I also said flat-out that I would not end up eating this charge. I told them If MF doesn't reimburse me I would dispute it with the credit card company since I do have the receipt showing the items as comp'ed. I said that I would not lose any money because of the restaurant's incompetence using a register. I stated that since it was early in the month and payments don't need to be processed for a few weeks then we should be able to wait for the charge to go through or not. The Help Desk rep agreed, said that once I have documentation to send the info directly to her and that she has also made a note to follow-up on the shop in 10 days. She was very understanding even with me getting snippy.

Why would you get reimbursed for something that was comped?

@sarahshopper wrote:

Just to update the situation. The Help Desk requested the comped receipt, which I had already attached to the report as an additional photo. The report is now showing as approved but oddly when I try to view the receipt on the status page it doesn't show anything. Guess I will submit another request to the Help Desk just to get something in writing that the reimbursement is for the correct amount.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Whether or not she was charged has not been determined. As of her last update, the charge is pending on her credit card. Her receipt shows the meal comped, but if the charge eventually posts she will be entitled to her reimbursement.

So, what happened?

I did the same thing, using a screenshot (snip) feature for an amusement shop for AA. They accepted it. Thank God for online statements.

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Market Force - Mealed Comped but not really?

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