Safety Harbor Catholic Church receives $12,000 after unauthorized charges

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After four months of trying to recover nearly $12,000 for his small congregation at Holy Spirit Old Catholic Church, Bishop Stephen Rozewski can breathe a sigh of relief.

One call to Better Call Behnken and a few hours later the money was refunded.

“Having the experience of being heard after not being heard, there is a rush of peace. There is a rush of happiness,” said Rozewski. “There’s just a rush of realization, okay, I can still believe in humanity. That’s good, so thank you.”

Back in June, the bishop said the church noticed numerous charges to their debit card that were not authorized by the church, including charges of $9,552 and $1,958, as well as a series of charges of $23.88 to a web hosting company under called Go Daddy.

They complained to their bank and Go Daddy, but couldn’t get past customer service until Shannon Behnken, a consumer rights researcher, called on their behalf and Go Daddy promised to fix it.

Every penny is now returned.

The bishop said his appeal to Better Call Behnken was a last-ditch effort, a suggestion from one of his parishioners.

“You got our case quickly, our needs, were extraordinary, so thank you for that,” he said.

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