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I have never had to do this, but I always figure that I can just cancel the transaction as fraud via my credit card. Possession is 9/10 of the law and all that.

I have never had to do this, but I always figure that I can just cancel the transaction as fraud via my credit card. Possession is 9/10 of the law and all that. Is there some limitation to this approach that I'm not aware of?

stefan_ 5y ago
It depends - can you do without whatever account you are disputing a charge for? Amazon, Uber, Apple, Google and so on will basically just immediately close your account when you dispute any transaction. No more access to apps or books or movies associated with that account.
- klipklop 5y ago
  Yup I made the mistake of doing this with oculus sending me 4(!) quest 2 unit's when I only ordered 1. They essentially ghosted me support wise so I did a chargeback. They then banned me from buying games. It took > 100 days to resolve it. Never buy hardware from oculus/facebook directly.
  - vkou 5y ago
    A chargeback is a nuclear option, and pretty much every company you will ever deal with will burn you as a customer if you exercise it.
    - ipaddr 5y ago
      If you have to do a chargeback you should never give that company access to your credit card again.
      - perl4ever 5y ago
        Yes indeed, so, companies that you can't trust, but can't afford to piss off, should be the definition of anti-trust targets. In an ideal world.
    - MaxBarraclough 5y ago
      Apparently Steam used to have a policy of shutting down the accounts of people who did too many chargebacks, locking them out of whatever else they'd bought before. [0] I'm not sure whether they still do, although their refund policy has changed since [0]. I'm also unsure if it's even legal to do this, especially in countries with consumer protection laws. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14545053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14545053
- ipaddr 5y ago
  That's probably a good thing. Leaving an open credit card in the trust of companies without support is a recipe for trouble. If you purchased something download it immediately if you can't don't purchase vapor. Your movies/books should be local. Your apps still exist on your local android phone. Amazon seems to have customer service same as Apple but Google and Uber? Those places laugh at you when you need support..
  - wutbrodo 5y ago
    FWIW, I've generally gotten quite good support from Uber in the past. I can't think of an interaction that didn't go very smoothly, on either Uber or UberEats. This makes sense, as the feedback loop from how you feel about their product to how much revenue they make is immediate, unlike Google. If Uber were to piss me off enough, I wouldn't think twice about just opening Lyft every time I needed a car instead of Uber. I'm not very price-sensitive, but even my price-sensitive friends find it too much of a burden to check both options every time they call a car. This means we're all locked into an equilibrium where we spend large amounts of money with a single company, but can shift into a different equilibrium for very minor reasons. Hell, I think the last time I switched was because I got tired of all the little usability papercuts the Lyft app is filled with.
- wutbrodo 5y ago
  > Amazon, Uber, Apple, Google and so on will basically just immediately close your account when you dispute any transaction. No more access to apps or books or movies associated with that account. Interesting, this makes total sense

stefan_ 5y ago

It depends - can you do without whatever account you are disputing a charge for? Amazon, Uber, Apple, Google and so on will basically just immediately close your account when you dispute any transaction. No more access to apps or books or movies associated with that account.

klipklop 5y ago
Yup I made the mistake of doing this with oculus sending me 4(!) quest 2 unit's when I only ordered 1. They essentially ghosted me support wise so I did a chargeback. They then banned me from buying games. It took > 100 days to resolve it. Never buy hardware from oculus/facebook directly.
- vkou 5y ago
  A chargeback is a nuclear option, and pretty much every company you will ever deal with will burn you as a customer if you exercise it.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    If you have to do a chargeback you should never give that company access to your credit card again.
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      Yes indeed, so, companies that you can't trust, but can't afford to piss off, should be the definition of anti-trust targets. In an ideal world.
  - MaxBarraclough 5y ago
    Apparently Steam used to have a policy of shutting down the accounts of people who did too many chargebacks, locking them out of whatever else they'd bought before. [0] I'm not sure whether they still do, although their refund policy has changed since [0]. I'm also unsure if it's even legal to do this, especially in countries with consumer protection laws. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14545053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14545053
ipaddr 5y ago
That's probably a good thing. Leaving an open credit card in the trust of companies without support is a recipe for trouble. If you purchased something download it immediately if you can't don't purchase vapor. Your movies/books should be local. Your apps still exist on your local android phone. Amazon seems to have customer service same as Apple but Google and Uber? Those places laugh at you when you need support..
- wutbrodo 5y ago
  FWIW, I've generally gotten quite good support from Uber in the past. I can't think of an interaction that didn't go very smoothly, on either Uber or UberEats. This makes sense, as the feedback loop from how you feel about their product to how much revenue they make is immediate, unlike Google. If Uber were to piss me off enough, I wouldn't think twice about just opening Lyft every time I needed a car instead of Uber. I'm not very price-sensitive, but even my price-sensitive friends find it too much of a burden to check both options every time they call a car. This means we're all locked into an equilibrium where we spend large amounts of money with a single company, but can shift into a different equilibrium for very minor reasons. Hell, I think the last time I switched was because I got tired of all the little usability papercuts the Lyft app is filled with.
wutbrodo 5y ago
> Amazon, Uber, Apple, Google and so on will basically just immediately close your account when you dispute any transaction. No more access to apps or books or movies associated with that account. Interesting, this makes total sense