Disappointed with AMEX Dispute Resolution

Old Jul 11, 2018, 6:59 am
  #106  
mia
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Originally Posted by joe_miami
This is silly. The dental work failed after a week. This seems like a classic case of a valid chargeback.
Two observations:

1. The incident was reported in 2013 by a person who never returned to Flyertalk to report the final outcome.

2. A dispute based on the quality of the goods or services would be based on the Fair Credit Billing Act which requires the customer to first make an effort to resolve the problem directly with the merchant -and- only applies if "the place where the initial transaction occurred was in the same State as the mailing address previously provided by the cardholder or was within 100 miles from such address". A service provided in the Dominican Republic simply is not covered by this law.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 12:49 pm
  #107  
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Originally Posted by mia
2. A dispute based on the quality of the goods or services would be based on the Fair Credit Billing Act which requires the customer to first make an effort to resolve the problem directly with the merchant -and- only applies if "the place where the initial transaction occurred was in the same State as the mailing address previously provided by the cardholder or was within 100 miles from such address". A service provided in the Dominican Republic simply is not covered by this law.
The FCBA covers billing errors by credit card companies, etc. If the above were accurate, it would mean that a massive percentage of credit card charges weren't subject to a chargeback at all.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 1:08 pm
  #108  
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Originally Posted by joe_miami
... it would mean that a massive percentage of credit card charges weren't subject to a chargeback at all.
The requirements are different for billing errors than for disputes based on the quality of goods or services.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 1:13 pm
  #109  
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Originally Posted by mia
The requirements are different for billing errors than for disputes based on the quality of goods or services.
The section you mentioned also says that it only applies to disputes of over $50, but these boards are chock full of chargeback reports for amounts far less than that.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 1:25 pm
  #110  
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Originally Posted by joe_miami
The section you mentioned also says that it only applies to disputes of over $50, but these boards are chock full of chargeback reports for amounts far less than that.
What you are misunderstanding is that the fact that something is not legally required does not mean that it can't be done. Both card issuers and merchant vendors authorize chargebacks for small amounts routinely. They also do so more than 60 days out.

Depending on your value to the card issuer, sooner or later the card issuer "fires" serial abusers as a customer. Same thing for vendors. No different than the old days when you took something back to a store and they gave you a refund. They may not have had to, but they wanted your business.

This guy engaged in medical tourism, it went wrong, and he wants Amex to evaluate the quality of his care.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 1:48 pm
  #111  
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Originally Posted by Often1
What you are misunderstanding is that the fact that something is not legally required does not mean that it can't be done. Both card issuers and merchant vendors authorize chargebacks for small amounts routinely. They also do so more than 60 days out.

Depending on your value to the card issuer, sooner or later the card issuer "fires" serial abusers as a customer. Same thing for vendors. No different than the old days when you took something back to a store and they gave you a refund. They may not have had to, but they wanted your business.

This guy engaged in medical tourism, it went wrong, and he wants Amex to evaluate the quality of his care.
I'm not "misunderstanding" anything. If the $50 rule isn't set in stone, then the 100-mile rule isn't, either — and we know it's not, since people initiate chargebacks against merchants more than 100 miles away all the time. This site is absolutely chock full of reports of people filing service-related chargebacks against hotels.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 1:56 pm
  #112  
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Originally Posted by joe_miami
I.... If the $50 rule isn't set in stone, then the 100-mile rule isn't, either ...
There is a law, and there is credit card issuer policy. The issuers choose to accept many disputes that do not meet the legal requirements, but that does not obligate them to accept every dispute.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 2:29 pm
  #113  
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Originally Posted by mia
There is a law, and there is credit card issuer policy. The issuers choose to accept many disputes that do not meet the legal requirements, but that does not obligate them to accept every dispute.
I don't disagree with this. Charging almost $4,000 for dental work that failed after a week seems like a great example of a case where the issuer would want to help the customer, if only so other customers don't get similarly scammed.
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Old Jul 11, 2018, 7:28 pm
  #114  
 
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read the thread

I too have a disputed charge on my AMEX. I am NOT going to go into gory details as per above. Rather, I simply want to note this single thread covers 9 years of experiences and a live link to an AMEX secure resolution centre i.e. no need to debate issues, medical tourism, etc. There are many stories.

Last edited by Antonio8069; Jul 11, 2018 at 7:29 pm Reason: spelling error
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Old Jul 12, 2018, 3:49 am
  #115  
 
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Originally Posted by joe_miami
I'm not "misunderstanding" anything. If the $50 rule isn't set in stone, then the 100-mile rule isn't, either — and we know it's not, since people initiate chargebacks against merchants more than 100 miles away all the time. This site is absolutely chock full of reports of people filing service-related chargebacks against hotels.
Originally Posted by mia
There is a law, and there is credit card issuer policy. The issuers choose to accept many disputes that do not meet the legal requirements, but that does not obligate them to accept every dispute.
Yes, exactly. If the law is ignored once or twice, in consumer's favor, doesn't make the law invalid or non-enforceable later on. My "favorite": you can go regularly within 10mph over speed limit, but if you get on radar even with less overage, you will be fined.
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Old Jul 12, 2018, 6:40 am
  #116  
 
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I think we can all agree here... AMEX isn't once what it was. Gone are the days of just calling or mailing in a dispute and AMEX taking your side, regardless of what the merchant has to say.

Really there's nothing special about carrying an AMEX anymore, unless you like one of their many mediocre cash back cards, their Everyday cards, or one of their charge cards. The cardholder no longer has leverage over the merchant or "power" when making transactions.
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Old Jul 12, 2018, 9:11 am
  #117  
 
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My customer service experience between AMEX and CHASE is not even close. CHASE wins by a mile. I'm talking on general terms, not just dispute resolutions.
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Old Jul 12, 2018, 5:04 pm
  #118  
 
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Originally Posted by mia
The requirements are different for billing errors than for disputes based on the quality of goods or services.
This was my point, thank you mia.
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Old Jul 12, 2018, 10:30 pm
  #119  
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Originally Posted by fox13weather
My customer service experience between AMEX and CHASE is not even close. CHASE wins by a mile. I'm talking on general terms, not just dispute resolutions.
I'm apt to agree based on my own experience, but I'm open to the possibility that AmEx is good if you have the right product(s) with them.
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Old Jul 22, 2018, 5:55 pm
  #120  
 
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Both card companies bailed me out on a few occasions, but I had less leg work with AMEX by far. For example, Chase requires repair notes from authorized shops for warranty protection >$100 or requires 2 billing cycles to post missing statement credits; whereas, AMEX returns funds without any hassle in these cases. I do like, however, that Chase does not outsource their customer service. I believe that AMEX does employ foreign call centers...
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