CREDIT CARD BUYING

“Everyone else probably knows this but me, and I just found out. If you buy something on the internet, and you don't want it anymore or it isn't delievered in time and you want to cancel it, you can't necessarily do that. If the company you bought from insists that you pay, getting the credit card to dispute the charge will not help.

I thought if you purchased something on your card and you didn't pay that bill yet, you could leave off the bad charge and dispute it, but the company you buy from gets paid when they charge your card, before you pay your bill.

I just bought a bed for my dog online and it wasn't sent, so I sent an e-mail to cancel it. Later in the day, they send me an e-mail to confirm it was sent. Now they want a restocking charge, shipping charge and handling charge to send it back. I bought my dog a bed since that one did not arrive.

Hubby called the internet co. and read them the riot act, threatened to call the better business bureau and "other stuff", and they finally said I can refuse it when it arrives, and they will take if off my credit card after the company that they got the bed from gets the bed back. Now, when I called, the lady said they have the bed in their warehouse. They have no warehouse, just a phone number and internet site. They take orders and get the stuff from whatever company sells it.

Then they have a processing fee if you cancel before they send you a confirmation e-mail, but when do they process it, as soon as you give them the order I'm sure, so you always have to pay $10. to cancel the order. What a scam!

After I get my credit card credited back, I'm filling out my yahoo form they sent asking how the business was and it will be real bad. Then I will tell all my internet Chihuahua friends on this huge site not to buy from them and anyone else I can find.

The lady from the company had the nerve to e-mail me and say she bent over backwards and didn't charge me a processing fee. It was her duty to call me to ask if I still wanted the bed when she realized that there would be a delay.

Also, you can choose not to pay the amount on your credit card, but the card will charge you interest while it's in dispute. If the dispute is settled in your favor, you don't pay the interest.

The credit card person said if I had to pay, there may be a way to bring an internet site to small claims court. It's out of state, so I don't know how that would work.”

“Varies from bank-to-bank. Bank employee to bank employee & store policy to store policy.

It's best to check out store reviews before you order. Ask questions. Get physical address's. Lot of scammers out there.”

“Wow, sorry to hear that. Makes one think .....”

“I am selling on the internet. I know that the credit card owner [buyer] has the right to disbute the charge for up to a year.

Most credit card companies now do accept email as proof, so if you kept your emails...you could be in luck.

BUT...it's all in the small print. The should have a copy of their policy online. I don't think they can charge you a restocking fee if they dont' have it listed on the site.

Make copies of everything you find. (screenshots if possible, print the policy, write down the exact url...stuff like that)

Hope your husband asked for the persons name when he complained on the phone. Hope you remember the name of the person when you canceled.

Companies on the net have to deal with a lot of crab, be it stolen credit cards, people saying they have never received the product. etc... so...you may want to talk to her without raising your voice. ALWAYS ask for their name before a phone conversation AND after. It shows them that you are serious.

Did you ever receive the item at all? If so..Did you check the date it was end to you? Was it send to you before you canceled?

But that's all I know. I never had a problem with an internet company. not so far. I ALWAYS ask about their return policy and/or restocking fee.”

“We made an ebay purchase that never came and tried to dispute it. It's such a hassle (Chase Manhattan bank) that we just took the $15 hit. There were three pages of questions to answer, some of which were impossible as we bought from an ebay seller.”

“Gemini, my husband had to raise his voice with the internet site lady. She was trying to scam him. She kept talking over him and making excuses for the product not being delivered and for them not notifying me or asking me if I still wanted it and for why they would not take it back w/o fees even though I canceled before it was sent.

I printed out all correspondence that shows I cancelled before they sent me a confirmation, and their e-mail saying they will refund me without a "processing" fee. This processing is most likely always charged. It's just a scam so when you cancel, you have to give them $10. They probably consider the order processed as soon as you give it to them, so you can't avoid it.

I don't think the credit card co. plays a part in the decision making of whether you have to pay or not, even if you have proper documentation, because I told the credit card gal I had documentation, and she said the co. I ordered from can still make me pay.

I think the co. had a good rating, but I will change that. The internet woman argued with hubby for 20 minutes during his 1/2 lunch time. Hubby wanted to call them, so I let him.

I'm glad this happened, because I found almost the exact bed I was paying $56.00 for w/taxes and shipping for $14.88 in Walmart. It's a bed with a cover over it for dogs that like to burrow, like my Chihuahua.”

“I am not sure who your credit card company is, but they normally work for the buyer. I (the merchant) have no chance to dispute any charge back with for example American Express...they don't even ask me (the merchant). If the buyer disputes the charge, they will give them the $ back (no questions asked) and I will have to take the loss.

All the other credit cards...I as a merchant will get a letter. I then have 30 days to dispute the issue. I won and I lost before. I lost because lots of internet related buying is done with stolen credit cards. As a matter of fact 95% of my disputes are exactly that. Fraudulent charges. I just now got one for $210. I can't do nothing about it. I won because I had email references and acknowledgments that they have received the order. (I keep ALL my biz email for at least one year). I send my "products" via email or FTP, so no actual receipt is available.

Bad part for me as a merchant is that the buyer has now up to a year to dispute any charges made to his/her card.

Anyway...touchy subject with me...especially after I have received this chargeback.
Largest charge back I have ever received was $1400. I wasn't happy!! Learned my lesson after that though.
last edited: 1/11/05 1:41:30 PM”

“That's good info. Now I've to be more careful over internet purchases....”

“Gemini, wow! Can't you give a call back to the buyer to confirm their telephone number, which you can then do a reverse search and get their address if there is a problem or is that too much work in a busy co.? It really justs sounds like a big mess for you.

You send your products via e-mail? So are you a consultant of sorts or can you say what your business is?

My husband believes that a credit card is covered up to $50. that the owner has to pay if a person steals their account #. If I lied and said I did not order the bed to make things easier, the bed was $56., so I would have had to pay the credit card co. $50. I knew I was in the right and just wanted to do it the honest way anyway, even if it was a bigger purchase.

I would do anything now to not purchase over the internet. In person buying is easier for returns etc. Somethings are easier and better to buy over the internet. I just looked up on epinions.com a humidifier for my mom and they had reviews and price comparisons. The cheapest store is not in her area and so it has to be shipped. Even with shipping, it saved her $20. if she had to buy it from a local store for more money.”

“Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that this is how it works, no?

You can still dispute charges on the credit card, but I believe that until the credit card bank gets compensated for the disputed cost from the merchant or you or whoever, it goes on your credit report that you cost X bank a Y amount of money in such and such a dispute. While this is usually not something that will determine whether you get the mortgage on that new house, in the end it's still your liability and not the merchants, since it's your credit at stake. Although, much like your credit report, if the merchant racks up enough strikes, people will stop shopping there.
last edited: 1/11/05 8:36:34 PM”