disputing a charge on credit cards

[blake31]

has anyone disputed a charge on their credit card before?i went to mexico and rented a car through budget, agreeing to 2 days. on the day i was to return it, a hurricane hit and we were locked down in our hotel for 5 nights. then we still couldn't get back to the rental place because all the roads were flooded. we ended up having this car until we were able to get back into cancun and get a flight home, 9 days later. when we dropped off the car it was chaos, and they didnt have any paperwork, so i didnt sign off on anything. they just said they'd mail me a bill (never happened). now i got my credit card statement and there's a charge for $612 on it. no way am i paying $612 for a car i couldn't return due to a hurricane. i'c be willing to pay for the 3 days we were able to drive it, not 9.anyone got any advice?

[MrRich]

The best thing just call your creditcard company. They'll tell you what to do. I am pretty sure they'll get your money back.

[Baltovibe]

I usually dispute a credit card charge about 2 times a year, mostly for non-payment of rebates. The procedure is pretty easy, just call the credit card's 800 number, and give the representative the details of your dispute. If your dispute is denied, then you can appeal usually in written form, using a form the credit card company will send you.I have yet to lose a credit card dispute, but I also keep very good detailed records of all my transactions, and don't make frivolous claims.For your situation, it is hard to determine what will happen. Obviously, as a consumer I can certainly see your point. But from a business viewpoint, the car rental company did lose the ability to rent out the car during your extended possession of the vehicle, through no fault of their own. I do hope things work out your way.

[kostby]

Read the fine print of your credit card agreement ! In MOST cases, you have to dispute the charge IN WRITING to preserve your rights under the Credit card agreement and any applicable US laws, and also start the clock ticking on the time they have to resolve it.It doesn't hurt to call or email your question(s) to the credit card company, but, in most cases it DOES NOT constitute an 'official' dispute until you put it in writing and mail it. I've been successful twice in having disputed charges removed with Citibank, but in both cases, it was clear that the vendor charged me without my consent, and that I never received any product I was billed for: In once case, a Russian (!) company billed me in error, and in the other case, the Wall Street Journal Online automatically 'renewed' an expired on-line subscription without my authorization using a long-cancelled (!) credit card number that Citibank somehow authorized and accepted.I can't even begin to guess what will happen about your unusual situation with the hurricane--Good luck!

[ragingfish]

Stupid question. Is there any clause in the rental agreement about "acts of God?"

[Charlievibe]

Quote, originally posted by blake31 »when we dropped off the car it was chaos, and they didnt have any paperwork, so i didnt sign off on anything. they just said they'd mail me a bill (never happened). now i got my credit card statement and there's a charge for $612 on it. no way am i paying $612 for a car i couldn't return due to a hurricane. i'c be willing to pay for the 3 days we were able to drive it, not 9.Hmmm, I don't know how to say this any other way, but you did have the car for nine days. Although it wasn't your fault and you couldn't help it, you did have the car which did prevent them from renting it out. Did you call Budget and explain the situation that you were stuck, while you were stuck, not after? If I was the car rental place and you didn't contact me, I am afraid I would have done the same thing - you had my car. Sorry. As for the car return place being chaos, you should not have left the car rental place without some kind of documentation - even if you had someone working there write down what happened and made them sign it. Without any kind of information like that, you may be out $612 and should probably feel lucky they didn't get you for more than that. Without documentation, they could have charged you for damage and everything else. I hope you are able to win this thing, but I have a bad feeling you are out of luck. I REALLY hope I am wrong. Please let us know what happens.

[mcgusto82]

disputes aren't difficult to win over. i know in my case, a junk yard charged me for a part, said they had it, a month later and 20 plus phone calls from me. they now tell me it wasn't in their yard. said i'd get a refund within a week. 2 went by. conacted teh credit card bank, they put back the money within 2 days. (debit card)then the yard, once i told them i went o the bank. they got a call from the bank and demanded payment. the bank got their money right away.i hope all works out for you.

[AKLGT]

sorry, but coming from working in the merchant services field for 5+ years, you're going to lose. Unless you have some kind of waiver for unforseen circumstances, then you owe them for the total of the days you had the car. Just because you didn't drive the car doesn't mean you don't owe it. That's like trying to back out of your car payment because you're out of town for a month and had it parked in your garage. when you sign the rental agreement, it's for however long you have the car rented out in your name. you had it for 9 days. Now, you may be able to work something out with the rental agency due to the hurricane situation, but that's up to them. Not only are you in a bad situation of oweing the money for the 9 days, if you bring it to dispute, you have no proof from what i read that you even returned the vehicle. what if they look in their records and say you never returned the car??? they have the right to then charge you for the entire car or the time since! On a side note, most of these credit card companies have travel insurance for instances like these. You may want to ask your credit card company if you do and if these circumstances would qualify for a rebate back towards the days you were not able to drive or return the car due to the hurricane. That would be my suggestion. You can take it or leave it, but imho and from my experience (both banking and serving as a merchant services consultant for 5 years+) you will lose your dispute.

[zionzr2]

yes he may have had the car for 9 days but, did the rental company do any buisness durring the hurricane?? if yes then he should be liable for the those days... if the rental place was not able to do buisness then its moot and he should not be held to pay for days of non use.

[blake31]

Quote, originally posted by Charlievibe »Hmmm, I don't know how to say this any other way, but you did have the car for nine days. Although it wasn't your fault and you couldn't help it, you did have the car which did prevent them from renting it out. Did you call Budget and explain the situation that you were stuck, while you were stuck, not after? If I was the car rental place and you didn't contact me, I am afraid I would have done the same thing - you had my car. Sorry. hurricane wilma, not i, prevented them from renting anything out for about 4 days. there were no phone lines or cell coverage where we were taking refuge from the storm, so i couldn't contact budget. the area i rented the car from was where wilma made landfall. everything was destroyed. i should have drove the thing into the ocean. they are lucky they got it back with no hurricane damage.

[Atomb]

Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »yes he may have had the car for 9 days but, did the rental company do any buisness durring the hurricane?? if yes then he should be liable for the those days... if the rental place was not able to do buisness then its moot and he should not be held to pay for days of non use.the rental place down the road is closed on sundays. does that mean i should get sunday free...based on what you said above?I'm afraid what CharlieVibe had to say is quite true. The only thing that might save you here is the fact of the hurricane. I'm not sure what your credit card company can say about the weather being a factor.If they decide that the hurricane was not a factor, then i'd also say you're probably paying the 612. sorry. although, when i had a dispute with a rental car company (national...they charged me for a rental i didn't have! a month after i did rent from this location) the credit card company requested the SIGNED paperwork from National to prove i had rented the car. they couldn't produce it...actually offered my signed receipt from the month prior!...so i didn't have to pay the amount.the fact that you DIDN"T sign something may go for or against you in this case. hard to say. there is also no proof that you did even return the car!!

[Charlievibe]

Quote, originally posted by blake31 »hurricane wilma, not i, prevented them from renting anything out for about 4 days. there were no phone lines or cell coverage where we were taking refuge from the storm, so i couldn't contact budget. the area i rented the car from was where wilma made landfall. everything was destroyed. i should have drove the thing into the ocean. they are lucky they got it back with no hurricane damage.That makes sense, I wasn't aware that you were where it came ashore, I missed that point. I see why you couldn't phone at the time.I would call Budget and ask them what's up and try it that route first. You may find that the group here will work with you and the group in Mexico just arbitrarily charged you. It doesn't hurt. Quote, originally posted by Atomb »the rental place down the road is closed on sundays. does that mean i should get sunday free...based on what you said above?...the fact that you DIDN"T sign something may go for or against you in this case. hard to say. there is also no proof that you did even return the car!!We think the same way - that should scare you!!! In a case where it is an "act of God", I don't know what kind of fight you would have, you might get lucky because companies seem to really be working with hurricane victims.When I disputed a claim against Equifax for charging me for services they were not giving, I first went to Equifax to try and work it out. After dealing with ten different people (all of whom I had noted their names, dates and times we talked along with the exact conversations) I gave up and went to American Express. With all of my information, Am Ex went after Equifax, who ignored them as well. But, I did have documentation and that was all Am Ex wanted. They gave me a full refund and have blocked my account from further Equifax charges without my approval.I really do wish you the best with all of this.

[BigMac]

I think your best bet is to contact Budget first. They might be covered by their own insurance due to the hurricane, and work something out for you.You mentioned in was chaos when you were returning the car, and that they said they would mail you a bill. Did you come to any agreements with them over how much they would bill you for? Also, why didn't they have any paperwork? Was it destroyed in the hurricane? If so, they don't have any record of when you rented the car, so that would make them more likely to work out a fair deal with you.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by Charlievibe »That makes sense, I wasn't aware that you were where it came ashore, I missed that point. I see why you couldn't phone at the time.I would call Budget and ask them what's up and try it that route first. You may find that the group here will work with you and the group in Mexico just arbitrarily charged you. It doesn't hurt. We think the same way - that should scare you!!! In a case where it is an "act of God", I don't know what kind of fight you would have, you might get lucky because companies seem to really be working with hurricane victims.When I disputed a claim against Equifax for charging me for services they were not giving, I first went to Equifax to try and work it out. After dealing with ten different people (all of whom I had noted their names, dates and times we talked along with the exact conversations) I gave up and went to American Express. With all of my information, Am Ex went after Equifax, who ignored them as well. But, I did have documentation and that was all Am Ex wanted. They gave me a full refund and have blocked my account from further Equifax charges without my approval.I really do wish you the best with all of this. ok, apparently no one seems to read my post.... again, i will repeat it:1. it does NOT matter whether there was a hurricane, meteor, or you just didn't want to return the car, you signed the rental agreement originally to be charged for days you had the vehicle. 2. usually in travel circumstances beyond your control, your credit card company may have travel insurance that would offset any additional costs or losses caused by such unforseen happenings. 3. the rental agency may have a clause and be willing to work with you on coming up with a reasonable solution.4. it seems there is no proof that the vehicle was even returned so you could be opening a can of worms that you could potentially lose even more money than you already have.5. i'm saying this as someone who worked as a merchant services rep for the past 5 years and spent 2 years prior in banking and electronic services. i have studied and learned all the boring and mundane visa and mastercard regulations. as such, from the information you have given, you would lose your dispute because you have no proof to offer any fraudulent or unauthorized use. you authorized them to charge you for days you had the vehicle as stated in #1. it does not appear you have proof you returned the car to them so..... like atomb and i have said, they could come back and say you never returned it. if you have all your receipts from the hotel you were staying at with the dates, this would come in handy to prove you were indeed in the area where the hurricane hit. i recommend you first contact Hertz to discuss this issue. if they do not work with you or give you the run around, then contact your bank about travel insurance. I would assume that hurricanes fall under those "acts of nature" clauses. If that fails, it doesn't hurt to dispute it, but don't get too hopeful to keep your money. that's just mho from 7 years of experience... good luck to you.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »yes he may have had the car for 9 days but, did the rental company do any buisness durring the hurricane?? if yes then he should be liable for the those days... if the rental place was not able to do buisness then its moot and he should not be held to pay for days of non use.it does not matter if they were open for business or not. if a renter agrees to pay per day for a vehicle they have checked out then they are responsible for the days they had the vehicle regardless of time used or not. if you rent a car, read the actual agreement. i've set up several rental agencies for merchant services and they have a lot of provisions under visa and mastercard for special circumstances so they do not get ripped off by customers. due to these provisions for rental agencies, the customer is ultimately responsible to get their proof the vehicle was returned in the agreed days approved or they are subject to any additional daily charges until returned. since he has no real proof it was even returned, this could turn out to be a worse situation for him if they say they don't have the vehicle and he was the last to rent it out... it's a possibility. because hurricane season is in everyone's mind, most larger companies are trying to do their best to accomodate those who were affected by the hurricanes. it looks bad if they don't.

[Kari]

If they're closed because of a hurricane you can't exactly return the car though, I think that's where the question is being raised. Does the contract cover things like when natural disasters, etc. prevent the place from being open and thus prevent you from returning the car?

[AKLGT]

no. that would be special circumstances that are left to the discretion of the rental agnecy itself. so, basicly, he's stuck between a rock and a hard place if they decide to be jerks about it. i can't imagine them not working with him due to the hurricane. Hertz won't want any bad publicity after the devesation from Katrina and Wilma. Really, the best thing to do is scream and yell, make it into a big thing with Hertz and chances are, they will make some consessions due to the hurricane.