If this happened to me, there is NO WAY I would let my credit card company off. Also, I have disputed something in the past and I remember signing paperwork instead of just verbal acceptance/rejection of the charges. I wonder why that didn't happen here.
If this happened to me, there is NO WAY I would let my credit card company off. ... verbal acceptance/rejection of the charges
A very similar circumstance happened to me involving significantly less money. There are a few things I learned:
1) I have never seen a cardholder agreement that doesn't require all disputes to be done in writing.
2) This doesn't mean that the Customer Service Rep will tell you that in order to be fully compliant, you need to submit your claim in writing, nor does it mean that they will tell you anything other than "it's all set". If you're lucky, they might tell you that you should not pay the disputed portion of the bill.
It's not common sense because it's so rare to run into problems like this. Most people have never done a charge-back (I've done less than ten in my life and most were in the late 90s). It's incredibly important to research your terms when something like this arises and follow them carefully. For credit cards, the dispute process is usually written on the back of your statement.
Here's an example from a bill in my hand:
"If you think there is an error on your statement, write to us at:
<bank>
In your letter, give us the following information:
Account information...
Dollar amount...
Description of problem...
You must notify us of any potential errors in writing (their emphasis).
You may call us, but if you do not we are not required to investigate any potential errors and you may have to pay the amount in question." (I used the billing mistake section, but the charge-back section is basically the same with a few more restrictions and refers to this process in its writing).
The reporter did a disservice in not explaining where Ms. Rodriguez may have faltered in her dealing with Citibank and not providing a few tips for people running into this sort of jerk (or jerk-company-response). My personal tip, make copies of everything you send including the envelope and send it certified mail. If you still get jerked around by a large corporation and you don't have hopes of getting your story written up in the New York Times, send a letter outlining your problem with a detailed timeline to the same corporate address (or a more appropriate one if you can find it) and include a CC: line with whatever regulatory body oversees the industry in question ... along with your local and state representative. That netted me a triple refund (disputed amount was $45) after two months of getting nowhere.
Just bc your credit card agreement says something does not mean that that provision is enforceable under the laws of a given jurisdiction.
A huge percentage of contracts include clauses that are unenforceable, yet the provisions are included in the contract to give the credit card company any leverage it can get.
