International travel is great! There are millions of great places to see, people to meet, and foods to try waiting out there in the world. Unfortunately, there are also crooks and fraudsters everywhere. Most of us know how to handle a sticky situation when we’re on our home turf, but what do you do when someone in a place where you don’t speak the language is taking advantage of your wallet in a way you didn’t agree to? [More]
chargebacks
Court Sides With Consumer In Suit Against Retailer That Charges $250 When Customers Threaten To Complain
By 8.26.15
Last summer, a consumer in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against online retailer Accessory Outlet over what she called a bogus $250 fine the company imposed, claiming she breached the terms of sale when she threatened to have the charge canceled after the iPhone case she ordered never shipped. Today, a New York court sided with the consumer by granting a default judgement in the case, essentially agreeing that Accessory Outlet’s “terms of sale” and the debt it alleged the woman owed were void. [More]
Online Retailer Will Fine You $250 If You Even Threaten To Complain About Purchase
By 8.27.14
If you were put off by KlearGear.com’s ridiculous “Non-Disparagement” fee, which penalizes customers for sharing their bad shopping experiences with the public, another online retailer is apparently trying to go one further, by not only banning customers from saying bad things online, but by also forbidding them from even bringing up the threat of a complaint or a credit card chargeback. [More]
Chargebacks: Protecting You From Scammy Online Sellers
By 6.6.12
Ashley ordered a special occasion dress from the website of a manufacturer in China. She didn’t realize that the company was in China, despite the “About Us” on their site saying so, and the deeply mangled English on display on many of the pages. But no matter–sometimes shopping direct on Chinese sites can be a pleasant money-saving experience. This wasn’t. Her dress looked nothing like the photo of what she ordered, and the company will only refund her if she ships the fluffy dress back to China. That will cost $138, when the dress cost only $142. She’s not the only customer in this bind. So what should she do? [More]
Can I Use A Chargeback On A No-Show Electrician?
By 5.1.12
Penelope and her husband hired a licensed electrician/handyman she had worked with before to replace the breaker in her house. Miscommunication and what looks like laziness on the electrician’s part meant that he missed several scheduled appointments-stopping by but not calling, then just not showing up at all. Now he’s charged their credit card, but is ducking their calls and won’t come out without being paid for another service visit. So Penelope and Mr. Penelope did what any sensible person would do: installed the breaker themselves, and requested a chargeback. [More]
How The Different Credit Card Issuers & Networks Handle Chargebacks
By 2.21.12
Whenever someone has a dispute with a merchant over a credit card charge, we always suggest they attempt to issue a chargeback through their credit provider. But not all card issuers and credit card networks handle chargebacks in the exact same way. [More]
PayPal Says Man Owes Nearly $300 For Dispute That He Won
By 8.30.10
Kentaro already went through a dispute resolution with PayPal for an HTC Droid Eris he sold on eBay. He says the reason for the dispute no longer exists, and anyway, he won and that was supposed to be the end of it. But now he owes $287, according to PayPal. [More]
Help, Expedia Sold My Chargeback To A Collection Agency!
By 8.23.10
Ed and his wife successfully filed a chargeback against Expedia for a canceled trip earlier this year. Now he’s being dunned by a collection agency for the amount that Amex refunded him. [More]
Luxottica Customer Service Is Just As Broken As Your Sunglasses
By 7.20.10
As we noted last week, Luxottica is the company behind pretty much all eyewear on the market these days, and you know what that means when it comes to customer service: if you don’t have to compete to keep your customers happy, why bother? That’s why Patricia is facing a ridiculously high repair fee, but can’t get through on the provided phone number to tell Luxottica to cancel the repair. In fact, every time she calls she’s put on hold and then disconnected. [More]
Help, Expedia Sicked Debt Collectors On Me After Botching My Hotel Reservation!
By 7.10.10
Poor Victoria, all she wanted was a queen sized bed. Expedia told her she had one, but when she arrived at the Mosser Hotel, what she found was a double bed and a moldy room. After both Expedia and the Mosser refused to issue either a credit or an apology, Victoria called American Express, which quickly issued a full refund. Now, Expedia has decided to get their money back by sicking debt collectors on Victoria. [More]
Rained-Out Concert Disaster Leads To Successful Chargeback
By 9.13.09
Ben wrote in a few weeks ago to share his successful chargeback after he and his girlfriend were rained out of one day of their three-day passes to the recent All Points West festival in New Jersey. His story raises questions about the definitions of the term “rain or shine.”
Zipcar Ceases To Zip For Temporarily Stranded Customer
By 8.19.09
We’ve always heard good things about Zipcar—the biggest complaint from friends here in NYC is that reserving one in the summer requires a lot of patience. Jen and her friend, however, just had an experience that was so bad that Jen finally had to dispute the charges on her card, and now she says she’ll never do business with them again. Based on her encounter with them, we think she has a good reason to feel that way.
Man Gets $10,000 Back From Insurance Company Thanks To Metafilter
By 6.22.09
We readily admit that there are places on the Internet other than Consumerist where one can harness the Internet hive mind to solve consumer issues. Ask Metafilter user Jason sought help when his former insurance company wouldn’t stop auto-billing him, and emerged victorious, collecting the $10,000 he was wrongly charged…plus interest!
What Do You Do When Family Friends Don't Provide The Furniture You Already Paid For?
By 6.12.09
Ryan is stuck in a bad situation. His father is friends with a the guy who owns a local furniture store, and the store has failed to deliver some custom-made furniture that was fully paid for up front as a goodwill gesture. Now Ryan wants the order canceled, but the owner and his wife are refusing to cooperate.
Store Goes Out Of Business Before Delivering Crib
By 6.11.09
Christopher and his wife bought a crib through a local store, and two and half months later they still haven’t received it. Now the store is going out of business, and Christopher isn’t sure what he can do to get his money back.
HealthyBack Forces Free Pillows On Customer, Then Charges Him $120
By 5.18.09
Tony bought a Tempur-Pedic mattress from healthyback.com last December, and they sent him two pillows as a “free gift.” Tony didn’t want the pillows, but HealthyBack refused to take them back, and assured him they were part of a promotion.
ImLive.com: Disputing An Erroneous $450 Porn Charge Is A "Serious Violation Of Our Terms Of Use"
By 5.16.09
Someone hacked reader E’s account on the adult site ImLive.com and bought up $450 worth of credits. By the time E. caught the charge, half of the credits had already been used. When E. informed the site that he was planning to file a chargeback with his credit card company, he was warned that doing so would be “considered a serious violation of our terms of use.” The site’s suggested alternative was simple: they would restore the used credits, and E. could watch lots and lots of porn.
Top 10 Reasons Your Chargeback Will Be Denied
By 5.6.09
A reader who works in the chargeback section of a major credit card company has just about had enough with people tossing around “chargeback! chargeback!” as the solution to every customer service problem. While it is a great tool, you gotta make sure you use it right. To help you do that, here’s our credit card company insider’s guide to the top 10 reasons why your chargeback will get rejected.
