Which has Better Purchase Protection Credit or Debit? |
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Which has better purchase protection? |
Credit Card |
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60% |
[ 3 ] |
Debit Card |
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40% |
[ 2 ] |
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Total Votes : 5 |
SmartSpender
New Member
Cash: $ 1.25
Posts: 6
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Location: Chicago |
Which has Better Purchase Protection Credit or Debit? |
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So I've been in the financial industry for about a decade now and I'm scampering around at how to answer this question. A friend of mine has been royally ripped off by an air conditioning maintenance company – long story short he bought a Groupon to have his AC maintained – and a week later the entire unit broke down, he ended up having to have them out four times to fix it – and ended up paying over 2K to get it fixed. He ended up splitting the charges between his debit card, and a separate credit card.
Needless to say when the unit still wouldn’t work he finally conceded that he was getting ripped off, and he asked my advice. I told him to call both his credit card company and his bank to dispute the charges, which he did.
I anticipated him having a bit of trouble with his bank, but certainly not the credit card company as they usually have some sort of payment protection for fraud built in. Sure enough, however his dispute was not granted through the credit card company, but went through perfectly through his bank.
I’m wondering if anyone can give any insight on this. Why is it that the bank was able to reverse the charges when the credit card company was not? And hence, is it better to utilize a bank card instead of a credit card as a safety precaution?
All thoughts welcome.
Smart Spender
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Wed Oct 02, 2013 6:16 pm |
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oldguy
Senior Member
Cash: $ 751.85
Posts: 3656
Joined: 21 May 2006
Location: arizona |
quote: bought a Groupon to have his AC maintained
When you say "maintained" do you the "16 point check and maintenance" - or was there a problem wit his AC and he wanted it repared? Or did he buy a service contract for a year?
In Phoenix (AC capital of the US?) we get dozens of phone calls from AC repair companies that offer 'free' inspections - or $39 specials - and so on. Is this what his Groupon was for?
Personally, I don't let anyone touch my AC for 'free' - or for $39 - I want an actual technician who will do the real $100 system check
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Wed Oct 02, 2013 9:22 pm |
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SmartSpender
New Member
Cash: $ 1.25
Posts: 6
Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Location: Chicago |
Hey Oldguy,
It was actually $49.00 for a ac cleaning, and inspection. I advized he contacted both his bank and credit card comapny. He got his money back immediately when he contacted his bank and they reversed the transaction on his 'debit card' but no such luck with his credit card - they are saying they need a letter from a second opinion in order to reverse the chrages.
Smart Spender
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Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:23 pm |
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littleroc02us
Moderator
Cash: $ 384.35
Posts: 1891
Joined: 09 Feb 2009
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Actually if it's a visa credit card and a visa debit card they have the same protection called Zero liability for fraud problems, the only difference is that with a credit card they haven't actually taken any real money, but with a debt card the money is out of the bank. With the debit card you simply call up the bank and they cancel your debit card and issue a new one and then within 10 days the money will appear back in your account if they find it was legit. I had this problem happen once and it went very well. You can read the facts on this website: http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/visa_security_program/zero_liability.html
Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. (Warren Buffet)
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Fri Oct 04, 2013 4:23 pm |
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