MSPeconomist

Of course you can't just refuse to pay the bill.

I was responding to the idea that the airline tells the credit card (as a defense to the chargeback) that it is doing a refund.

warakorn

You are just writting your card issueing bank that you are refusing to pay for a fraudulant representment charge. The bank may sue you, but I think it most jurisdictions you will prevail (esp. in Germany). Moreover, a disputed claim cannot just be reported to a credit rating agency.

warakorn

Of course, you can. The bank has to adhere to the law. The representment charge is clearly fraudulant.

Often1

Of course one may refuse to pay. Anyone can refuse to pay. But, the question is what happens if one does. Your advice is likely to end poorly for the consumer who follows it.

The customer does not make that decision unilaterally. If chargeback processes fail, then your options are to sue (either or both the vendor, e.g. air carrier or card issuer). The reason is simple. The card issuer could, without suing for the balance, cancel the account, report it as delinquent to applicable CRA's, and thus cause all manner of havoc for one's future access to credit.

warakorn

No! Did you hear about GDPR in the EU?
If a claim is disputed then the claimant (bank) cannot simply report this as a delinquent payment to a credit rating agency. That would be illegal and would result in fines and possibly financial damages, which the bank has to pay.

yosithezet

Is the OP in the EU?

SKT-DK

Your statements are contradicting - first you say that if the dispute s unsuccessful, then simply the OP should not pay his credit card bill (which is ludicrous). Then, now you talk about an ongoing dispute process? You are right, during an ongoing dispute, they cannot report delinquency, but once the dispute is concluded as unsuccessful (as in the first statement you made) the credit card company has every right to pursue the payment during collections agencies if payment is not made as per the T&Cs of the agreement with the card holder.

Not sure what this has to do with GDPR anyway?

FlyerTalker7654

I was wondering this.

Op where are you based and what country is your Revoult account registered to?

true1976

You are correct, I got my money back for now, but the chargeback is not finalized yet as far as I can see.

I do use Citibank Prestige, their highest current credit card and they are very accommodating.

My last experience with chargeback dates from a few months ago with Amazon, got a phone stuck at the Thai customs, asked for a chargeback, go the money, then Amazon confirmed they allowed the chargeback. Maybe I'll get an email from Thai once it is settled?

warakorn

GDPR regulates when, how and which data (e.g. about a non-payment of a credit card balance) can be shared by a bank or collection agency to a credit rating agency.
If a bank or collection agency break these rules, it can get very expensive for them.

Is it really like that in Thailand -> that people adhere to everything that a bank may order them to do?

You are talking about the chargeback dispute process. That process is rather instransparent to the cardholder - and he or she has little influence on the outcome.
I am talking about an open legal dispute between the cardholder and the card-issueing bank.

Let me try again. Of course, the cardholder company is allowed to pursue the claim against the cardholder via collection agencies etc.
Still the cardholder has every right to dispute the claim (when I talk dispute, I am not narrowing it down to a chargeback process). In order to receive the money, the bank must sue the cardholder. During the court lawsuit each side may present their arguments.
However, - and here EU GDPR comes into play - if the cardholder has disputed the claim (and I am not talking about the chargback dispute here) and there has been no court judgement against the cardholder -> the bank or collection agency is not allowed to just report a delinquent customer to a credit rating agency.

yosithezet

Thanks. Interesting information about GDPR.

Is the chargeback in discussion here covered by GDPR Rules?

SKT-DK

I would hazard a guess that even if the OP is an EU citizen and covered by GDPR, there is a provision in the agreed upon T&Cs of the credit card allowing the sharing of data with collections agencies in case of delinquency. If not, that would mean GDPR precludes the usage of any such agencies and prevents banks and credit card companies from recovering debt owed to them.

As to the point of ‘is that how it is in Thailand’ - well, most people I know throughout the world follow the rules of whatever service they sign up for, and suggesting to do otherwise is just bad advice - unless you proactively take the provider to court, of course.

warakorn

This is a good one. Do you really think a T&C can override EU GDPR rules? Of course, the answer is No. If we are talking about an EU card issueing bank, they are bound to GDPR. The EU is not Thailand. The law matters and in most cases can be enforced by ordinary citizens.

And yes, banks may share personal data with credit rating agencies. However, the bank may not just simply share "negative payment history" if the customer has disputed the claim by the bank. The bank has to adhere to a complicated and formal process to do so. In reality, about 95% of all claims are not disputed by customers, hence, the data is rightfully transferred to credit rating agencies.

Please do not confuse a collection agency with a credit rating agency! These have to be separate entities. A collection agency is just a private company with no additional powers. If you are a delinquent customer and get letters from a collection agency, you can use it as free toilet paper. In the end the hiring of a collection agency is just wasted money - and it is the bank, who has to pay the collection agency first. And most cases the customer do not have to pay the so-called "collection agency fees", esp. if the claim had been disputed.

The more powerful tool for a bank to recover debt from a customer, who disputed the claim - is to sue the customer.
Once a court writ/judgement has been issued, the claim can be enforced through a court clerk/bailiff/sheriff.
However, a customer may fight a lawsuit and could win against the bank, if the bank cannot justify the claim (e.g. for a fraudulent credit card representment charge).

I am not that young anymore, but if someone is trying to defraud me (through a fraudulent credit card representment charge), I am going to fight it. In that sense I am most likely not the only one willing to do so. Just because I am telling you to pay me EUR 500, you are not to going to pay that money to me, because you will say that you are legally not obliged in doing so.

You got it wrong here. Usually the entity, who claims money (the bank) has to bring forward the lawsuit - not the other way around. I seriously doubt that a card issueing bank is interested in making the chargeback process too transparent - hence, the bank will hesitate sueing a customer if the claim has arisen from a fraudulent representment charge.

SKT-DK

That says it all about your arguments really... Let’s just agree to disagree - no point in wasting more time on this line of argumentation

Often1

GDPR is not quite a red herring, but it is a red-tinted herring. Presuming for purposes of this discussion that it somehow applies to OPs account, it is true that GDPR would apply to processing the data related to this transaction for collections purposes such as outsourcing for routine collections or to a credit rating agency to warn others. The customer's consent ends the discussion and that is where this all ends presuming that OP's card issuer is GDPR-compliant. Surely it's contract *t&c" will expressly include the customer's consent toi the specific data processing. But, even if the card issuer is remiss, a legitimate, necessary & balanced approach passes muster, it being one of the primary reasons to collect the data in the first place.

The advice you have given has now run the gamut from advising not to pay to relying on GDPR in the hopes that the card issuer will not pursue you.