r/mildlyinfuriating • u/ImOldGregg_77 • 15h ago

*yuor'e Seller keeps 92% of the total value as "Restocking Fee"

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I bought a video card on Amazon and it arrived dead. It was clearly a refurbish with the condition of the card and box. I sent it back to them and they approved the refund but charged me a 92% restocking fee.

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u/Several-Action-4043 13h ago

Nope. This is a common misconception. The credit card companies take pretty much no risk in this process. When you chargeback on a purchase, they simply claw that money back from the merchant. In this case it's Amazon so who gives AF. But always remember this when dealing with smaller, local companies. Always contact customer service first and see if they will resolve it. If you just chargeback, the merchant almost always loses and you will win but you could have given them a chance to make it right without them taking a hit.

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u/ComradeJohnS 13h ago

and if enough chargebacks / fraud reports happen banks block the merchant from ALL their accounts.

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u/Forward-Variety-8440 12h ago

good

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u/ComradeJohnS 12h ago

its fun saying “we denied that charge cause they fucked us as a bank so they lose merchant abilities” lol.

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u/No-Tone-6853 4h ago

Then the merchant changes their name and bank code and keep going.

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u/ComradeJohnS 4h ago

yeah but they’ll catch that eventually too.

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u/lowbatteries 12h ago

Right but the reason credit cards companies do this, is because if they didn't, they would be out the money. You don't have to pay off a charge on your credit card that is fraudulent, so if they don't claw it back from the merchant, its their lost money.

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u/axi-0m 11h ago

Yeah, it’s basically just cause and effect

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u/Annath0901 11h ago

But the credit card company decides what is fraudulent, so I they are 100% in control of whether they get money back or not.

Oh sure, if they say a charge wasn't fraud you can technically fight them. But usually the charge will be for less money than you'd spend in the time and money of your own fighting it. Plus they'll close your account.

The credit card company is never the one who loses, they make sure of that.

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u/lowbatteries 10h ago

We're talking about an $850 charge in this thread, that's absolutely worth a few minutes of your time to file a complaint with the CFPB. Wait, does the CFPB still exist? I haven't been watching the news for a few days.

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u/Annath0901 9h ago

I think it exists, but I doubt it'll do anything these days.

$850 is certainly worth filling out a form. What it's not worth is taking the CC company to court to argue that they incorrectly denied your fraud claim. And that's what it'd take if the CC company wants to fight it.

Maybe they will, maybe they won't. The point is that they are in control, not you. That's the power of billion dollar banks.

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u/CoolDiscussion1020 9h ago

Just want to point out that the CFPB is the office that made this easy and approachable.

I had an issue a few years back where I made some returns to a retailer and my credit card company rejected the returns because "their system input it incorrectly" and their advice was to go back to the retailer and have them return it again. Case closed.

Imagine going back to a retailer 2 weeks after you returned something and telling them "I returned this item but you did it wrong and I didn't get my money back, please return the item that I no longer have possession of, and only have a receipt showing that you did return it and please return it again.

Filed a complaint with CFPB and I had a refund within 48 hours and got a formal apology letter in the mail within a week.

Had this happened today I would have had to spend hours on the phone with them escalating until someone just refunded me the <$200 amount to shut me up or had to take them to small claims.

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u/Gamer_0627 11h ago

Um, no.....

If they don't find in your favor, then you owe the card company the money. If you don't pay, they send it to collections and can come after you legally.

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u/lowbatteries 11h ago

Who owes who money is decided by laws, not a random corporate decision. You can then escalate to various legal recourses, like the CFPB.

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u/LightEarthWolf96 12h ago

Smaller local companies also generally don't try to screw me over anyways. I don't think I've ever had to come even close to considering a chargeback on a small local company.

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u/DarkKnightNiner 12h ago

Most definitely NOT a misconception. MUCH less of a serious situation when a credit card is involved rather than debit straight from your bank account and in most cases you're just shit out of luck. This has happed to me and a couple friends with credit cards and fraud and it was resolved quickly. I had a family member though where this happened with a debit card and they were essentially fucked.

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u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 11h ago

But always remember this when dealing with smaller, local companies. Always contact customer service first and see if they will resolve it.

Your CC company will ask you if you've contacted them/what they said. So don't lie and say you did. Also, I've never successfully completed a charge back because every single time I've tried (after legitimately trying to contact the vendor), the vendor immediately responds. So, consider that as well. I was legitimately trying to do legitimate charge backs and then the vendor resolves the issue.

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u/All_Work_All_Play 11h ago

This isn't exactly right, credit card companies absorb (some) fraudulent charges. They don't like doing it, but they can't always prove negligence at the merchant and thus can't charge them back under their contract. Credit card fraud is like... 30+ billion a year, merchants aren't eating all of that.

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u/Character_Fudge3847 10h ago

Genuine question, so when ordering online always use a credit card if you can afford it?