We're very quick to criticise the banks for poor service round here, so I'm going to take a moment to give credit to Amex (run by Bank of Ireland Card Services in Ireland) for their handling of some disputed transactions recently.
On checking my Amex statement after a recent holiday in Italy, I was stunned to find a transaction from an Esso station for €3,800.00. I knew I had filled up my rental car in Naples before returning it, but it was only a Nissan Primera, and I don't think the tanks are quite that big. I immediately checked my receipts, and I was doubly stunned to find that I had signed a receipt for €3,800.00! For someone who is usually a bit of a control freak on financial matters, this was quite embarrasing & worrying. I know I was a bit flustered when getting petrol, as I had got a bit lost in downtown Naples.
I reported the transaction to Amex on the next day, and followed up with a letter outlining my concerns. I was worries that this was not a simple error, but was a definite attempt at fraud. Initially, I got the standard response by letter from Amex, but when I followed this up by phone, they took my concerns very seriously. They immediately disputed the transaction via their chargeback process.
I also reported the matter to Esso Ireland who agreed to follow up through their international network. Esso came back a couple of weeks later telling me that it was a genuine error and a credit was being put back onto my account. However, I was most impressed that Amex stayed right on top of the case. I got an update phone call from one particular person on their chargeback team each week, even when there was no real news to tell me. They even contacted Esso Ireland directly (without me prompting them) to try to speed up the credit process. They called me with the good news this week that the credit had come through. I withdraw all those comments I made about the Naples mafiosi.
My next Amex bill contained 3 transactions totalling nearly €300 on my wife's card for an online dating service IPAY Friend Finder [No smart comments please]. Her card has never been used online, so I disputed these with Amex immediately. The intial response was that they would query the transactions, but I was told I'd have the pay the amounts in the interim. I kicked up a bit of a fuss, and their chargeback team confirmed that I didn't have to pay the amounts and they would charge them back to the vendor.
So thanks to Amex for a great result on both transactions.
On checking my Amex statement after a recent holiday in Italy, I was stunned to find a transaction from an Esso station for €3,800.00. I knew I had filled up my rental car in Naples before returning it, but it was only a Nissan Primera, and I don't think the tanks are quite that big. I immediately checked my receipts, and I was doubly stunned to find that I had signed a receipt for €3,800.00! For someone who is usually a bit of a control freak on financial matters, this was quite embarrasing & worrying. I know I was a bit flustered when getting petrol, as I had got a bit lost in downtown Naples.
I reported the transaction to Amex on the next day, and followed up with a letter outlining my concerns. I was worries that this was not a simple error, but was a definite attempt at fraud. Initially, I got the standard response by letter from Amex, but when I followed this up by phone, they took my concerns very seriously. They immediately disputed the transaction via their chargeback process.
I also reported the matter to Esso Ireland who agreed to follow up through their international network. Esso came back a couple of weeks later telling me that it was a genuine error and a credit was being put back onto my account. However, I was most impressed that Amex stayed right on top of the case. I got an update phone call from one particular person on their chargeback team each week, even when there was no real news to tell me. They even contacted Esso Ireland directly (without me prompting them) to try to speed up the credit process. They called me with the good news this week that the credit had come through. I withdraw all those comments I made about the Naples mafiosi.
My next Amex bill contained 3 transactions totalling nearly €300 on my wife's card for an online dating service IPAY Friend Finder [No smart comments please]. Her card has never been used online, so I disputed these with Amex immediately. The intial response was that they would query the transactions, but I was told I'd have the pay the amounts in the interim. I kicked up a bit of a fuss, and their chargeback team confirmed that I didn't have to pay the amounts and they would charge them back to the vendor.
So thanks to Amex for a great result on both transactions.
