J
JFS
Guest
I reside in the State of Illinois. I bid on an item from a web based auction. It is arguable I should have known they were going to charge me tax, but did not realize this in the heat of the moment of bidding. I felt mislead by the transaction as the terms under which tax is subject were buried beneath pages on their site rather then presented directly where I could have factored it in to my decision to place my bid.
I believe they deliberately obscure this detail to present their items at a seductively competitive price. Even they claim their taxation rules are clear and straight forward, so I am very suspicious of their strategy. When I tried to return the item they threatened to charge me with a 15% restocking fee. I challenged the charge with my Visa card company. The web auction responded to my challenge and even went so far as to accuse me of lying and of fraud.
I am in round two in the challenge process. The first round consisted of Visa simply sending me a letter with what I trust had standard verbiage that I was to sign and return to them. The verbiage read: "I never authorized this charge. No one authorized by me made this charge. My card never left my possession."
I feel that for the amount the web auction attempted to charge me, I never did authorize nor would not have authorized the charge. I signed and returned that letter.
The problem comes in that I have a history with this web auction where I did win and accept items where they charged me tax. I reluctantly accepted the items then because the challenge would take more effort then it was worth. I vowed never to use them again. Over the next eight months I made many other transactions on the web at other sites. I forgot that this particular firm would charge tax. I was lured back by a seemingly competitive price for the item. To my challenge with Visa, they wrote back stating that my prior history proves I knew they would charge the tax and that it is just my "buyers remorse" and therefore my return of the item was subject to the 15% restocking fee.
I drafted the below letter in preparation to respond to the web auction's rebuttal, but I am not sure if I should send the letter or resign my challenge. I would appreciate your advise:
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In response to your correspondence to me dated _____ __, 2000 and including the merchant rebuttal to my dispute from _____, I submit the following:
I never authorized the charge they made on my credit card. No one authorized by me made this charge. My card never left my possession.
I acknowledged to _____ the receipt of the item in reference on xx/xx/00. I contacted _____ immediately on xx/xx/00 to return the merchandise. _____ stated they would not to accept the return of the item, that it would be futile to ship it back as the item would only be returned to me refused. _____'s assertion was the only return they would acknowledge would be one on which I in-kind authorized them to charge my credit card $205.00.
The item still sits in its unopened packaging and obviously will be shipped immediately upon _____'s cooperation and instructions. I did not authorize their charging my credit card the $1500.00, and I was not going to authorize their charging my credit card $205.00, tantamount to coercion. I am trusting that this forum will result in _____'s cooperation, as I have always assumed they will want their item returned.
XXXXXXX Visa has full access to my credit and purchasing history and is the best position to recognize whether I deserve to be attacked and characterized in the malicious, almost libelous fashion that _____'s rebuttal charges.
I am not authorizing _____ to place any charges on my credit card.
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[This message has been edited by JFS (edited July 25, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by JFS (edited July 25, 2000).]
I believe they deliberately obscure this detail to present their items at a seductively competitive price. Even they claim their taxation rules are clear and straight forward, so I am very suspicious of their strategy. When I tried to return the item they threatened to charge me with a 15% restocking fee. I challenged the charge with my Visa card company. The web auction responded to my challenge and even went so far as to accuse me of lying and of fraud.
I am in round two in the challenge process. The first round consisted of Visa simply sending me a letter with what I trust had standard verbiage that I was to sign and return to them. The verbiage read: "I never authorized this charge. No one authorized by me made this charge. My card never left my possession."
I feel that for the amount the web auction attempted to charge me, I never did authorize nor would not have authorized the charge. I signed and returned that letter.
The problem comes in that I have a history with this web auction where I did win and accept items where they charged me tax. I reluctantly accepted the items then because the challenge would take more effort then it was worth. I vowed never to use them again. Over the next eight months I made many other transactions on the web at other sites. I forgot that this particular firm would charge tax. I was lured back by a seemingly competitive price for the item. To my challenge with Visa, they wrote back stating that my prior history proves I knew they would charge the tax and that it is just my "buyers remorse" and therefore my return of the item was subject to the 15% restocking fee.
I drafted the below letter in preparation to respond to the web auction's rebuttal, but I am not sure if I should send the letter or resign my challenge. I would appreciate your advise:
----------------------------------------------------------
In response to your correspondence to me dated _____ __, 2000 and including the merchant rebuttal to my dispute from _____, I submit the following:
I never authorized the charge they made on my credit card. No one authorized by me made this charge. My card never left my possession.
I acknowledged to _____ the receipt of the item in reference on xx/xx/00. I contacted _____ immediately on xx/xx/00 to return the merchandise. _____ stated they would not to accept the return of the item, that it would be futile to ship it back as the item would only be returned to me refused. _____'s assertion was the only return they would acknowledge would be one on which I in-kind authorized them to charge my credit card $205.00.
The item still sits in its unopened packaging and obviously will be shipped immediately upon _____'s cooperation and instructions. I did not authorize their charging my credit card the $1500.00, and I was not going to authorize their charging my credit card $205.00, tantamount to coercion. I am trusting that this forum will result in _____'s cooperation, as I have always assumed they will want their item returned.
XXXXXXX Visa has full access to my credit and purchasing history and is the best position to recognize whether I deserve to be attacked and characterized in the malicious, almost libelous fashion that _____'s rebuttal charges.
I am not authorizing _____ to place any charges on my credit card.
----------------------------------------------------------
[This message has been edited by JFS (edited July 25, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by JFS (edited July 25, 2000).]