A Saco woman and her husband who were incorrectly billed for a T-shirt for sale on presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign website will receive a refund, according to a spokeswoman for the campaign.
The spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said the billing mistake was “global” in nature and affected an unknown number of people across the country.
Hicks blamed a third-party e-commerce vendor for the error. She said she does not know which vendor made the mistake.
Hicks said everyone affected by the glitch will get a refund.
“This was a technical issue with our third-party payment provider and it has been fully resolved,” Hicks said in an email Sunday evening. “Any multiple charges that occurred on customers’ credit or debit cards have been fully refunded. We are currently communicating this update to any customers that may have been affected.”
Heather Nason of Saco confirmed Sunday evening that she was contacted by Trump’s campaign and was assured that she and her husband, Dellas, will receive a full refund by no later than Tuesday.
She said Saturday that her husband had gone on the site to buy a T-shirt, which cost $20 plus shipping, and entered his payment information, but then canceled the purchase because he wanted to clear it with her.
“He canceled the order because he wanted to check with me to make sure we had extra money for him to make this purchase. We, as many others, live check to check,” Nason said Sunday evening.
Nason said she received a billing statement that listed Trump’s website, www.donaldtrump.com, with a phone number next to it to call.
The Nasons were upset because their account was charged six times, for $29.32 each time, and then the site continued to try to bill the couple’s account – 13 times in all, she said – until the charges were rejected for insufficient funds.
When Heather Nason called the number, a representative of Red Curve Solutions answered.
But Bradley Crate, president of Red Curve Solutions of Beverly, Massachusetts, said Sunday his company, a financial management consultant for political campaigns, was not the vendor that sold the Nasons and other customers the T-shirts or who processed their bill.
“People were calling our office thinking they were calling the Trump campaign,” Crate said.
Crate said he was told that his company’s phone number was listed on credit card billing statements, but there was no mention of his company’s name. He said Red Curve had nothing to do with the T-shirt sales or with the billing. Tim Jost, Trump’s campaign treasurer, had to list his phone number on billing statements in order for the vendor to be able to set up the account to sell the T-shirts, Crate explained. Jost also happens to work as a consultant for Crate.
Crate said a merchant sold the Trump T-shirts – he was uncertain which company – and Stripe, a credit card processing company, handled the billing statements.
A spokeswoman for Stripe could not be reached for comment Sunday night.
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