Thursday, February 23, 2012

Disputing Online Purchases


Many online retail stores are a family of store that fall under the umbrella of a corporation.  These corporations usually own more than one internet website.  These corporations would be considered the parent companies and when you make a purchase your credit card statement will most likely reference the name of the parent company instead of the website where the purchase was made. 

Most merchants will send out an email thanking you for the purchase and advising you how your credit card will be charged.  This is where you will see the parent company name mentioned so please read the email sent to you after you make an online purchase.  It's is important that you read the emails because it will provide information that is important and may help you avoid embarrassing issues with your order. If you dispute credit card charges because you don't recognize a merchant those funds are removed from the vendors account until there is a resolution.  It can take weeks for a dispute to be resolved and if the resolution goes against the merchant they will lose the money plus a penalty fee will be applied to their account, which is justified if the merchant is at fault.  But if the buyer is at fault because they couldn't remember the purchase then you could be blocked from future purchases on the website and possibly be turned over to a collection agency.  


Generally, this is an innocent mistake that can be avoided just by going online to verify the merchant corporate name.  Any additional expense to the merchants will push the product prices a little higher, which doesn't benefit anyone.  So do your best to make sure the charge is incorrect before you dispute it.

If your unfamiliar with the website visit their “about us” page, this will give you more information about the site.  You will likely find out how long they have been in business, parent company name, address, email address, return policy and a contact telephone number.  If the website does not have a contact telephone number listed I do not buy from them……why, because they don’t want to talk to anyone.  That is not good customer service policy in my book.  Type the name of the website in the search box on Google and see what you can find.  If you find links to Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and coupon code sties, this is most likely a legitimate website.

I hope this information has been helpful and next time you're shopping for security equipment please visit The Personal Survivor.


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