Believe it or not a credit card is the safest way for making payments online. I personally had a bad experience with a company called Beelabz. I ordered a tablet from beelabz.in using my credit card and never got the delivery, in fact nearly after two months the company turned out the be a fraud.
We have heard and have been told several times to proceed with your credit card transaction only, if you see the lock sign in the browser (secure connection), however this process will only send your information securely , but what if the seller / merchant / manufacturer turns out to be a fraud?
If your credit card is lost, stolen or someone is misusing it then you will need to call your credit card company who will then block your card and if any transaction was made by the imposter, the credit card company will investigate it, the faster you report the better. Now imaging you made a secure payment via credit card and the product was never delivered, moreover the seller is not responding to your calls, emails and not even giving you the refund. What most people don’t know is that – you can still recover the money.
Here are 2 reasons why you should always use a credit card for online transaction. Do check out with your credit card bank and confirm that the following options are available.
- Credit Card protection: Most credit cards today come with 1 month protection from the date of transaction. In case you have a disputed transaction made within a month, you can call your credit card company and let them know about it. Most probably the amount will be credited back on your card or it will be held as disputed and you will not be billed for it until the issue is resolved.
- Credit Card Holder Dispute Form: In case there is a dispute with a transaction made over 1 month you can still fill in the Credit Card Holder Dispute Form available online or you can get it from your Credit card bank. Fill it, attach the proof and send it to the mentioned address.With reference to the beelabz.in issue, myself and many other users did fill in the dispute form and had sent it to the respective CC bank. Everyone has got the amount credited back to their accounts. You need to attach the proper proof, transaction reference number, email printouts, invoice if any etc.
The credit card (CC) company will then investigate the matter (do note that you might need to pay a small amount (if required) for investigation). The CC Company will call the gateway and ask them for the proof if the product was delivered. The gateway will in turn call their client – the seller / merchant / manufacturer who is responsible for it.In my case the Beelabz owner had disappeared, there are police cases against him, the rented office is locked/closed, he had also used many fake addresses and so on. Ultimately the gateway did not have any proof and my amount was credited back.If any of you have gone though the same situation do not hesitate to approach the credit card customer care and do fill in the dispute form.Here is the link to HDFC Banks dispute form Click here.
Users who have used a debit card or via net banking can also approach the respective banks for dispute but the process is extremely slow and there is no guarantee if you will get the money back.