Other than fraudulent charges, I've never disputed a charge on any credit card. Any problems or issues I may have had with a product or service, I was able to resolve amicably with the business. Until now.
I recently had the *worst* housecleaning of my entire life. It was so bad--and pictures I took made that very clear--that I wanted a refund. The company refused. Their only offer was to re-do the cleaning, or to give me a discount on a future cleaning. It took two weeks just to finally speak to someone there; then they claimed they never received the e-mails or voice mails I'd sent during those two weeks, e-mails that included some of the pictures I'd taken. The CSR was horrible. Rude, abrupt, talking over me, SHOUTING at one point, just awful. I refused her offer because I simply did not want them back in my house! Any company that can call what they did a "deep cleaning" shouldn't be in the cleaning business.
So I told her I was going to talk to American Express and see what they thought.
I did. I ended up disputing the charge; I submitted numerous photos to show how bad it was. Amex agreed with me! They refunded 100% of what I'd been charged.
They have 'closed' the case, but with the caveat that the company can still dispute the results; they have until July to do so. But I spoke to Amex today and the CSR said that *if* they were going to do that, they would have by now. I said I wasn't surprised because the pictures tell the whole story; there's no denying the facts. I had called to ask if submitting more photos would bolster my case, kind of like a pre-emptive strike in case the company did dispute it, but that's when he said the thing about if they were going to, they would have by now. He said there's no need at this point to submit additional proof; only on the off chance that they do end up disputing it, then provide more pictures.
In nearly 50 years of having credit, this was my first dispute for a valid charge. I really didn't know how it would go, or what the process would involve, or how hard it would be to have it resolved in my favor. This was painless--but I'd still prefer to resolve issues with the company instead of having to resort to a dispute.
@cashorcharge wrote:I have to say, I think AMEX is probably the easiest to deal with when it comes to disputting a charge and them siding with their cardholder.
One note about that "by now" comment....the vendor may not realize the money has been credited out of their account depending on how closely they watch those transactions and balance the books..if they even do that or if they rely on an accountant or service to do that. Also, they are likely notified "by mail" so that could extend the time it takes someone to reply.
All that being said....I would continue watching the account until the deadline day was up and AMEX will send you a note saying your case in closed.
Thanks, very good points.
The CSR said something else...something I can't exactly recall, about the company being notified... It gave me the distinct impression that Amex knew that the company knew, but since I can't remember his wording, I'll just leave it at that.
Yes, I'll definitely wait until the date Amex gave me before considering it well and truly finished.
In the past, the only CC charges I disputed were fraudulent and, with those, the banks usually noticed it before I did! I mean *they* contacted *me* and said there was suspected fraud on my card, I verified I hadn't made the charge(s), they closed the account, sent a new card, and that was that. The handful of times when I found a suspicious charge before the bank did got resolved very quickly after contacting them. But this was different, and I didn't know what to expect. Fraud is one thing, but a legitimate charge...well, I didn't know!
@SoCalGardener I've found the customer service at Amex to be first rate when compared to basically anyone anywhere. What is harder to believe is that in this day a professional cleaning service doesn't have an idea of what *clean* is... I woulda been furious.
@805orbust wrote:@SoCalGardener I've found the customer service at Amex to be first rate when compared to basically anyone anywhere. What is harder to believe is that in this day a professional cleaning service doesn't have an idea of what *clean* is... I woulda been furious.
Believe me, I WAS furious! And it just got worse when I spoke to the so-called 'customer service' rep at the cleaning company. I've never had a phone call like that, where the business was so rude, so disrespectful, actually shouting at me at times...
For me, Amex and BofA are pretty much tied for first place when it comes to customer service. I've never had anything resembling a bad interaction with either of them; quite the contrary, all interactions have been stellar.
As for the cleaning company, I'm not done by a long shot. I told them I would, and fully intend to, report them to the BBB and various other entities. When I've shown the pictures to people IRL their jaws dropped! They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Amen Sister. Make em pay.
@805orbust wrote:Amen Sister. Make em pay.
I'm not usually a vindictive person, and I've never been a litigious person, but this incident has left me wondering if taking them to court might be a good idea. I'm no lawyer, and I don't know exactly how that would work. I mean, I've already gotten my money back. There are no 'damages' to speak of, other than my mental anguish at being so shocked. So I don't know if there's a legal leg to stand on, but I feel strongly that they should be held accountable for their behavior--and I mean ALL of it, from the horrible 'cleaning' to the awful 'customer service.'
Are there any public forums on which you can recount your experience? Like Google Reviews or Yelp? Even though you've been made whole from a monetary standpoint it may feel good to get the word out.
@805orbust wrote:Are there any public forums on which you can recount your experience? Like Google Reviews or Yelp? Even though you've been made whole from a monetary standpoint it may feel good to get the word out.
Yes, I'm going to--and I told them so! 
I wanted to wait until it's well and truly resolved before writing about it; when I state that Amex refunded 100% of their charges, I don't want to have to go back and edit that! 
But thoughts are percolating away in my head, just waiting for my fingers to get to work. 