Share REAL Repsonses from your Credit Card Company re: Dispute Charges/Refunds

[susanf31]

I have $5000 wrapped up in a cruise for two cabins in March that were obviously cancelled. I filled out the refund form and got the pop-up message of 90 days.  I called my credit card company to dispute the charge - Capital One Venture Card.

 

They told me that it takes AT LEAST 90 days to close a disputed charge and since NCL was promising a refund within those 90 days, they wanted me to be patient with NCL for the next 90 days. THEN if I didn't get my refund, to then proceed with the credit card dispute process.

 

They said they made a note of my phone call and what they suggested I do, so I will have a stronger case for the dispute if I have to file one in 90 days.

[njhorseman]

Just now, susanf31 said:

I have $5000 wrapped up in a cruise for two cabins in March that were obviously cancelled. I filled out the refund form and got the pop-up message of 90 days.  I called my credit card company to dispute the charge - Capital One Venture Card.

 

They told me that it takes AT LEAST 90 days to close a disputed charge and since NCL was promising a refund within those 90 days, they wanted me to be patient with NCL for the next 90 days. THEN if I didn't get my refund, to then proceed with the credit card dispute process.

 

They said they made a note of my phone call and what they suggested I do, so I will have a stronger case for the dispute if I have to file one in 90 days.

We had a comparable situation a couple of years ago. Hurricane Maria caused the cancellation of a vacation we paid for in the Caribbean due to the hotel being damaged. The travel provider said, of course, "yes, we'll issue a refund", but still hadn't after a few weeks. We filed a dispute with the credit card ( I think it was a Citibank Mastercard, but it could have been AMEX). The credit card issued us an immediate temporary credit and we were notified within a couple of weeks thereafter that the credit was finalized and the case closed having been resolved in our favor.

 

The whole process took nowhere near 90 days...perhaps 6 weeks at most from the day the travel provider first agreed to refund our money...and more importantly as soon as we contacted the credit card issuer and provided the required documentation we got an immediate credit .

 

I think right now because of the volume of cancellations caused by the cruise lines ceasing operations the banks may be in no more of a hurry to issue credits quickly than the cruise lines are because it's going to be disruptive to their cash flow which will already be impacted by late mortgage payments, missed commercial loan payments, slow payment of credit card balances, etc.

[Petals22]

we had a situation where we had to file a dispute due to a fradualent business opportuinity.  While it had nothing to do with NCL or any cruise line, the process should be similar.  Each credit card issuer processes disputes in a similar fashion but some cards are quicker to resolve the case than others.  American Express was by far the easiest card company to deal with.  With all the cards, we were issued immediate provisional credit.  We had to provide written responses a number of times.  Outside of American Express, it took at least 60 days (sometimes longer) before the dispute was considered closed. 

 

In my opinion, it would be better to wait for NCL to process your refund.  They are swamped with all kinds of refunds and FCC issues right now.  Again, each card issuer is different.  Our situation was not the same but it was a time consuming process. 

 

 

[Liljo22]

Amex will usually resolve quicker since they take the money back from the merchant right away.  If the merchant is going to dispute the chargeback, its in their best interest to dispute it sooner with Amex for that reason.  For Visa/MC/Discover, the money is not taken from the merchant until the dispute is finalized but they give a temporary credit to the card holder while the case is open.  Given this, the merchant probably will wait the full 30 days before submitting.  

[mianmike]

Here's how Chase handles chargebacks.  

[luv2kroooz]

This is the chargeback through Bank of America against the airline that cancelled my May flight from Rome. The flight was cancelled in early March. I immediately filed a refund claim and the airline has yet to respond. Their time is up. Bank of America even credited back the foreign transaction fee from the original transaction. My transaction might be a little different because I only booked the flight in February, so the initial charge is showing on my current credit card statement. I haven't paid for the flight yet since it was only charged a month or so ago.

 

We've credited your account for the $xxx.xx charge(s) from xxx. We've also issued credit for any interest charges and fees you received because of the disputed charge(s). The adjustment(s) will appear on your monthly statement. What you need to know - We've filed a claim(s) on your behalf with the merchant(s). - The merchant(s) may provide information to support why they feel the transaction(s) is valid. Please allow up to 60 calendar days for this review process to be completed. - We may ask you to provide additional information in support of your claim(s). If we determine that the transaction(s) is valid, we will notify you of our decision and credit(s) may be reversed on your account. - If the merchant(s) doesn't respond to the claim(s), the credit(s) previously applied to your account will remain, and this letter will serve as final resolution of your claim(s).

 

There's nothing you need to do at this time, but you should keep copies of all documentation related to your claim(s). Questions? If you have any questions, please call us at xxxx. We appreciate the opportunity to serve your financial needs.

[luv2kroooz]

This is Discover Card. Same situation as above but with a train and bus transfer in Italy. Filed a refund claim with merchant....no response. Discover opened a dispute, immediately credited my account, and within 5 days I had an additional credit from the merchant. Now Discover is removing the credit they issued as the issue is resolved.

 

We're writing to inform you that xxx issued a credit for the disputed transaction that we also previously credited. This means your account has been credited twice for the same transaction. To correct this, we have reversed our previous credit, which you will see on your next billing statement. Case Number:200xxx Merchant Name: Dispute Amount:$

Please contact xxxxdirectly if you feel you have not received the proper credit amount you are due. Some merchants may not refund shipping and handling charges or may impose a restocking fee on returned goods.  If this does not resolve your dispute, please contact us as soon as possible so we can continue our investigation.

If you have any questions, you can call our 100% U.S-based service team any time at xxx. As always, thank you for choosing Discover.

Sincerely, Discover Card Customer Service

[mnsweeps]

Disputed mine with AMEX and CHASE VISA Reserve. Got temporary credits for both within 24 hours.

[MoniMommy]

Also there will be lots if disputes and NCL will need all the customers it can get.  So banning everyone who disputes would be like cutting id your nose to spite your face. 

[hallux]

So.. it looks like a common theme is that credit card companies will file a request with the company in question to issue a credit to you.  What this accomplishes is DOUBLING of the work (your request for credit and the credit card company request for credit and needing to link them to cancel your request) needing to be done by the already overloaded staff at the cruise line, making the wait that much longer for those that filed a dispute and are patiently waiting.

[graphicguy]

Agree about AMEX....they usually credit your money back to you while they mediate between you and the vendor.

[jdc987]

6 hours ago, susanf31 said:

I have $5000 wrapped up in a cruise for two cabins in March that were obviously cancelled. I filled out the refund form and got the pop-up message of 90 days.  I called my credit card company to dispute the charge - Capital One Venture Card.

 

They told me that it takes AT LEAST 90 days to close a disputed charge and since NCL was promising a refund within those 90 days, they wanted me to be patient with NCL for the next 90 days. THEN if I didn't get my refund, to then proceed with the credit card dispute process.

 

They said they made a note of my phone call and what they suggested I do, so I will have a stronger case for the dispute if I have to file one in 90 days.

Thanks for post, I also have VentureOne and so appreciate you describing your experience.

[EllieinNJ]

4 hours ago, blcruising said:

This is the chargeback through Bank of America against the airline that cancelled my May flight from Rome. The flight was cancelled in early March. I immediately filed a refund claim and the airline has yet to respond. Their time is up. Bank of America even credited back the foreign transaction fee from the original transaction. My transaction might be a little different because I only booked the flight in February, so the initial charge is showing on my current credit card statement. I haven't paid for the flight yet since it was only charged a month or so ago.

 

We've credited your account for the $xxx.xx charge(s) from xxx. We've also issued credit for any interest charges and fees you received because of the disputed charge(s). The adjustment(s) will appear on your monthly statement. What you need to know - We've filed a claim(s) on your behalf with the merchant(s). - The merchant(s) may provide information to support why they feel the transaction(s) is valid. Please allow up to 60 calendar days for this review process to be completed. - We may ask you to provide additional information in support of your claim(s). If we determine that the transaction(s) is valid, we will notify you of our decision and credit(s) may be reversed on your account. - If the merchant(s) doesn't respond to the claim(s), the credit(s) previously applied to your account will remain, and this letter will serve as final resolution of your claim(s).

 

There's nothing you need to do at this time, but you should keep copies of all documentation related to your claim(s). Questions? If you have any questions, please call us at xxxx. We appreciate the opportunity to serve your financial needs.

If you do a chargeback to the airlines are you banned for life on that particular airline?

[luv2kroooz]

42 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

If you do a chargeback to the airlines are you banned for life on that particular airline?

No, lol.

[ronheg]

We cancelled our june cruise on March 5.  At that time ncl said they would refund the money in 7-10 days.  The didn’t.  We disputed the charge on our ncl mastercard on march 20.  We submitted NCL’ cancellation email as proof.  We received our credit on mastercard on 4/1/20. 

[jingle5616]

16 hours ago, hallux said:

So.. it looks like a common theme is that credit card companies will file a request with the company in question to issue a credit to you.  What this accomplishes is DOUBLING of the work (your request for credit and the credit card company request for credit and needing to link them to cancel your request) needing to be done by the already overloaded staff at the cruise line, making the wait that much longer for those that filed a dispute and are patiently waiting.

While you wait patiently for NCL to refund your money, others with legitimate CC disputes will be credited before NCL goes into receivership.  Your choice.

[mynameisvlad]

Amex gave 6-8 week estimate for investigation to complete, and provisional credits until then.

[HEATH3913]

Amex denied my claim March 24, the same day I submitted it. It says the mailed me the reason why, but haven't received it.

[vince_g]

16 hours ago, HEATH3913 said:

Amex denied my claim March 24, the same day I submitted it. It says the mailed me the reason why, but haven't received it.

That should not come as a surprise to anyone.  Apparently Amex is aware that NCL has a refund mechanism in place, and they won't be approving anyone's chargeback requests.  Neither will Visa, MasterCard and Discover.  There has been no commission of fraud on NCL's part.  Everyone is just going to have to be a little patient and wait it out.

[Liljo22]

28 minutes ago, vince_g said:

That should not come as a surprise to anyone.  Apparently Amex is aware that NCL has a refund mechanism in place, and they won't be approving anyone's chargeback requests.  Neither will Visa, MasterCard and Discover.  There has been no commission of fraud on NCL's part.  Everyone is just going to have to be a little patient and wait it out.

NCL may have submitted a blank response to Amex for disputes which is being used.  

Edited April 3, 2020 by Liljo22

[ray98]

I suspect none of these charge backs go anywhere and will only complicate the process.  This scenario doesn't fit what a process is there for.

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

I suspect none of these charge backs go anywhere and will only complicate the process.  This scenario doesn't fit what a process is there for.

Agreed.  Since NCL acknowledged the customer is due a refund, they have 90 days to process that refund per the Fair Credit Billing Act.  Any money credited back is only temporary and will be reversed if NCL responds to the dispute.