Nash County Woman Rents Van, Has Trouble Getting Refund

Ernestine Hawkins has two plastic cards both through The American Automobile Association which look a lot alike , but Hawkins found out there is one big difference.

"It was just an oversight of reaching into my pocketbook and not looking at it," said Hawkins.

Hawkins' card confusion started last November when she rented a van from Travel Rent-a-Car in Rocky Mount, as she had plenty of times before. She used her AAA Visa to pay the bill and a $100 deposit. When she returned the van, she wanted the deposit credited on her account.

"I just reached in my pocketbook and pulled out this plastic card that has AAA on the front and handed it to him," said Hawkins.

When two billing cycles passed without a credit on her statement, Hawkins called Travel Rent-a-Car manager Bill Lump.

"He looked at it and said, 'well you got a slip, I gave you a slip,' and that was that," said Hawkins.

So Hawkins started doing a little research, and based on the account numbers on her receipts finally realized she had given Travel Rent-A-Car her AAA membership card for the credit-- instead of her AAA Visa card. So she took it all to Lump, assuming he would fix it quickly, but she says it was not that easy.

"He wasn't going to search any of his records or try to track anything. I kept on and kept on until I finally decided I've got to call somebody," said Hawkins.

So Hawkins called 5 On Your Side. After two weeks of conversations and a review of his records, Lump agreed to credit Hawkins' Visa account.

Hawkins did not expect to go through all this to get the credit, but because of it she is a lot more careful when she pulls out her credit card these days.

"Now when I want my Visa, I make sure I get my Visa!" Hawkins said.