FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Why do merchants insist on refunding to the exact same card?
Old Jan 19, 2011 | 1:01 pm
  #3  
deant
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: CA
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Originally Posted by lksf
I understand the obvious that they won't let me buy something with a credit card and then return it for cash or check, but why if I bought in one Visa and then coming to return, they demand the same visa card? Why would it matter to them if I gave them a different Visa card? or even Amex/Discover, they could make money with higher fees refund from the cc companies...
What if I canceled the card in between the time of purchase and the time of return?
To put it simply, it is part of the merchant agreement. I believe the rationale is that the bank that "sponsors" the Visa / MC gets a fee when you charge but they do not refund the fees when you do a return. So if you return to a different Visa / MC the bank that "sponsors" the returning card takes a hit in that they need to do the transaction but never received a fee.

As for returning on a closed CC, I think most CC will accept credits long after the card is closed.
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