Question about disputing a credit card charge

[AmyAnne]

If I dispute a charge, and the credit card company agrees with me that the charge was not authorized, can the company that made the charge send the reversed charge to a collection agency?

Briefly, the moving company that we used last month billed us for the entire move up-front (and charged the entire move to our credit card), and then billed us for additional things later. I have called customer service twice and was told the charges would be fixed (the company agreed it was an error to charge us again, although I do not have this in writing). It's been two weeks and the two prior charges have not been reversed and I just was charged for a third double-charge. I want to call customer service and say something like if the charges are not credited back in three days, I am going to file a dispute with the credit card company. DH is worried that if the credit card company reverses the charges, the moving company will send the bill to a collection agency. Even though the company told me that the additional charges were an error and they would be fixed, they have not been fixed so DH thinks the company might think we really owe this money and we should try harder to convince them to reverse the charges. I am just fed up with this company and am ready to let the credit card company handle it. On the other hand, I definitely don't want an erroneous bill sent to a collection agency.

Any advice?

 

[TeamSy]

Personally at this point I would get your credit card company involved, but keep in mind it could take more than 2 weeks to reverse charges for some companies, but really, it doesn't hurt to involve them. My concern would be that you keep getting charged. That's shady. I would also have the credit card company block further charges from them. I wouldn't worry about them sending a bill to a collection agency, since they are unauthorized charges. You have as many rights as they do and can prove you paid up front.

 

[wendow]

I would definitely call your credit card company and get them involved. Especially with stopping this company from charging anymore. However, these matters can end up going to collections so make sure you stay on top of what is happening.

Here is an experience we had recently. My dh needed to fly back home to see sick grandpa. I booked flight and car as a package through Priceline. They said we would be charged no other fees. When my dh turned the car back in to Budget, the guy told him he owed such and such fees. Dh had no clue and paid it. It was about $77. When I found out, I called Budget who would not refund the money. I immediately called our cc company and disputed the charge. They pulled the money from Priceline since we had received the service from Budget (they said we had to pay them...wrong, but I argued over and over to no avail...). So, Priceline then said they would send the matter to a collection agency if we did not pay them, and that it would affect our credit negatively. We went back and forth but in the end, I let it go and paid Priceline just to end the matter before it hit our credit. It was a mess, huge hassle and I will never use Priceline or Budget again.

 

[PlutoPony]

There is a time limit on how long you have to dispute CC charges, think it's 30 days but don't take that number as gospel
Personally I'd go ahead and dispute it. At this point think the company may pay more attention to them than the customer unfortunately

 

[loves to dive]

Dispute it, it puts a hold on the charge while the CC company is investigating it and it won't get sent to collection. I have to do it all the time at work, I have had a few issues with the cc company charging late charges on the disputed charge when I haven't paid it since it was in dispute but a quick phone call always gets them wiped off.

 

[barkley]

contact your credit card company and explain the situation (rather than using any on-line dispute mechanism). if the original charge was valid they will likely tell you not to dispute IT but to dispute all the additional charges (I'm guessing they show as subsequent charges on the card).

we had a situation with a company about a year ago where I had to file a dispute when they repeatedly failed to correct a charge and when I went to dispute it threatened to send us to collections. I can't speak to other credit card companies but American Express (who was handling the dispute) advised to put a block on our account for that merchant (so they couldn't post new charges-they would be precluded b/c of the dispute from reposting the original). some merchant agreements w/credit cards don't allow the merchant to pursue collections if they lose the dispute, some do-but if you win a dispute there will be a paper trail on why at least the credit card issuer felt you had the better case (and we've gotten copies of the merchant responses in the past during the process) so you would have some evidence in your favor.

call now to see what your timeline is on filing the dispute, and only communicate in writing with the moving company from now on (am ex LOVED that we had all the e-mails going back and forth that showed the empty promises of the merchant we were dealing with).

 

[supersnoop]

If I dispute a charge, and the credit card company agrees with me that the charge was not authorized, can the company that made the charge send the reversed charge to a collection agency?

Yes, they can. But if it's not a legitimate debt, they risk legal action. It doesn't sound legitimate in your case.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I have disputed a charge on my credit card once, from a gift card re-seller. I bought a card, the balance was $0, but they argued that it actually had money on the card. I told them I wanted a refund and they refused, so I filed a claim with my credit card company. I think that they got the notice that the charge was being held and instead of dealing with an investigation, they went ahead and issued the refund. Just the threat of it scared them into giving me my money back. Needless to say, I will never shop at that card re-seller again.

 

[tvguy]

Yes, they can. But if it's not a legitimate debt, they risk legal action. It doesn't sound legitimate in your case.

I suspect there is a condition in the merchant agreement with the credit card company that they will accept the credit card's decision on disputed charges as final settlement, and are waving their right to litigate. THAT, is one of the advantages of paying by credit card.

 

[tvguy]

Yes, they can. But if it's not a legitimate debt, they risk legal action. It doesn't sound legitimate in your case.

I guess how you worded this answer makes it a little unclear. They can not LEGALLY turn you over to a debt collector. So I guess they COULD turn you over, but if they do, they can be criminally prosecuted for violating Federal Credit Laws, and of course set themselves up for civil litigation.
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0219-disputing-credit-card-charges

 

[supersnoop]

I suspect there is a condition in the merchant agreement with the credit card company that they will accept the credit card's decision on disputed charges as final settlement, and are waving their right to litigate. THAT, is one of the advantages of paying by credit card.

Nope. http://blog.credit.com/2015/06/think-you-won-your-credit-card-dispute-not-so-fast-118101/

 

[tvguy]

Nope. http://blog.credit.com/2015/06/think-you-won-your-credit-card-dispute-not-so-fast-118101/

LOL. I guess it's a draw, a for profit company that sells credit services says you can, the Federal Trade Commission says you can't. Who do you trust?

 

[supersnoop]

LOL. I guess it's a draw, a for profit company that sells credit services says you can, the Federal Trade Commission says you can't. Who do you trust?

I didn't see where the FTC said they can't. The FTC says they can't attempt to collect during the investigation. After that, it's fair game.

 

[seashoreCM]

After a company loses a dispute brought through a credit card then it still has the right to take legal action.

But a collection agency is subject to the same reasons and arguments and defenses that you gave in the first place to the original company. Sometimes the collection agency is in a weaker position because it does not have the documentation to prove its side of the story.
​

 

[barkley]

After a company loses a dispute brought through a credit card then it still has the right to take legal action.

But a collection agency is subject to the same reasons and arguments and defenses that you gave in the first place to the original company. Sometimes the collection agency is in a weaker position because it does not have the documentation to prove its side of the story.
​

the ftc regulations linked above appear to only apply to 'creditors'-NOT MERCHANTS. the 'creditor' is the credit card company the o/p used for the moving company ('merchant'). a merchant may or may not have an agreement w/an individual credit card company that precludes them from further pursuing collection on a charge dispute they've lost on, but absent that a merchant who hasn't extended credit on their own can try using the collections route.

 

[tvguy]

After a company loses a dispute brought through a credit card then it still has the right to take legal action.

But a collection agency is subject to the same reasons and arguments and defenses that you gave in the first place to the original company. Sometimes the collection agency is in a weaker position because it does not have the documentation to prove its side of the story.
​

My experience was limited to Wells Fargo Visa and MasterCard when we started accepting them for Little League. The merchant terms said any dispute would be arbitrated by the card issuer and we had to accept their as our final legal remedy in any dispute. I can not speak to other agreements, but I'll be honest, I can not imagine a merchant prevailing in court if an independent arbitrator has already reviewed the evidence and issues a decision.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

We had that with brighthouse networks.. We cancelled service they kept taking their auto pay we disputed it via cc they sent it to collections..

 

[SharonZ]

Actually, it may take more than one billing cycle to show up as a credit on your statement.