Background for the letter:

The ATM Error Resolution Department at Union Bank of California (where you work managing operations) often adjusts customer accounts for multiple ATM debit errors. It is usually an honest mistake: a merchant will run a customer's check debit card two or three times through the credit card machine, thinking it didn't "take," when in fact the machine was working. The problem is that customers don't discover they've had multiple purchase charges until they receive their bank statement at end of the month. And then they get very angry.

The bank's teleservices department calmly takes their information, gives them a claim number, and explains they must send your department a signed, dated claim letter, describing the situation and enclosing copies of receipts if they have them. They'll be notified of your decision within 10 to 20 business days.

The routine solution is usually a credit to their account to correct the error. But this time, your experience and intuition have made you suspicious about the letter from Margaret Clemmons. She maintains several large joint accounts with her husband at Union Bank of California.

It is true that three debits indicated on her checking account statement were processed on the same day, using her card (not her husband's), and were credited to the same market, Wilson's Gourmet. The debits carry the same transaction reference number, 7620011, which attracted Mrs. Clemmons' attention. While that number does indicate time, it changes daily, not hourly. So purchases made on the same day but from different stores carry the same number, as can different purchases from the same store.

Mrs. Clemmons' statement indicates debits for different amounts: $23.02, $120.10, and $43.19. That doesn't strike you as a multiple-card-swipe situation. And no receipts were enclosed with Mrs. Clemmons' letter. Mrs. Clemmons wrote that the store must have bee trying to steal from her by reusing her card numbers, but you doubt it.

You have contacted Wilson's Gourmet, and their statements corroborate your suspicions. The manager, Rob Reynolds, claims that he's had no problems with his equipment, so it was unlikely that either customer or clerk was able to run a card more than once. He also mentioned that it is common for food shoppers to return at different times in the day to make additional purchases, particularly for highly consumable products like beverages, or to pick up something they forgot the first time. Some will stop during a work break to buy lunch, and then return after work to do more shopping.

You're convinced this was neither a bank error nor an error on the part of Wilson's Gourmet. Whether Mrs. Clemmons is trying to commit intention fraud is not going to concern you. It could be that she is merely mistaken or has memory problems. She might even be an elderly woman on medication. In a situation like this, bank rules are clear: Deny the request politely.