PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

some of you may know some scam artists kept calling my phone and well now it looks like they charged me $60!!!!!!!!!! after swearing they were not going to charge me! how do i contest this purchase?!?!?!?

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

purchase of what?????

and how did they charge you?? did you give them a credit card ##??

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

oh my god,. they had my cc # and said they were NOT going to charge me a thing.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

I don't fully understand how this happened but you need to call your credit card company NOW and do this. Immediately, Jess - otherwise your chances decrease considerably.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

ok, so they charged me $58.27 for magazines!



i just got off the phone with Washington Mutual (since that is the credit card they used) aand they said that i need to contact Better Business Bureau and change all of my account numbers and call them up telling me to send me a check since i never purchased anything.

Message edited 11/4/2005 9:22:43 PM.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

yes, i am calling tehm back during business hours to tell them to give me back my money

dh is gonna KILL me

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

oh, i already canceled it last night. she said no problem but they already charged me FIFTEEN dollars! i was already mad at the 15 dollars, but figured i would contest it and all that stuff.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

they said i would be charged NOTHING
then i told them to cancel it and they said they had charged me FIFTEEN
now i went on my Washington Mutual site and they charged me FIFTY EIGHT!

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

was it a regular cc or was it one of those debit cards that can also be used as a cc?

There is a difference in how they handle the issue.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

I have one question....

Why on earth would you give them your credit card number?
Scott

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

I am so sorry they scammed you, let us know what happens. I learned when I worked in finance to say "If you're not going to charge my card, then you don't need the numbers". And if they still get persistent, I make one up!

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Was this a credit card or was this your ATM card? At the Washington Mutual site, I found this information:

Reporting Unauthorized Transactions, Payment Problems, Errors or Questions
Call, write to us or send a message via secure message system as soon as possible if you think your statement, or Loan Account transaction information is wrong or if you need more information about a transaction listed on your statement or shown on the Service records. We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we send the FIRST statement on which the problem or error appeared. The telephone number and address you may use are 1.800.788.7000, Washington Mutual, Customer Service Center CPC2103, PO Box 834, Seattle, WA 98111-9817.


Tell us your name and account number.
Describe the error, Payment or Transfer you are unsure about, and explain as clearly as you can why you believe it is an error or why you need more information.
Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error.


If you tell us orally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within ten Business Days. If your complaint or error is with regard to a Consumer Deposit Account: We will tell you the results of our investigation within 10 Business Days (or 20 Business Days if the transaction occurs while your account is a "new account" under Regulation E) after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to 45 calendar days (or 90 calendar days for a transaction on a new account) to investigate your complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will provisionally credit your account within ten Business Days (or 20 Business Days in the case of a transaction on a new account) for the amount you think is in error. You will have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within ten Business Days (or 20 Business Days in the case of a transaction on a new account), we may not provisionally credit your account. If we decide that there was no error, we will revoke any provision credit and send you a written explanation within three Business Days after we finish our investigation. You may ask for copies of the documents we used in our investigation.


Hang on - I'll get a draft letter for you...

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Ok found a letter online to send to Wash Mutual...next letter will be to the company.

Date
Billing Inquiries Department
Credit Card Company Name
Company's Address
City, State and ZIP Code

Re: Disputed charge on card name account number

Dear Sir or Madam:

On my most recent credit card statement, which closed on statement closing date and which I received on date, there was a dollar amount charge made at retailer name and address. This charge, made on date, posted to my account on date.

I am disputing the charge, which is circled on the enclosed copy of my statement.
I did not authorize any purchases at retailer to be charged to my account. Elaborate on your reason for disputing the charge. For example, the product was never ordered or delivered, the product or service was not what the merchant promised or the amount charged was incorrect.
If you did buy the item, but the amount of the purchase is incorrect on your statement, note here that you also are enclosing a copy of the original charge slip showing the correct amount for which you should be billed.

As required by the Federal Fair Credit Billing Act, please adjust my account in the above-referenced amount since these charges were fraudentely charged. Please remove the dollar amount charge from my bill and notify me in writing by sending me a new statement showing the correction.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by mail at the address listed below or call me at your telephone number. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Respectfully yours,
Your Signature
Your Typed Name
Address
City, State and ZIP Code

Enclosure: credit card statement and original charge slip if applicable

Message edited 11/5/2005 8:30:33 AM.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Date

Billing Inquiries Department
Merchant Name
Company's Address
City, State and ZIP Code

Re: Disputed charge on card name account number

Dear Sir or Madam:

On my most recent credit card statement, which closed on statement closing date and which I received on date, there was a dollar amount charge made at retailer name and address. This charge, made on date, posted to my account on date.

I am disputing the charge, which is circled on the enclosed copy of my statement.

I did not authorize this purchase. Your customer service representative indicated that I would not be charged if I cancelled with in X days. I contacted your company on (DATE). I complied by the terms of this purchase. I expect immediate restitution to be made for the full amount (FORGET THE $15 – GO FOR THE FULL AMOUNT – THEY KNOW THEY’RE WRONG)

Be advised that under the Federal Trade Commission Telephone Order Merchandise rule, I can expect to receive a refund within seven (7) days. If I do not receive credit to my account within that timeframe, I will be contacting the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau of your illegal business practices.

If you have any questions or concerns, immediately contact me at your telephone number. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Respectfully yours,

Your Signature
Your Typed Name
Address
City, State and ZIP Code


cc: LI Familia, Esq. (they tend to act quicker if they think there could be an attorney involved - so if you know one put cc them on the letter even if they aren't going to represent you) - this would be handled in small claims court and they don't want that headache.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Sorry for all of the posts - I realize I should probably be FM'ing you but figured anyone else in the same boat could use the info.

There is no point lecturing you on giving out your credit card number over the phone for people that call you - I'm sure you've gotten the drift by now. If you don't want them to call tell them to stop calling you otherwise you'll be filing complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If it's something you may be interested in, ask them to send you a brochure/literature to your home address.

This is something you need to be aware of - if you decide to buy something by telephone always use a credit card - not an ATM number since it's linked to your bank account. That number could be used to clear out your bank account. I only use that card for shopping (in person) when I dont have the cash.

Make sure you send the letter via certified return receipt mail to both your bank & the SOBs that charged you. This is something that's done all of the time in hopes that people will get tired of disputing the charges. Don't get tired of it - this is illegal & you need to call them on it. FM me if you want more help & keep us posted.

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Barbara - thanks for all the info.

Who knows if one of us will need it in the future...

Thank you!

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

thank you soooooooooooo much for the info! i am leaving for work now, so i will have to read it all when i get home.

it was my Visa Check Card. can be used as credit or debit or atm

Re: PLEASE HELP! How do you contest a purchasE?

Here is some tips as I deal with this all day long.

My company provides a service in the amount of $25 a month. We have people who cancel with one company and automatically assumes it cancels the service with us. So they complain and complain how we have been charging them for months and had no right to do so. Um hello would you call your electric company to shut off your phone bill??

So the people fight the charges. And we get hit with a charge back. We then have to send supporting documentation indicating our side of the situation. 98% of the time we wind up loosing and the person gets reimbursed from the CC agency.

My suggestion is definatly get Washing Mutual involved this way if the people who did charge you do not give you the money back then Washington Mutual will have to.

Please keep in mind 7 days is a long period of time especially for a refund. That gives Washington Mutual a week to even process or look at your account. I would suggest 3 - 5 days (allowing them one business week to act on your behalf). My reason behind this is because a refund can take up to 10 business days to appear in your account. By cutting the days to 3 - 5 days does not leave much time for the paperwork to just sit on someone's desk (you have no idea how many refunds I have sitting in my to do folder)

When you talk to Washington Mutual be sure to get the first and last name or last initial of every person you speak to. This is incredably important because 2 weeks from now if nothing is resolved and you call back at least you will know who you spoke to and what they advied you. Plus if their are more then 1 "jane's" by having a last name or last initial will pinpoint the person you were dealing with. Also get the names of their immediate supervisor this way if they do good you will want to send the supervisor a nice note indicating how they assisted you or if they do bad you know who to report them too.