I've had a credit card for almost 2 years and I've have yet to run into a problem where'd I'd have to contest a charge, however I recently had a bit of trouble dealing with one vendor I'm sure many of you guys are aware of (due to their large advertising, ie, spamming campaigns)... that is X10. Now I'm wondering... how much leverage do I have contesting a charges with my Credit Card Company (American Express), and what do they require I do in order to get a charge reversed? I tried multiple times to get the issue resolved, and X10 refuses to do anything... it's gotten to the point where they ignore my e-mails and are of NO help when I call.
What happened, was, I placed an order that included a $20 gift certificate, which when I received, it didn't work. I called up customer support which I had to wait a good 40 minutes for, and the rep told me to note the problem in my order instructions and they will credit/adjust my order. So I purchase a few more items and followed her instructions and left this in the order instructions box as well as the notes/comments section:
"I received the following $20 gift voucher from my order # (edited out) (from the NightWatch2 kit) that did not work:
http://www.x10.com/gift/gift.cgi?GiftID=(editedout)
I spoke to a representative and she advised me to note this in my order instructions and my order will be credited/adjusted for the $20. If for whatever reason, this cannot be done, I would like my order not to be processed. Please cancel the order and notify me. Thanks!"
After I found that they processed, completed, shipped my order and then charged me the full amount, I called them up, got impatient after waiting 30 minutes to get a rep, and then e-mailed their customer support explaining the situation. Their response was simply that the items I ordered excluded usage of a gift certificate.
My response:
That's understandable, however, I clearly noted in both the order instructions section and the notes section, to NOT process my order if you cannot credit/adjust my order as the CSR told me could be done. Here is the pasted section:
"If for whatever reason, this cannot be done, I would like my order not to be processed. Please cancel the order and notify me. Thanks!"
Basically, my order was completed w/o my permission. Quite honestly, I haven't been satisfied with X10's service. First, I did not receive a working $20 voucher for my 1st order as gauranteed to me. Than, I was told as compensation, my future order would be credited, and I followed the exact instructions. Now I'm being told I can't be credited, which I should have been notified earlier before X10 decided to take the liberty of processing the order w/o my permission. Additionally, I still have yet to be compensated for not receiving a valid voucher! Basically, it comes down to, my first order has yet to be completed, and my 2nd order was authorized w/o my permission. So at this point, I can either report a dispute to my credit card company and have both order totals reversed ($275.55 combined), or we can work out proper compensation. Please get back to me, so we can work this out.
I sent two such e-mails which they have ignored and they refuse to rectify the situation over the phone, so now I feel like I'm out of options. They say if I'm unhappy, I can return the items for a refund under THEIR terms. There's NO way I'm going to go out of my way to ship back the order that they erroneously sent me at my expense (they require I pay for shipping as well as not receive any refund on the tax/shipping I was charged for the order(s). Additionally, technically, they have yet to complete my first order. You think my credit card would reverse the charges considering the circumstances?
What happened, was, I placed an order that included a $20 gift certificate, which when I received, it didn't work. I called up customer support which I had to wait a good 40 minutes for, and the rep told me to note the problem in my order instructions and they will credit/adjust my order. So I purchase a few more items and followed her instructions and left this in the order instructions box as well as the notes/comments section:
"I received the following $20 gift voucher from my order # (edited out) (from the NightWatch2 kit) that did not work:
http://www.x10.com/gift/gift.cgi?GiftID=(editedout)
I spoke to a representative and she advised me to note this in my order instructions and my order will be credited/adjusted for the $20. If for whatever reason, this cannot be done, I would like my order not to be processed. Please cancel the order and notify me. Thanks!"
After I found that they processed, completed, shipped my order and then charged me the full amount, I called them up, got impatient after waiting 30 minutes to get a rep, and then e-mailed their customer support explaining the situation. Their response was simply that the items I ordered excluded usage of a gift certificate.
My response:
That's understandable, however, I clearly noted in both the order instructions section and the notes section, to NOT process my order if you cannot credit/adjust my order as the CSR told me could be done. Here is the pasted section:
"If for whatever reason, this cannot be done, I would like my order not to be processed. Please cancel the order and notify me. Thanks!"
Basically, my order was completed w/o my permission. Quite honestly, I haven't been satisfied with X10's service. First, I did not receive a working $20 voucher for my 1st order as gauranteed to me. Than, I was told as compensation, my future order would be credited, and I followed the exact instructions. Now I'm being told I can't be credited, which I should have been notified earlier before X10 decided to take the liberty of processing the order w/o my permission. Additionally, I still have yet to be compensated for not receiving a valid voucher! Basically, it comes down to, my first order has yet to be completed, and my 2nd order was authorized w/o my permission. So at this point, I can either report a dispute to my credit card company and have both order totals reversed ($275.55 combined), or we can work out proper compensation. Please get back to me, so we can work this out.
I sent two such e-mails which they have ignored and they refuse to rectify the situation over the phone, so now I feel like I'm out of options. They say if I'm unhappy, I can return the items for a refund under THEIR terms. There's NO way I'm going to go out of my way to ship back the order that they erroneously sent me at my expense (they require I pay for shipping as well as not receive any refund on the tax/shipping I was charged for the order(s). Additionally, technically, they have yet to complete my first order. You think my credit card would reverse the charges considering the circumstances?