Need advice on a credit card issue

[Karen G]

I definitely will be checking out other credit card options once this is resolved.

 

[WinniWoman]

Write to your state atty general and the state Consumer Protection Agency- report on-line. Then also do BBB complaint.

 

[Karen G]

Write to your state atty general and the state Consumer Protection Agency- report on-line. Then also do BBB complaint.

Would this apply since the merchant is in Mexico?

 

[pittle]

My experience with refunds is that they never post until the last day of the monthly statement - even if you have the refund receipt for the 1st day of the monthly statement.

I would keep after PB though. If they do not refund, it might be beneficial to post a warning on their facebook page.

 

[Ken555]

Have you put this issue in writing to credit card? If not, I wouldn't bother calling and talking to someone...just put it in writing. Send it return receipt. If they continue to misunderstand the situation, talk to a lawyer. This is the kind of issue that would infuriate me to no end, and out of principle I wouldn't cave until all options are considered.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Karen G]

Have you put this issue in writing to credit card? If not, I wouldn't bother calling and talking to someone...just put it in writing. Send it return receipt. If they continue to misunderstand the situation, talk to a lawyer. This is the kind of issue that would infuriate me to no end, and out of principle I wouldn't cave until all options are considered.


Sent from my iPad

Yes I have sent letters twice with copies of the emails where the girl acknowledged the error and said she would refund the $560. I know they were received because we got letters back that say the charge was valid and there was no acknowledgment of these emails. In the letters I also explained exactly what happened.

 

[Ken555]

Yes I have sent letters twice with copies of the emails where the girl acknowledged the error and said she would refund the $560.

That's to the vendor. Did you also send it in writing to the bank?


Sent from my iPad

 

[Karen G]

That's to the vendor. Did you also send it in writing to the bank?


Sent from my iPad

The letters were to the Chase credit card company

 

[PigsDad]

My experience with refunds is that they never post until the last day of the monthly statement - even if you have the refund receipt for the 1st day of the monthly statement.

That is not my experience at all. Refunds / returns are posted within a day or two, just like charges. I've never heard of a CC holding all refunds to the last day of the monthly statement -- not even sure if that would be legal! In my experience any delays in refunds is completely on the merchant dragging their heels, not the bank / CC company.

Kurt

 

[MichaelColey]

Karen,

If you're on Facebook, you can send a private message to Chase there. They respond quickly:

https://www.facebook.com/chase

 

[Karen G]

Karen,

If you're on Facebook, you can send a private message to Chase there. They respond quickly:

https://www.facebook.com/chase

thanks Michael I just now sent them a message. I will try every avenue I can to fix this.

 

[Ken555]

The letters were to the Chase credit card company

Clearly you need to escalate this matter for proper review and consideration. If the emails you received from the vendor state the situation as you note, then I can't understand why Chase wouldn't support your position. If they continue to support the vendor, then something isn't right...either we don't have all the info, or something is being miscommunicated with the bank.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Karen G]

Clearly you need to escalate this matter for proper review and consideration. If the emails you received from the vendor state the situation as you note, then I can't understand why Chase wouldn't support your position. If they continue to support the vendor, then something isn't right...either we don't have all the info, or something is being miscommunicated with the bank.


Sent from my iPad

Apparently when we disputed it the first time all they got back from Pueblo Bonito was copies of the two charges which they sent to me. In a phone conversation from a supervisor she told me that normally they don't consider emails just receipts and that seems to be the case here.

When I told that supervisor I'd like to go up to the next level and speak to someone else she said she would forward our dispute to the next level of dispute resolution. We got a form letter that said if we had any questions to call the number on the back of your credit card!

That is pointless and very frustrating because that makes me have to start over with entry-level employees and explain everything again. In the last letter we got they said upon review they still maintain the charges are valid. They don't take into consideration the emails or the explanation of what happened. There was one last paragraph that said if we disagreed with their decision we could report our opinion to the three credit reporting agencies.

When I called them after getting that letter and asked to speak to another supervisor they said someone would call me in 2 to 3 business days.

 

[WinniWoman]

Would this apply since the merchant is in Mexico?

I would try it against the credit card company.

Also, if you could find out the name of the CEO of the credit card company, you could send a letter and documents to him/her individually and send it Express mail to his/her attention- that will land directly on his/her secretary's desk.

 

[loosefeet]

I have never had cc charges or refunds given in Mexico. It just seems to be a one way transaction. Eg: We were clearly over charged for a dinner w/ a large group. I caught it after I gave my cc to pay. Was instructed to come back the next day to talk w/ manager.... Ya da, ya da, no manager, no one could find receipt etc. Lesson learned-refunds just don't happen in Mexico (or in Spain-which I discovered this summer). I think trying to find the real "jefe" is difficult. Just a different cultural way of being.
I will be careful fron now on with Chase. I love Capitol One for their resolution policy-always support me as a customer. I would cancel cc and go w/ one that support you.

 

[Karen G]

Update: I am finally getting some responses that makes me hopeful that we will get the refund. Actually making contacts through the Facebook pages of Chase and Pueblo Bonito have gotten some action.

First in one of the responses I got from Chase they gave me a phone number which I did not have before. It was a direct number to the dispute department. After speaking with the agent who initially took the call and who told me the case was closed and there would be no refund, I demanded to be able to speak with the supervisor. After our discussion and retelling the whole story and having her look for the email copies I had sent, she agreed to reopen the case for another review.

I also heard back from one of the contacts I got through the Pueblo Bonito webpage who is the manager of the reservations department. My husband is currently on the phone with one of the agents in Mexico And hopefully this matter will be resolved. ( I am babysitting grandchildren at their house so I wasn't at home when the agent called.)

Hopefully this matter will all be cleared up and I can report a successful refund. I'm certainly praying that that is the case.

Facebook is really a useful tool!

 

[DeniseM]

Good for you! I thought you would get results with social media!

 

[am1]

I have never had cc charges or refunds given in Mexico. It just seems to be a one way transaction. Eg: We were clearly over charged for a dinner w/ a large group. I caught it after I gave my cc to pay. Was instructed to come back the next day to talk w/ manager.... Ya da, ya da, no manager, no one could find receipt etc. Lesson learned-refunds just don't happen in Mexico (or in Spain-which I discovered this summer). I think trying to find the real "jefe" is difficult. Just a different cultural way of being.
I will be careful fron now on with Chase. I love Capitol One for their resolution policy-always support me as a customer. I would cancel cc and go w/ one that support you.

It seems to be a cultural thing. Experiences may very but returns and refunds are not as common in Latin America. If something is not right it is easier to call the head office in the US who will call the office in the region then call the head office in the country who may call their regional office who will call the store manager. Then it can make it way back up the chain and then to back to me the customer. I always prefer to pay by credit card for the added protection. Too many people accept that poor service, poor food or a poor product that it is considered normal.

 

[presley]

Facebook is really a useful tool!

Good job on continuing the battle. It amazes me how much help I have had after some social media posts I've made in the past. I don't use Facebook, but other social media/review sites are so much more responsive than talking to the manager or supervisor.

 

[WinniWoman]

Yes! Facebook can work! I have used it for problems like this also.

 

[Karen G]

The saga continues: During the three-way phone conversation yesterday between my husband, a Chase credit card employee, and an agent for Pueblo Bonito, at least Pueblo Bonito is acknowledging that the $560 charge was a mistake.

But, how the money is going to be refunded is now the issue. During the call the Chase employee said PB should just issue us a check for the amount but PB says they don't issue checks. PB said since the amount has been disputed it is no longer in their account. Chase says it was rebilled in October and it is in PB's account.

Later in the day we got an email from PB saying the money was not in their account and that Chase should issue the credit. In their email they showed an accounting entry that shows evidence that they don't have the money any more. The entry is a long, long line with several boxes of numbers. The line is so long that when I try to print out the email the whole line doesn't print--even in landscape mode. I wanted to forward the email to Chase but of course they don't accept email communication. I have to send it via their "secure messaging center" on the webpage. I can't make a PDF of the email because when I try that I get only a screen shot of my email page and of course the long string of numbers doesn't show up.

Today I again spoke with the Chase supervisor and she said she was sending PB's bank the information about when the $560 was rebilled and sent back to PB. I hope that will work.

It should be a simple matter to just credit our credit card back. I've sent a message to the PB agents who are tying to help us and I'll see what happens next.

Once we get that money back, you can be sure we're closing that card and getting one with better customer service.

 

[wackymother]

It sounds like things are moving in a positive direction, at least.

We once had a similar dispute with a merchant, and it culminated in the same kind of "Where is the money now?" situation. The money had been in and out of our credit card account at least three times.

I spent a crazy amount of time on the phone with a supervisor. The regular credit-card clerks were not helpful, but the supervisor was very careful and thorough and said, "It's your money, I want you to be satisfied that your account is the way it should be."

 

[klpca]

Thank goodness that you have finally gotten everyone on the same page as far as the actual facts are concerned. Now Chase and PBSB just have to figure out who has the money. (And of course it is PBSB. Chase supported their claim twice!)

 

[gmarine]

The issue of where the money is isnt your problem. That is between PB and Chase. Once Chase determines that the charge isnt your responsibility Chase is required under the Fair Credit Billing Act to provide you with a refund. I would call Chase again and tell them that you have been looking into the Fair Credit Billing Act. Let them know it appears they arent adhering to the law by not providing the refund. Then if they dont agree to process the refund tell them you are going to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Then if they still dont provide the refund file the complaint. Its easy to do online.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

Welcome to the world of credit card disputes

The saga continues: During the three-way phone conversation yesterday between my husband, a Chase credit card employee, and an agent for Pueblo Bonito, at least Pueblo Bonito is acknowledging that the $560 charge was a mistake.

Good! Can you get that in writing? You may need it later.

PB said since the amount has been disputed it is no longer in their account. Chase says it was rebilled in October and it is in PB's account.

This is why you may need the PB "confession" later. There is another bank other than Chase involved here, PB's acquirer bank. The acquirer is a financial institution that processes PB's credit card payments. The acquirer exchanges funds with issuing banks (e.g. Chase) on behalf of PB and pays PB its daily credit card net balance, i.e. gross sales minus reversals, interchange fees and acquirer fees. This may be why neither PB nor Chase claims to have your money; it is possibly with the acquirer in some suspense account. IMO that's still a PB problem since the acquirer represents PB to the issuing bank, Chase. So, since PB has "confessed" IMO the acquirer should process a refund to you and settle accounts with PB. Just my $0.02 and like all internet advice is probably worth less.