When you purchase merchandise or services using a credit card, there are some additional protections built in to protect the consumer against any item that you discovered is damaged, or if the quality of the goods or service is poor. This is true even if the goods or services have been accepted by you. There are some restrictions on this, it's not just carte blanche to complain about poor quality and refuse to pay.
First, you must make an attempt to solve the issue directly with the merchant in question. Most merchants will stand behind their goods and services whether you paid via credit card or not. The federal Fair Credit Billing Act provides the protection for goods or services purchased via credit card.
So, if that new purchase doesn't work when you get it home, you must contact the vendor as ask for a resolution of the problem. If you do not receive satisfaction with this step, then two other additional criteria apply to correcting the dispute. First, the item purchased must have cost more than $50.
Second, the location where the purchase was made must be either within the state where you live, or within a one hundred mile radius of the address where you live.
Assuming there is no resolution with the merchant, you should contact the credit card company directly in writing with a full explanation of why you are withholding payment along with the steps that you have already taken to try to resolve the problem. Copies of appropriate documentation that you have collected to support your claim are helpful.
You should withhold payment on the disputed amount while your claim is being investigated by the credit card company. Make sure you don't pay the charges for the disputed item, as that could mean you have forfeited any rights you may have to make the claim.
Merchants do not want to have disputed claims on their merchant accounts, as this reflects badly on them. Their merchant account can even be shut down completely if their chargeback rate rises above a certain percent set by the merchant account service provider.
At the same time, customers who take advantage of the clauses in the Fair Credit Billing Act and falsely claim that something is defective or of poor quality in the hopes of avoiding payment also become part of a database that may make it more difficult for them to get future credit.
The best solution is to work out a satisfactory settlement directly with the merchant where the item was purchased. In this way the merchant is not penalized, although, depending on the circumstances, he may have to seek resolution with the manufacturer of the item. Neither is the customer penalized by not receiving value for the items or services which he has paid for.
The best thing to keep in mind is that you, the merchant, and if necessary the credit card company are all working toward a solution which will be a positive experience for each party
Gus Taperman holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and completed his master's in Business Administration . He is working as writer and financial consultant to find a Personal loans, Debt consolidation, home equity loans at cheap rates visit www.taperman.com