All-in-one card pioneer Plastc ceased operations in April and won’t ever deliver the cards which many of us have already paid for. Many people tried tried disputing the charge with their credit card with mixed results.
Typically, you can only dispute a charge for 120 days from transaction. However, Magnifyingmoney points out that according to Visa’s terms (pdf page 615) there are special rules for disputing orders which were not intended to deliver immediately:
- Can’t be more than 120 calendar days from the last date the cardholder expected to receive merchandise or services
- Can’t be more than 120 calendar days from the date the cardholder was first made aware that the merchandise or services would not be provided
- Can’t be more than 540 day from the date of charge
Mastercard has similar terms as well (pdf page 56) as Visa. On the other hand, Amex and Discover don’t clearly offer that amount of time. One reader was told my Amex that you can’t go more than 11 months back; others were told 12 months.
In our case, it’s less than 120 days from the last date the merchandise was stated to arrive and from when we were first made aware it wouldn’t be provided. Assuming you ordered after November 21, 2015, you’re still within 540 days and can file a dispute. Many people ordered earlier than that date and won’t be eligible.
(Someone even has an audio of their customer service call with Chase confirming that they’ll be able to file a dispute if the item doesn’t come through.)
Final Word
The bottom line is that if you used a Visa or Mastercard you should be able to dispute it, provided you ordered within the past 540 days. If you are getting turned down by the card issuer, try pointing out the Visa/Mastercard terms with a source and a quote and see what they say. Discover and Amex users can try filing a chargeback as well, but they might be shot down.
Another hurdle might be convincing the bank that you are within 120 days of the expected delivery date since initially it was projected to be delivered in April 2016 (does it show that in the initial Order Confirmation?). In any case, you should be able to show the follow-up email when they pushed off the expected delivery date.
I requesting a chargeback for my Plastc order and the refund was successful. The order was placed November 15, 2016 and the chargeback hit my account on May 19, 2017. The order was placed using my CSP and the chargeback request was placed using the online Chase messaging system. Chase did call me for additional information on May 17th and asked the following questions. What sort of product did you purchase? When did the company promise delivery? Why was it not delivered?
I forgot which card I used…
I have Citi and filed a dispute. It’s still in process and haven’t heard anything yet. I was JUST under 540 days so hopefully they will approve my dispute.
I requested a refund about 1 month before and got the refund a couple of days before they declared bankrupcy. Just in time :/
Opinion no one is probably going to like. When you decide to fund a Kickstarter project you are basically donating money to a company is exchange for whatever reward they promised contingent on bringing a product to market. Like many privately funded companies, Plastic failed to bring a product to market, and based on the nature of Kickstarter, donators are owed nothing including a refund of their money.
By filing a chargeback you are fraudulently depriving Plastic’s actual creditors of funds they are owed since these funds would have otherwise been used to pay creditors in a bankruptcy process. Suppliers, landlords and potentially even employees will be deprived of money they rightfully are entitled to before any donators claims are fulfilled.
Obviously this equation changes if there is evidence that Plastic’s owners took the money and ran, but at this point I’m not aware of such evidence. Legally and morally any unpaid suppliers have a claim to that money before any of the Kickstarter donators.
I don’t think anyone bought Plastc on Kickstarter. It was a typical preorder, like you preorder an iphone. I’m also skeptical if Plastc is getting anything pulled back from the bank or if the bank will swallow the loss.
Setting aside the Kickstarter issue for a moment I’m not sure you understand how chargebacks work.
Once the bank (let’s say BofA) decides to grant the cardholder’s dispute, they issue a credit. Only then does BofA collect from the company (let’s say ACME credit card processing) that handles the vendor’s (Plastc here) credit card processing. ACME will pay BofA or they will no longer be allowed by Visa/MC to process card payments.
ACME would usually then simply deduct the amount from Palstc’s future credit card swipes. Since Plastc no longer has any income the funds will be taken from whatever set-aside or deposit ACME required of Plastc.
Once that deposit has been depleted, ACME becomes one of the “actual creditors” seeking compensation in the bankruptcy filing. ACME knew (or should have known) much more about Plastc’s finances and business plan when they decided to risk offering their service. Thus, they are rightfully on the hook for any of Plastc’s defaults.
So, none of Plastc’s remaining assets are being used to pay the chargebacks of individual cardholders. The amount ACME ultimately receives (over the deposit they required) will be determined by the bankruptcy judge.
So what you are saying is that we should just eat it and pay them out of our pockets? That is the DUMBEST thing I have ever heard. They are the only ones that can stick it to the ppl of plastic… You do realize this right? So by depriving them of their money they go after the people at plastic that stole yours…. Good job being a sheep in the herd… Way to think outside the box.
Your results with vary but I was able to successfully dispute the charge at 733 days with Citibank ( Mastercard ). Disputed by faxing a letter and any & all documentation about the situation, no phone call required.
680 days here.. So.. SOL. I hope the founders of Plastc get hit by lightening.
Try disputing anyway, it just might work, as the comment after you shows some companies aren’t firm about # of days limits.
I got denied from Elan Financial Fidelity Visa. It was originally FIA Fidelity Amex. I’ve called a few times. It sucks.
what are they sighting as the reason?
They aren’t. I’m getting the run around. Then they offer to have a claim analyst call me (and I’m talking to claims dept) and it doesn’t happen. I’m going to call again tomorrow.
I have negative experience with elan for the hotel charge back as well. Elan sucks. Fia was much better.
Yeah, I made the same mistake in paying with my Fid Amex. I figured it wasn’t even worth the headache in calling Elan.
Would love to know if you end up getting somewhere with it.
Thanks.
I ended up getting a permanent refund. Initially they denied it with no provisional credit. I called and they said they’d have a claims manager/specialist call me. After not making a connection multiple times and calling again I finally talked to someone. This person basically said I was SOL but I cited the PDF file and page number in this article but I told the person I had just received an email stating shipping would be April/May/June 2017 and then the next email was they’re bankrupt. So she had me fax her both emails. She called back saying they reopened the case and issued provisional credit. Then today letter stated case is closed in my favor and the credit is permanent. I’m glad they refunded me. It’s the only time I’ve ever made a claim and IMO it was a true claim as I was promised a product with specific timeframes.
What was your purchase date? I’m almost 2 years out and was initially denied but might try again…
October 12, 2015. Fight it! Good luck.
I disputed with WF the day they announced they weren’t shipping. The process is ongoing.
Ordered with a VGC and disposed of the VGC by accident 🙁 Am I SOL?
Did you register your VGC so you can go back and find the transaction? If so, then you have some hope.
I set up some sort of wallet but when I log in all my cards are gone!
Take it as a lesson to keep better records! Even though I don’t keep all VGCs for MS, I have all the information written down in a spreadsheet. Doesn’t take up any space and really key for situations like this.