How do billing disputes work? (1 Viewer)

[Citizen87645]

I just disputed a small charge on my credit card, which was for ISP service I haven't had for a few years. The card rep told me they immediately resolved the dispute and would be issuing a permanent credit to my account. I've only disputed one other charge in the past, for about 120.00, and in that case I had to fill out a form and got only a "temporary" credit until things were resolved. Did it happen differently in this case because the charge was so small (8.95)? Or was there some indication on the way it was charged that revealed a mistake? It didn't occur to me to ask until after the call.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Most credit card companies' official policy is that you must fill out a form and submit the dispute for review and investigation. However, it's certainly their perogative to waive that requirement under certain circumstances -- small amount of money being disputed, obvious billing errors (such as double charges), etc.

I had a couple of $20 - $30 fraudulant charges on my credit card around the holidays. In this case, I never even contacted my credit card company to get the charges removed. I simply contact the companies (both were online transaction clearing houses) that placed the charges and they issued an immediate credit in each case. Of course, I then contacted my credit card company to have the account closed and a new card issued.

 

[MarkHastings]

I called Am-Ex about a charge that I didn't recognize. I was sure I made it, because it was from an internet company (I do a lot of internet shopping), but the company name was unfamiliar.

I was just looking to find out what the company name was (so I'd know where to search for the receipt), but Am-Ex went right out and credited my card for the amount and put out an invetigation by contacting the company. The charge was only $69.50, so maybe things would have been different had it been over $100???

The thing with Credit Card companies is, they are the ones who lose out if your credit card # was stolen or used illegally, so they're very proactive about any charges you dispute. They also want your business so they're pretty good with refunding anything you don't recognize.