Your Cardholder Rights
By: Sam Donaldson | Posted: 09th May 2007
As a nationof rules, we have certain protections from credit card issuers who do not want to play a fair game. Be certain to know your basic rights concerning your credit card account. You have been afforded certain protections. This article will cover the most important and meaningful of these.
You are entitles to have your credits posted promptly for your payments. By law your payment must be reflected on their books the day they receive it or the next business day after if it was received if arriving in the afternoon generally. Each issuer can make up certain rules of their own within the confines of what is legal and allowed but your payment must be treated with due process when it arrives..
Be certain to follow the postal instructions so your funds reach the issuer's billing department without any hassle. If you accidentally send your payment to the wrong place it could take weeks or more to correct, and you would still be liable for your payment not reaching the credit card issuer or financial institution in time. If by chance you can't find the mailing envelope that arrived with your bill, make sure you correctly copy the address from the billing statement correctly; or telephone the issuer to make certain that the address is correct.
You might be entitled to refunds of credit balances. When a person makes a deposit of more than the total balance subjected to the card, they are entitled to have it issued to their credit card or a refund of the excess amount. Your money must be returned to you within seven business days of your request. If a credit remains on your card for more than 6 months, the issuer must make a good faith effort to send you your monies due.
Keep a close eye out for errors on your billing statement. Many people have a tendency to not notice this. Credit card issuers have the burden to be certain that your statement is correct, as they hold the responsibility to act when corrections are needed and justified. Albeit, many people have noticed that this is not the case in reality. Still consumers must be aware that they have the upper hand and that the law is on their side. Generally you will receive a brochure from your card issuer concerning what the individual rules are for the credit card you have at issue, and again about after every year passes. You might even receive a summary of these rights with your bill. Yet is generally better to become familiar with the rules in the long version of the terms instead of the shortened version that may arrive with each bill.
If you find a problem with your credit card bill, you can have a temporary hold put on the transaction while it is being disputed. If the resolution of the dispute ends in your favor, you will receive a credit for the amount. The errors in dispute can be anything from damaged goods that you received, services you paid for but did not receive. Remember that you still are responsible for payment of any amounts that are not in dispute on the bill, and that your due dates and the like are not adjusted because of a pending dispute.
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Sam Donaldson has a number of articles features on the Rewards Credit Cards website. This site details a number of rewards credit cards including gas credit cards.
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Tags: money, tendency, hassle, confines, business day, business days, good faith, financial institution, billing statement, monies, credit card issuers, credit card account, credit card issuer, credit balances, due process, faith effort, fair game