Anyone ever issued a chargeback for a CC purchase?

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dparm

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To make a long story short, I ordered an item and it did not arrive as advertised. In fact, between the time I ordered it and received it, the webpage was changed. It also didn't disclose a crucial piece of info about the functionality of the item.

The company refuses to refund my money unless I want to pay some ridiculous 30% restock fee and the return shipping. I attempted to argue this with them but they claim there is no way the webpage was changed and I received what was advertised.

I am tempted to issue a chargeback and let my credit card company deal with these morons. The purchase was only about $100 but it's the principle of the thing.

Should I just eat it and move on? Is the chargeback a big hassle? (could this company come after me some time later for 'revenge'?)
 
I would definitely open up a dispute with your credit card company. They have the ability to reverse the charge. Also file a claim with BBB.
 
It depends on the credit card company. Discover is great about things like this. HBSC (GM Mastercard) is horrible, but even with them you eventually can get your money back.

I'd go for the chargeback regardless of how difficult the CC company is, and return the item with with some type of return confirmation. Give them a letter with it, explaining the reason.
 
If you strongly feel you were wronged, call your CC company and see what they can do as your advocate.

If you printed a copy of the webpage and the final order page that will help you immensely prove your complaint.
Otherwise.. it's a finger pointing.
If you paid with American Express.. expect a win.. they're very hard to beat.

you spent $100.. to me.. that's a tank of fuel! I'd be fighting.
 
Problem is I have no way to prove that they changed the website. If you look now, it would appear I received what I ordered.

I paid with a Visa.
 
The best is file a dispute with your credit card company about the product you received is not what you ordered. I got several charge backs with something I bought online and from Ebay.
 
If that's the case, then I think you're out of luck, unfortunately. However, I once got charged twice at a carwash and merely told Chase what happened and the $5 was back in my account within a week. $100 might not be as easily gotten.
 
$100 might be hard, but not impossible.

First you need to send the item back with tracking and tell them that it arrived not as expected (how, is important). One thing I know is the merchant usually can't come back for a revenge. They have more to lose than one customer and restocking fee. You can make them look VERY BAD if they dare to retaliate when you have already returned the item.

Usually, the CC wouldn't let you claim the shipping, so that's probably out.
 
Do the chargeback!

Tell the merchant you are sending the item back and you expect postage paid. Do not spend a penny on this.

Postal law says stuff you get in the mail, that you did not order, you can keep as a gift. I would stretch this to include "wrong orders".

I charged back a missing package that the postal carrier scanned as delivered. (In a snowbank, somewhere up the road.) It looked like the odds were stacked against me but it went through smooth as silk.

If I'm buying something on ebay I never pay extra for insurance. If it doesn't show up, tough noogies on the seller. Paypal plus the CC gives me two layers of protection.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Problem is I have no way to prove that they changed the website. If you look now, it would appear I received what I ordered.

I paid with a Visa.


Procedures vary by issuing bank, but I had a similar situation with a web BIOS update outfit. I ran their online tool and it said that a BIOS update was available for my motherboard, when in fact there was no such update. The company was non-responsive to my multiple emails and requests to cancel the subscription.

I no longer had access to the online tool, but I put my side of the story in writing, via an online web form, and received a refund, after the bank reviewed the dispute. If no fraud is suspected, your bank may side with you.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
What if it was sent from an overseas merchant?


Mind telling us what is it and the original ad vs the current ad? It would be pretty difficult to say with all these details missing.

It boils down to the bank. There's a reason many businesses use AMEX and retailers hate them.
 
I've been on both sides of the issue, as a merchant, and as a buyer.
CC will require you to demonstrate a good-faith effort that you had tried to contact the company and fix the situation yourself.
Keep a log of calls and provide that CC company along with results.

Paying for the return shipping is reasonable, restocking fee is ridiculous. If you keep the item, you might not get the money from the chargeback. Company will claim that you had received the goods, kept them, so you are satisfied with them. There is a high chance bank will side with them (based on my experience as as a LARGE merchant)
You might be better off shipping the item back, and disputing the restocking fee, if company does not drop it. Then you can honestly say and prove that item shipped to you was not what you had ordered.

Remember, every time seller runs your CC, even for a refund, they pay CC charges. Si they would have had to pay fees on the initial sale, 70% refund, and then loose a chargeback. So you will lose money on shipping, but take a comfort in knowing that they will loose money on CC fees!
 
It was a wristwatch. Original ad claimed one type of movement, but they changed it and I received the "new" one which I specifically did NOT want.
 
You might look at this link and see if there is an archive of their web page:

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

It may help with your claim.

They have a couple hundred archives of this site.
logo: Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com has been crawled 293 times going all the way back to July 17, 2001.

First archive of BobIsTheOilGuy dot com
BITOG July 2001
 
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