Question about credit card disputes (not poker related)

[GivenToFly]

I'm wondering if there are some people on here with some experience with credit card disputes. Here is my situation:

My friend reserved this campsite for two nights for a group of guys which costs 85 dollars a night. Don't ask me why it is this expensive! Recently, there have been some events that came up where some of the guys couldn't be able to make it (legit reasons) and we wanted to cancel the reservations. There policy is that if it is not canceled within 5 days of the reservation (we were around 4 days), then you pay full price no matter what. The lady we talked to was a MAJOR B, and wouldn't listen to or understand the circumstance. Nor was she willing to work with us to try to make it one night instead of two, and she wanted to charge us even more money to change to just the one night. Hence, he would be down 170 bucks or more.

Although I understand policies, I kind of feel my friend is being taken advantage of and ignored. My question is, can't he just dispute it on his credit card? My understanding is that since he hasn't gone to the campsite yet and signed for the payment, he hasn't authorized it yet and thus they wouldn't have proof of the authorization for the credit card company.

Also, I don't know if my friend "knew" about this policy when he made the reservation when he booked it. But if he did, how powerful are these "made up" policies. I mean, as far as I can see now, it is just on their website. How much legal power does something like that hold??

Any advice is appreciated. I don't want to do anything mean or unethical, but I want to know what options my friend has (if any).

[TheEngineer]

I've gone through the dispute resolution process four times and got 100% of my money back three times. I had legit complaints for the three successful ones...the fourth one I simply didn't recognize the name of the merchant of a legitimate transaction. Anyway, it seems they take this seriously.

They'll ask your friend to fill out a form describing the incident. If he writes that he knew nothing about the five day policy, the campground will have to prove they notified him, or that he should have known. If they cannot, the card company will refund your friend the money. If he writes that he knew all about it but changed him mind, I don't imagine they'll do anything about it.

Your friend could call the campground manager and explain the rude treatment he experienced. Managers are often more accomodating of these situations than are employees (and it would be hard for him to be less accomodating).

[StellarWind]

We had a similar situation arise with a beach hotel reservation. They were more than happy to cancel our Augest reservation and put the deposit toward a weekend in September.

Negotiating a deal where they get to keep your money but give you something in return may be your best option. My advice:

1. Negotiate with the highest-level person you can. No more arguing with CS reps.

2. Be polite and have a positive attitude. A happy customer and hopes of repeat business is an important incentive to be reasonable.

3. Be flexible and willing to compromise.

4. Keep a record if you want to dispute the charges. You'll need to show the credit card company you tried to work this out.

[soulvamp]

Credit card companies put the burden of proof on the merchant. The customer always gets the benefit of the doubt.

But your appeal might be kind of iffy. If they have their policy posted and they are following policy, you might not have recourse.

However, it could work to negotiate with the campground and threaten right up front that you will file a chargeback with your cc. Merchants don't like that at all because they get hit with a fee on a chargeback even if they do win the dispute, and their transaction fees will go up if they get a number of chargebacks on their record. So I would consider that route.

In any event, it costs you nothing to file a chargeback win or lose. You just have to decide whether you have a better chance of winning a chargeback or negotiating with the merchant.