Merchant threatening me over an honest chargeback

Honest Joe · 06-16-2008

Hi,

I'm new to the forum here, which I found as I am doing research trying to find out my rights.

Basically, we are talking about a charge of $75, which I charged back LEGITIMATELY.

Without going into the details, I was over-billed by an internet merchant. I then contacted them about the matter. They argued with me, and when I did not go away, they tried to intimidate me.

What they told me is that they would add all kinds of charges, in order to pursue the chargeback amount. They then told me that they would take me to court, and I would have to go to the state of their corporate office, or else I would automatically lose. They told me that I would be liable for their attorney fees, and all other "costs" neccessary to recoup the chargeback.

I went ahead with the chargeback, but did not even file for the full amount of the charge. I only charged back the overbilled amount (which was billed separately).

Now I've received a letter, including the chargeback amount, and a "$500 CC Chargeback fee", along with a few other miscellaneous fees.

Do I need to contact an attorney?

What can this merchant honestly do to me?

What I am more worried about (because I am skeptical that they would even win a court case, as my chargeback was legit), is them hiking this amount up to a large figure, and then trying to put it on my credit.

Can you all help me please???

Legalbeagle · 06-16-2008

Do you have a way to post the letter you received? Feel free to wipe out any personal details. I am curious "how" they made the claim, word for word. You can find liability in a poorly crafted letter.

If you can't post it, please post the contents of the letter by paragraph.

Secondly, what State did you make the purchase in and where is the originator of this letter?

I can narrow down a bit more with this.

Lastly, it would be very VERY helpful to see the merchant involved, domain name etc. Then I could review the TOS and let you know what was agreed to and how much weight it actually does carry.

Honest Joe · 06-16-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legalbeagle

Do you have a way to post the letter you received? Feel free to wipe out any personal details. I am curious "how" they made the claim, word for word. You can find liability in a poorly crafted letter.

If you can't post it, please post the contents of the letter by paragraph.

Secondly, what State did you make the purchase in and where is the originator of this letter?

I can narrow down a bit more with this.

Lastly, it would be very VERY helpful to see the merchant involved, domain name etc. Then I could review the TOS and let you know what was agreed to and how much weight it actually does carry.

Hi LegalBeagle!

Thanks for trying to share/help!!!!!

I can scan the letter tommorrow at the office, but for now here is what it says -

Our payment processor has notified us that your cc payment of $75 has been returned as "no authorization". When your sale was processed, certain info was captured for use in an investigation in cases such as this. Our company maintains a no-tolerance policy against fraudulent charge-offs. Notwithstanding that you have legitimately been defrauded by an unauthorized use of your payment method to us (must be accompanied by a police report), our office intends to pursue you for the unpaid charge(s), as well as the cost of collecting the unpaid amounts.

At this time the amount owed is $605.00. In the absence of a valid police report (must include reference to this purchase), we intend to aggressively pursue the amount due.

Chg back Amount - $75.00
Chargeback Fee - $30.00
CC dispute fee - $500.00

I made the purchase over the phone, and I am in CA. This company is in PA.

Honest Joe · 06-17-2008

I'm trying to attach the scan of the letter, but this site is saying the limit is 19 KB, and the scan is 60KB.

If you or anyone knows how I might make the scan file smaller, please let me know.

Basically, the company name is "K.T. Communications, Inc."

The charges are pertaining to "adult phone entertainment" (for lack of better words), whereas you are charged a per minute fee, up until the maximum time allowed for one call.

Their advertisement says that the 4th call is free.

Here is a link to the ad: TalkToKelly: Live Phone Sex

I made 4 calls, and was not only charged for the 4th call, but was actually OVER-charged for the last call. All the call lengths were the same, but yet I was charged $64.50 on the last call, when the previous three calls were $45.

I contacted the company by e-mail, and very kindly explained the situation, regarding their advertisement, as well as the over-billing.

They responded by saying "I did not call into the right number for the 4th call promo".

I explained to them that this is an obvious bait and switch, and not only that, but I was even incorrectly billed.

They were very stubborn, and proceeded to attempt to intimidate me.

I notified them that I was prepared to chargeback, but would rather not do that. They would not budge.

So at this point, I'm wondering what they can possibly do, even though I remain fairly confident about my position.

willyoumind · 09-20-2008

Well, hoenst Joe. You can use the imageshack.us or photobucket.com to host the scan letter into a .GIF or .JPEG, and post the URL link here...

By the way, I think that blach-hearted merchant is trying to scare you here, as I think you would probably have a bright chance to win in this case!

reviewer · 11-23-2008

The only way they will be able to proceed is through collections. This can be painful for you but you can dispute it. I would imagine adding chargebacks and other fees to change the amount from $75 to over $500 would be looked upon very poorly by any of the credit bureaus. I'd fight this.

jakesjohn · 4 Weeks Ago

i have also tried different websites for this .the ones i found interesting were mageshack.us or photobucket.com to host the scan letter into a .GIF or .JPEG. u can also try them.

SkyDiver · 3 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honest Joe

I'm trying to attach the scan of the letter, but this site is saying the limit is 19 KB, and the scan is 60KB.

If you or anyone knows how I might make the scan file smaller, please let me know.

Basically, the company name is "K.T. Communications, Inc."

The charges are pertaining to "adult phone entertainment" (for lack of better words), whereas you are charged a per minute fee, up until the maximum time allowed for one call.

Their advertisement says that the 4th call is free.

Here is a link to the ad: TalkToKelly: Live Phone Sex

I made 4 calls, and was not only charged for the 4th call, but was actually OVER-charged for the last call. All the call lengths were the same, but yet I was charged $64.50 on the last call, when the previous three calls were $45.

I contacted the company by e-mail, and very kindly explained the situation, regarding their advertisement, as well as the over-billing.

They responded by saying "I did not call into the right number for the 4th call promo".

I explained to them that this is an obvious bait and switch, and not only that, but I was even incorrectly billed.

They were very stubborn, and proceeded to attempt to intimidate me.

I notified them that I was prepared to chargeback, but would rather not do that. They would not budge.

So at this point, I'm wondering what they can possibly do, even though I remain fairly confident about my position.

I would not worry about this merchant. Adult entertainment operations are well known for these kinds of sleazy tactics and nobody -- credit reporting agencies or courts included -- take them seriously.

rico · 2 Days Ago

this is my suggestion to you, "honest Joe"....take the money you were gunna waste on legal fees and invest in a hooker...thats right, a REAL.LIVE.WOMAN....trust me, it'll be worth more than any sum of money you would win or lose in this case.

MilitaryGirl · 2 Days Ago

LOL I understand your frustration but I can also see it from the Merchant's point of view. Can you imagine how many husbands called in trying to reverse charges because they didn't want to get caught? They also probably feel who will actually complain about not getting the deal offered, no one would actually make a stink about it and try to fight them but I guess they never met "Honest Joe". I will admit if you do fight it and it actually goes to court I can so see it being on the news. Who knows there might be others in the same boat as you. But seriously for future note** It's alot cheaper to find a random person in your city to talk to. You wouldn't have to pay her to talk to you like that. I'm sure free and instant gratification is alot more enjoyable than the paid and timed kind. Good Luck to you....