Black Friday online shoppers can use a credit card chargeback in cases of suspected fraud, non-delivery, etc.  

- A ‘Guide to Using Credit Card Cargebacks’created to effectively deal with consumer damage from cross-border transactions -

    As the proportion of consumers engaging in foreign direct online shopping is expected to grow significantly in the weeks leading up to Black Friday shopping event and Christmas shopping season, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) has created a ‘Guide to Using Credit Card Chargebacks’* in order to more effectively deal with consumer damage foreign direct online shopping may cause. 

* Credit Card Chargebacks: refer to payment cancellations or refunds. Consumers can request credit card issuers to cancel transactions in cases of suspected fraud, non-delivery, suspected counterfeit goods, no refunds, etc.

■ Consumers can make a chargeback claim in cases of suspected fraud, goods not arriving at all, suspected counterfeit goods, being out of contact with retailers, etc.

    An analysis of 823 counseling cases regarding foreign direct online shopping received through the ‘Cross-Border Transaction Consumer Portal’ run by the KCA from January through October, 2017, reveals that 301 cases (37%) were involved with delaying and refusing cancellation/ refund/exchange, followed by 114 cases (14%) involving no responses from retailers (being out of contact with retailers) and website closures, and 103 cases (13%) involving delivery of goods, respectively. Among these cases, 35.0% (288 cases) were classified into consumer damages which could be resolved by credit card chargebacks, and so a guide to using credit card chargebacks was provided to the consumers concerned.

    In addition, the chargeback services can be used for damage from car rentals & hotel bookings and tax refund occurring during overseas traveling as well as foreign direct online shopping-related consumer damage.

[ Cases that consumers can file a chargeback in relation to foreign direct online shopping ]

■ Chargeback claims should be made to credit card issuers in writing within the designated time frame (120 days) after collecting or obtaining evidential documents.

    Consumers can make a chargeback claim to credit card issuers in writing within 120 days from the date of making payments with a credit card, and are also required to submit evidence such as receipts, order statements, and correspondence (e.g. emails) they had with the retailers to the card issuers.

* Depending on evidential documents provided and responses of retailers, however, the chargeback claims may not be processed.

    The KCA has created a ‘Guide to Using Credit Card Chargebacks’ in an effort to more efficiently deal with consumer damage from foreign direct online shopping, and posted the Guide on its ‘Cross Border Transaction Consumer Portal’ site.

    Furthermore, the KCA is making every effort to resolve consumer damage involving overseas direct purchase by signing MOUs with foreign consumer protection organizations*, and securing contact details of foreign business operators who frequently cause damage to consumers.

*MOU signing countries: 8 countries (the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hongkong)

    The KCA also said that it would be desirable to refer to the ’Guidelines for Users of Overseas Online Shopping Sites’ and the ’Checkpoints for Preventing Damage from Overseas Online Shopping’ posted on its Cross Border Transaction Consumer Portal (http://crossborder.kca.go.kr) if consumers wish to prevent any possible damage from overseas direct purchase.