Dumb mistake on my part

Mom987 · December 2013

Hi everyone,
About 6 months ago I accidentally bought 3 concert tickets (no refunds or exchanges), so of course when I called to try to switch them ASAP, they said that my only hope was to try to sell them on my own to someone else. Nobody wanted 3 tickets, just 2, so I disputed the charge with my bank and got all my money back the next day! 6 months later, the day after the concert, I was charged for those 3 tickets and no option to dispute online.

Anything I can do? I wish they would've "fought back" sooner so I could have sold those 2. Like I said, dumb mistake for me to even buy them.

Thanks!

hoffse · December 2013

A few thoughts:

1) Please don't dispute charges on your cards unless they are fraudulent. Doing so makes it more difficult for people who have legitimate disputes to resolve them successfully. By "fraudulent" I mean that somebody has stolen your card information and is using your card to buy things. Or else a merchant swipes your card twice for one purchase. Regretting the purchase of concert tickets is not anywhere close to the same thing.

2) You don't "accidently" buy concert tickets. You buy them with the risk that you might not be able to go. It's very common for tickets to be non-refundable. This is like booking a vacation without trip insurance. You run the risk of not being able to go and losing your money. Sorry, but that's life.

3) It's likely that the charge disappeared from your bank statement because the bank was disputing it with the merchant. In fact, the bank probably sent you a notice that the charge was being investigated so the matter was still open, and perhaps you thought it was junk mail and threw it away. Every time I dispute a charge with my credit card companies, I get one of these notices. Eventually the dispute was resolved, and the bank realized that you had not reported actual fraudulent activity, so you were re-charged because the purchase was legitimate.

4) My only suggestion is to learn from this for next time: tickets, etc. are generally non-refundable. If you need to sell non-refundable tickets, then check online sites like stubhub. That's really the best you can do. And disputing legitimate charges with your bank or credit card company usually means you will lose.

Mom987 · December 2013

Thanks.

1. There are other options in my dispute besides fraudulent. I didn't claim they were fraudulent. I have details on how I tried to return them, etc. Again, said it was a dumb mistake.

2. I know they were nonrefundable.

3. The charge didn't disappear. I was given money back after it was taken out. I did read the letter that I received. Didn't throw it out.

4. Again I said dumb mistake.

Thanks!

hoffse · December 2013

No, there's not. I'm sorry to sound harsh, but "disputing" a charge means you are claiming to have been a victim of fraud. If you read your agreement with the bank or credit card company, they all say this. You can't get money back from your bank or credit card company because you regret a legitimate purchase. Think about how easy it would be to scam them if that were the case. A system like that would fall apart in about 3 days.

Every time I have disputed a charge, I have had money given back to me while the dispute was pending. Every dispute I have made has been for fraudulent activity either from a third party or a merchant who has swiped my card twice, so I have never had the funds taken away again... but I imagine that if I was disputing something that was a legitimate charge, they would take the money away again after the bank/credit card company discovered it was legitimate.

Sisugal · December 2013

You did not make one dumb "mistake" you made 3 dumb "mistakes"
1) buying tickets you could not use
2) not selling 2 tickets and eating the cost of the 3rd
3) filing for a disputed charge on your credit card.

Those were are errors of judgement on your part. Own ALL of those and learn from them r you will certainly repeat them again.

emily1004 · December 2013

Don't be so harsh on OP! Everyone makes mistakes and actually it depends on what kind of credit card she has. If we buy something with one of our cards that we don't want and the merchant had a no return policy, you can dispute the charge and they WILL give you your money back. I believe we have an extra 180 days. I deal with credit card companies in my office everyday. They all have different rules.

OP, I would call the credit card company, ask them about there rules. Find out what's going on and why you were recharged.

Xstatic3333 · December 2013

OP I'm curious how the purchase happened. Were you trying to check availability while logged into Ticketmaster and went too far into the process to go back?

Mom987 · December 2013

Emily1004, thank you, that does mean a lot! Xstatic3333, I was looking at them and accidentally went too far. Exactly. I was distracted with my son.

vlagrl29 · December 2013

It happens...maybe next time wait until your son is napping.

I totally get distractions

MommyLiberty5013 · December 2013

Overall, I think this is a good conversation. The PPs about reasons why you should and should not dispute DC and CC charges are legit, so is the fact that the OP made a mistake and perhaps her CC/DC/bank was going to refund her. Not all cardholder user agreements are the same.

It sounds like the bank or company gave the OP her refund as a stop-gap measure while they were investigating the dispute. Banks often do this so a customer is not out the money during an investigation. If the dispute comes out in the customer's favor then s/he already has the money due to them. If the dispute is not in their favor, the bank can remove the money they "lent" the customer.

Xstatic3333 · December 2013

Mom987 said:
Emily1004, thank you, that does mean a lot! Xstatic3333, I was looking at them and accidentally went too far. Exactly. I was distracted with my son.

Gotcha. That sucks, and it's bad timing right in the middle of the holidays, but I think all you can do at this point is chalk it up to a learning experience. If you want to be extra sure it won't happen again, you could remove your stored CC info from websites you frequent. Personally, I only store mine with PayPal and iTunes.

Dumb mistake on my part

Re: Dumb mistake on my part

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