I love a good chicken sandwich. In fact, I actually love almost all chicken sandwiches. Sometimes you have a craving and you move on it. That’s exactly what I did this past month, but in my ordering I made a mistake. The merchant wasn’t helpful, but the credit card “dispute” functionality was. I left the drive through empty handed, but at least I didn’t throw away money, too.
The situation
Post-physical activity hunger set in fast.
I was just a few minutes detour from a Popeyes, and the thought of their chicken sandwich was highly appealing. There was a sign in the drive-through highlighting app ordering for extra points, so I figured sure, there was a car in front of me, so I went that route. Gave the info to the agent, they said no problem. Waiting at the window they reflected they didn’t see an order for me, and I look in the app to see it has a 3-mile away location selected for the order. No problem, that can be changed, right? Nope. No in-app functionality. No support from chat agent. No ability for the store agent to help. So I flagged the feedback and left, chicken-less after about five minutes. The next morning Popeyes wrote back and said they don’t have any ability to help, and they also don’t refund any errors. Womp womp.
The Dispute
Who needs a refund when you can dispute?
While I’ve had mixed successes in the past using credit card disputes, I was hopeful that the dollar amount for this one was so low ($6.04) that they would just throw me a bone. After the transaction posted, I logged in to my Citi account, found the posted transaction, and spent 30 seconds filing a claim. Done. And magically, they did just that. No investigation, no paperwork, just a quick credit.
Typically disputes will require submission on part of the consumer, some documentation of the incident, and a potential back/forth response with the merchant around verification. Ultimately that refund is paid for by the merchant if it occurs. In this instance, the bank policy sided with the consumer because completing that research would have cost more than simply throwing the customer a bone.
Why this matters
Consumers have power. There are protections If your merchant hasn’t delivered, the item was defective/damaged, or there is some other issue, this is a powerful tool to help address your challenges. Even the threat of filing a dispute can be powerful to incentivize action. The details and processes differ by bank and issuer, but the general reflection is there is a universal ability on credit cards to dispute within 60 days of transaction and liability is limited to $50. Obviously it is important be ethical and not abuse this to delay purchases payment or try to get something (inappropriately) for free.
It’s important to note, it doesn’t always go your way, even if you are in the right.
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