How to get your money back!

Nice outline and very helpful. I am wondering how often credit cards really give money back. I bought a pair of shoes online once and they turned out to be fake and the credit card did not give me my money back.

The problem is that the credit card company doesn't know they are fake and the merchant store just will deny it. I have heard of some people proving it is not authentic by asking the real manufacturer. The other issue is that many credit cards will not refund any money if more than 30 days have passed since they billed your credit card. Depends on the card. I will say that visa signature is pretty good.

I reported the vacuum cleaner bags site to my credit card company(visa) and they credited my card immediately.

I had bought the defective product through my credit card and once I had complained to one of the associates who had informed me that the product was in fact coded (therefore, it was going to be a bootlegged according to a Kimberely Weis who I had been talking with in attempts to get a partial refund, and this is when I had been told the company was going to give me a partial refund via my Visa ), which was about two months ago not to mention an appology. Now, a Ms.Kimberly Weise is giving me the royal runaround in which she is telling me the company had known prior to shipping the dvds that they were in fact defective, which I have kept all of the prior contact with this person.

Good you reported that fraud to the credit card company asap, sometimes if you wait too long they won't give you your money back. That is why these fraud companies try to delay you by promising to give you your money back until it is too late for you.

Check with your banking institution as well. I know that my bank (Chase) offers an "Shop Safe Online" option for debit cards, so that in the event of scam or fraud they can recover your money by doing a hard reverse on the charge. Just FYI.

hi all, i have just been scammed myself and was directed to this forum by bobby. i have just realised that i payed by paypal, would these be more eager to help?

stephen, it is tricky if you paid via paypal....first of all did you do a bank transfer using paypal or a credit card. If you used a credit card via paypal then call the credit card company. If you use a bank transfer, then paypal might not assist you. They have this new policy which you can read about here
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/buy/Protection-outside

I was informed by a Kimberely Weis who had prior knowledge the dvds were in fact defective when they were sold to me, which I have kept all communications by this person in order to ensure she is going to do what was promised (although no such action has taken place).
When I talked with the credit card company about getting the refund who had assured me the problem would be resolved (IT of course hasn't been resolved only has gotten worse), the associate had informed me to attempt to resolve the problem diplomatically before taking any type of legal action.
I don't know if I should continue to wait for the problem to resolve itself or should I sue this company???

When I did file a formal complaint with F.T.C. in order to get the partial refund as it was
promised by a Kimberely Weis who is making more and more excuses as to what is taking
so long for the refund to take place, I was under the impression the complaint would take affect; however, there has been no reply from the F.T.C complaint board.
Got any more bright ideas???????????

Well gang, I think it boils down to this:

If you haven't noticed, most of the counterfeit and scam sites are using key words in their URL (website address) to try to capture stray hits. Let's say you search for "UGG boots" or "Tiffany jewelry" or DVD's by name, etc. For every product that's worth counterfeiting there is a whole nest of Chinese and other foreign nationals who have built these sites just to take advantage of the fact that human nature is dictating that folks are looking for a good deal.

It is this simple flaw in consumer behavior that makes this problem as big as it is. The REAL answer to this problem is simple: BUY ONLY NAME BRAND GOODS FROM THE BONA FIDE COMPANY. NFL jerseys, Gucci, Prada, UGG, copyrighted materials like CDs and DVDs, all of it. The nightmare of getting ripped off in this way only compounds the whole process. In the end, you'll have to buy the real McCoy anyway, and you can add ALL THAT YOU'VE BEEN RIPPED OFF FOR to the total cost of your purchase. I realize this is stating the obvious, but Site Jabber is overflowing with all of these stories and complaints and this is the one common issue in all of it. Just buy the best, buy the genuine article, and PAY THE DAMN PRICE. This ridiculous, almost maniacal quest searching for the "best deal" on some damn trinket or another is what is fueling these thieves and counterfeiters. THERE IS NO LEGAL RECOURSE. You can piss on each other's leg in here pretending that it's raining out, but that's the harsh truth. Law enforcement is not set up to deal with this. They probably never will be either. If you have been ripped off, just chalk it up to your cost of education. No one here has lost their home, or any really significant amount of money. I know it hurts to get burned, but shame on you if you let it happen more than once.

"There's a sucker born every minute"
~P.T. Barnum

Just make sure it's not you (anymore). STOP trying to save a few miserable bucks, the internet is a dangerous place if you don't pay attention. I've looked at a number of the sites you all are complaining about. Many of them are poorly done, have incorrect English words and phrasing on them, SO obvious that they can't be very trustworthy. Just pay attention to what you're doing. WRITE OFF your losses to this point, you have no shot...seriously NO SHOT at getting any of your money back. Hate to be the one to break the bad news. Live and learn...isn't that always the way? Cheers.

I thought I was pretty safe because the site had the security emblem. Also it had the secure https for secure site. (?) What else should I be looking for before making a purchase?

Just because you go an https:// (secure) area to make your payment doesn't mean anything, unfortunately. That's just the standard protocol for any online e-commerce gateway or payment module. In essence, they're stealing your money using a legitimate gateway. As far as the emblem goes, it should be an active link to the actual SSL provider (like Verisign) and it should take you to the actual page for that client with their SSL status. But again, all that's telling you is that when you make your purchase, it's secure from being hacked by OTHERS while you're putting in your credit card information. It says NOTHING about the credibility of the site or the people running it. It just means that their cash register is working properly. So don't be fooled by a valid SSL, it doesn't speak to the INTENT of the people to scam you once they've properly processed your payment.

What you should be looking for before you make a purchase is to do some homework on the site if it's not the actual site for that brand of product. And if the deal looks too good, a bell should be ringing that maybe there's something wrong. Just look around here at all the posts about UGG boots, sports jerseys, and all kinds of stuff. Better luck to you.

Bobby is right, VISA, AMEX and MC form big banks (that I use) so far have been 100% on my site in disputes and refunded me 100% of the bad charges or bad services. I do not know how often they get something back from the bad guys thou.

Thank you Bobby. I have filed a complaint with the FTC about AdDriveCars!

hi everyone, paypal has come through. they contacted the seller and i received a refund:)

good job filing the complaint with the FTC, hopefully someone now will look into putting those guys away.

In my experience dealing with tvdvdwarehouse that has only gotten far worse than what it had started, I did learn if you are going to be buying something on-line make sure you do the research about the company because there is a slight chance you might get ripped off too.
Don't buy anything from tvdvdwarehouse unless you too want to be ripped off by this company.

You can call your bank and file a dispute claim for a debit card charge (as long as it has the visa symbol on it) and the bank will credit back your account while the dispute is in process. If you actually receive the item you can just call the bank and cancel the claim or send the item back to the company (unopened preferably). Keep copies of all your emails and screenshots of your account online. The bank may ask for copies of the emails.

I see some good advice here from several sources. Like Bobby said, most of the major credit card companies will side with a customer, especially if that customer is in good standing with the card company. I have never had a problem disputing a charge when going through my credit card companies, but then again, I have also tried to be careful when I see a deal that may be too good to be true. Using credit cards give you degree of protection you cannot get with debit cards or sites like PayPal (although PayPal does have some avenues for recourse should you dispute a purchase). Most card companies will keep a payment pending for a few days, especially if the charge you make is not your usual purchase. Asking the company to track your charges for fraudulent purchases is always a good idea. Sometimes, it may be inconvenient when they send an email or call you to ask for verification of a purchase or two, but this is a small price to pay for a little security when making any purchase. However, even this precaution cannot protect you 100% of the time.
One thing I try to do consistently with new sites that I order from is to check out the info on that site's web page. Most legitimate sites have a contact point or a link that may give you an address to check out. If it is a P.O. Box only, I get suspicious.
With Google Earth and Map Quest available these days, it is easy to check the location out to see just what is located at the address listed on a web site. The street view gives you a 360 degree look at a location. If the locale shows a MacDonalds where a store should be, it may not be a good idea to buy from this site without further investigation. Check around the location because sometimes, Google Earth and Map Quest have the locations wrong in their database. Another site I like to check is
http://www.bing.com/maps/
This site has a bird's eye view for nearly every location that gives you a 45 degree view from around 1000 ft on a location. It almost like a fly-by and you may be surprised at what you can see. You can also move the view 360 degrees to check it from different sides. This is just another way you can look up a business address to see if the web site is legit.
Using sites like this (siteJabber) also helps with on-line purchases. I am new to this site but see the value already. If any reviews are available, I always try to check them out. I also seem to suspect a site when all I see are a limited number of glowing reviews. I guess I will always be suspicious when appearances are too perfect, but that is just me.
It's a dangerous world out there and the only person who has your best interest at heart is YOU!

Thanks skip, very good point. I will definitely start using bing maps and I have noticed google maps is off sometimes. Do you know why bing is so much better? Thanks for that tip!

Lately I've been seeing that people have been trying to dispute credit cards when they get charged, however, the bank says it's in the terms of service and doesn't refund them anything. Is this just a bank thing or are scams getting craftier and craftier?

Hey everyone... thundercameras robbed and lied me out of almost $700.. I called I wrote them, to no avail. I posted a link yesterday about filing a complaint with Attorney General's Office... 7 minutes after my post thunder cameras called me 7 times... I told them I'd call the cops if they didn't stop calling... so then they sent me this email...
"Dear sir ,
We are sorry we couldn't get to you sooner, but we were verifying your claims, and they were correct , so as promised i will honor that price/ I am going to credit your account $200.00 for the inconvenience , please call me if you have any questions at 718-223-2933 ext 100 .
Very sorry for the inconvenience , I hope you and your family have a happy new year ,"

Thundercameras credited my account only after I filed a complaint with the Attorney General... if you want your money back go to the following link and file a complaint...
http://www.ag.ny.gov/...eaus/consumer_frauds/filing_a_consumer_complaint.html

Also please help spread the word... by re-posting the link with your story...these weasels must be stopped or they will continue to prey on the unsuspecting! The internet is not policed... So lets ban together and police it ourselves!

The link in the above post doesn't work... us this one
http://www.ag.ny.gov/bureaus/consumer_frauds/filing_a_consumer_complaint.html

In my case, I paid for a holiday hotel booking almost a year in advance using what I thought was a legitimate on-line agent, and paid by PayPal, using my credit card as a guarantee. I arrived at the hotel last week to be told that the booking was cancelled by the agent about 6 months ago. I obviously had to pay the hotel direct, at considerable cost, effectively paying for the same room twice.

As you will imagine I have not been successful in contacting this agent, whose website is still up and running. (I'm not sure if I should give the name of the agent here in case of possible legal proceedings, but will divulge it privately to anyone who may be interested). I have opened a claim with Paypal and am contacting my bank and credit card company. I have ample written evidence of having paid twice for the room so I am hoping for a successful outcome.

This is clearly a scam and I intend to take all possible steps to try to bring the company to book. Being a U.K. citizen I am thinking of informing our Trading Standards of this company. Apparently, since they seem to have a U.K. address as well as a USA base, they may be able to track them down. I am also going to contact a British television consumers' programme which may be able to investigate and bring this type of scam to a wider audience.

Any further thoughts would be welcomed.

Mark

Mark, I heard recently that paypal is going to be offering buyer protection for all purchases ...whereas before they only offered it for ebay purchase (since they are owned by ebay), definitely try and hit paypal up for your money back. It is their fault for giving their services to a bad company.

Thanks Todd.

It's interesting to hear that Paypal is about to extend its protection to buyers.

As I said, I have opened a claim with Paypal and will push them again, and harder, if they reject it first time around.

Incidentally, so far I have hit a brick wall on the matter of trying to get a fraudulent web-site closed down.

Any ideas on this anyone? I would have thought that there should be some sort of international policing of the web, or is that wishful thinking?

Hey Bobby,
thanx for notifying me of this thread you created. Alot of good info there, I was lucky to get my money back via my bank-but it was touch and go.
I have written reviews for AussieDVDShop at any opportunity and if you are reading this and have not heard of them-never buy from they, the DVDS are fake and out of China-I beleive there is also a sister company that serves the US though I do not know their name. I also wrote to the Chinease goverment, and to the Chinease postal service to let them know they were shipping illegal goods from this company.

May I return to the question of the online hotel agency where I was scammed.

Has anyone tried to claim off their travel insurance? Mine refused, saying that fraud is not covered.

Has anyone been successful in claiming their money back from insurance in this kind of scam?

Travel insurance that doesn't cover fraud?? I'm guessing all they cover is if you change your mind or if you can't make the trip. No, there really is no way to get bad sites shut down, we can complain about them here and then others will be warned, but they continue to operate. There are no rules in some countries

Can anyone advise if I can name the travel site involved, or if I could prosecuted for doing so? (

By the way, I have plenty of written evidence against them.)

The above two messages have nothing to do with this forum. Can they be removed please?

guy's/gals: if u bought with a Credit Card, and you are IN ANY WAY disatisfied at all, you have every right to dispute! and you will not be responsible for Any Charges! the CC companies take the consumer's side. you can duspute through your CC conpanies' website or call them. yes this Kim Weis, Misty Richmond etc are scammers. their numbers are 650-290-6658, or 713-518-1069. they are obviously (by their Accent ) orientals claiming to be in Canada(although they had no clue where in "Canada"-yeah right)..also their boss is an "Alyssa" at 450-318-1101. she is a scammer too that called me upset for disputing. guess what? if i receive no product, i will dispute and i Will Win- if they like it or not.

before you buy anything also make sure that the website is not on the scaming list on firetrust.com #2 look it up on whoisdomain.com if status ok than it should be save

MO Credit Card Is the safest. because if youre not satisfied all you need to do is dispute. at least here in USA the CC companies will almost Always take the customer's side and refund The Money

MO Credit Card Is the safest. because if youre not satisfied all you need to do is dispute. at least here in USA the CC companies will almost Always take the customer's side and refund The Money

Thanks Bobby and everyone who has contributed. I myself was fooled and robbed by a Chinese internet site that looked legitimate, but is completely fake.
I have written to the Australian ACCC (similar to your US Attorney General) as well as to a Chinese site I found (sorry, can't remember link) that dealt with threats to the public. As stated above, none of these complaints will get my money back, but at least it gets the word out abou the offending site.
What we can all do is (1) warn others about these "pirates", and (2) make sure we never do it again ourselves.
Thank-you again
Franx

OBSNEAKERS who defrauded me among many actually had taking my money down to a science..luckily my credit union is awesome. They kept me on the hook, telling me that the shoes I ordered wouldn't be in stock for a while (after they took my money).they wanted me to wait 2 months. When I contacted my credit union they said its a good thing you contacted us..you are almost at the 2 month mark and after 2 months we don't do charge backs. If you think you are being defrauded you are...call your banking instituation immediately and have all correspondence documentation ready to submit. I had 4 pages and this is what made them give me a charge back. I kept good records.

Awesome information. I will be following this advice. I have left several bad reviews and I am in the process of writing more. www.sellfashionshoes ripped me off for nearly 3000.00. Anytime anyone look them up I want people to know that they are a scam.

walter b says thanks to booby iv now made a complant to f c t iv also made a complant to pay pal but as my time of 45 days had run out they say they cant help so iv decided no more internet buying as iv bought everything iv ever bought through pay pal plus i find it hard to contact them so thry will not be making any more money from me im also trying to block 2vitamins from advertiseing but finding this hard as iv not much time at hand to go through with it. regards walter b