chargeback question

[Anonymous]

I purchased a $70 item from a merchant and received the product but the product was produced in a country different than what their website stated. The country of production is actually important for the product I purchased and affects the quality of the item. I contacted the merchant and they give me a small discount. i follow up with a few more emails and they ignore it. I then called Discover to dispute this charge. What happens on both the consumer and merchant side when a dispute is raised? Does the merchant get hit with a chargeback fee regardless of who wins the dispute? And am I in the wrong? thanks

[learningtheropesofcredit]

Yes, the merchant will get a chargeback fee regardless of how the dispute plays out.  When I handled disputes for an online retailer, we were charged $35 per chargeback, regardless.  

[4sallypat]

I used to have merchant card acceptance thru a 3rd party processor and know a lot about chargebacks.

The merchant will be charged back by ACH withdrawal from their bank account while the card processor holds onto it while they investigate.

You must provide all evidence that the item was wrong and you made reasonable attempts to communicate with the merchant in order to get a refund.

You may be asked to ship the item back and provide proof of shipping in order to receive a refund....

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 And am I in the wrong?

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Just my view on that bit, probably not!   If the description on the web page included country of origin, and it is obvious (and/or merchant agrees) that the item you received had a different origin, there is certainly a case that the item doesn't match the description.   However, I don't know if the issuer will need convincing that that is important enough.