Advice - Dispute Credit Card Charges - Negligent Services

[Billchalmus]

We purchased a ventilation system and installation of the same for our restaurant. They installed a totally different ventilation system as to what is specified in our contract and never informed us that they were doing this. We had the system that they installed tested by an independent testing company and it does not function properly and can not be made to function without major expense. we got a quote for $41000 to fix the existing system. it would probably cost about $65000 to remove the system that they installed and install the system that we origanly contracted for. We paid for this system with credit cards. We started a dispute through amex for $20,000 which is the portion of what we paid for the system through amex.

In the contract in the fine print which we never saw or read it says "Credit card payments are accepted at the express guarantee from the customer that they will not be disputed under any circumstances." Can they get away with this? Part of using a credit card gives me the right to dispute a charge. Also by accepting credit cards the seller is supposed to deal with disputes and resolve them according to amex's credit card acceptance agreements. did I sign away my rights when I signed this contract ? Are there any laws pertaining to this?

Thanks for any assistance

Bill

[Credit Expert]

My immediate reaction is no, they should not be able to just get away with that. They are basically adding an addendum to your cardholder agreement and their agreement conflicts with their merchant account terms of services/guidelines.

The FCBA (Fair Credit Billing Act) may give you some ammunition, try http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume ... cre16.shtm to gain some insight. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and with the Better Business Bureau at http://www.BBB.com. Be persistent and never give up!