(WSVN) - A man chartered a yacht, he took the trip, and then disputed the charge claiming he was never on it. The credit card agreed with him, but there was video and that’s when the call went out to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
A 120-foot yacht. All yours for you and your family. Not a bad way to spend the day.
Tharine Ives: “So she can sleep 8 people. It’s a full crew on board. All the water toys that you can want.
Tharine and Sean own All Yachting– connecting boat owners to people who want to rent their yacht for a day or two.
Tharine Ives: “When I tell you about your vacation, you gonna go on a yacht. I get excited because it’s really actually fun.”
This summer Tharine was contacted by a man vacationing in the Bahamas who wanted to charter this yacht for an afternoon. She sent him the paperwork.
Tharine Ives: “He signed it. It came back then from there. Then from there, I process the credit card I say, ‘Great, you are good to go.'”
The fellow identified himself as Thomas West, paid 15,000 dollars on his credit card, and boarded with seven family members, using the jet skis that day, meals prepared by the chef, and at the end of the day told the captain how much they loved it.
Tharine Ives: “And while they were still on board, they wanted to give the crew an extra gratuity of $3,500.”
A $3,500 tip bringing the credit card charge to $18,860. But a few days later the Ives were notified the man who chartered the yacht was disputing the charge.
Sean Ives: “The reason that was given was fraud.”
That baffled the Ives, but they weren’t worried and sent all the paperwork to American Express, proving the family had taken the trip.
Tharine Ives: “And then about five days later, they came back saying that they ruled in favor of the client and the case is now closed.”
At first, the Ives feared an imposter had used Thomas West’s credit card, but the video cameras on the yacht showed the person, who called himself Thomas West, matched the social media account of Thomas West.
Sean Ives: “Even on his Instagram pages, he was wearing exactly the same bathing suit that he wore when he was on the boat and the same tattoos. It was very, very, very noticeable that the real Thomas West was the client that was actually on the boat.”
Sean called the man—
Tharine Ives: “And he said, ‘Sorry, brother you’ve got the wrong number.'”
The Ives wanted to show American Express their videos plus more paperwork to prove the man had charted the boat.
Tharine Ives: “Unfortunately, with American Express, once they ruled, they do not reopen a case.”
Meaning Sean and Tharine have to pay the crew and the yacht owner for the charter, crushing for a business.
Tharine Ives: “It’s a horrible feeling. You feel so helpless.”
Well, Howard, Tharine feels helpless but is their case hopeless?
Howard Finkelstein: “First of all if you knowingly try to avoid paying for a service you received, that is a crime and should be reported to the police. Secondly, American Express’ contract allows them to solely determine whether a chargeback is valid or not without a process for you to contest their decision. That means your only option is to sue the person who disputed the charge, and for many people that’s too expensive to do.”
We called the man whose name was on the contract. He admitted he was Thomas West, but denied every chartering a yacht in the Bahamas. When we said his social media pictures seem to match the fellow getting on the yacht, he said ‘Call my lawyer’ and hung up. He didn’t tell us who his lawyer was. We then contacted American Express. They told us they would look into the chargeback. Tharine then got an email from them.
Tharine Ives: “And they said ‘Yes, American Express has revised it and they are refunding us the money.'”
Needless to say, Tharine and Sean are happy to have the 18,000 plus back and also happy they decided to make that call to Help me Howard.
Tharine Ives: “You’re doing incredible work, and just continue. And thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Now it may not be over yet. American Express notified the Ives the cardholder is disputing the charge again. He told us he didn’t take the charter. He told American Express he paid for the charter by other means. Howard doubts that will work and thinks the Ives will keep their $18,860.
Feeling shipwrecked? Ready to cruise back to safety? Charter a few minutes with us to settle the dispute. With this Help me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser 7News.
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