Credit Card Deals #2: Changed Your Mind? No-Hassle Returns Courtesy of Your Credit Card

By Eva Norlyk Herriott

You bought a cashmere sweater on sale, but when you try it on at home in broad daylight, the color makes you look like a member of the living dead. Unfortunately, when you try to return the sweater, the retailer informs you that all sales items are final, and refuses to take the sweater back.

Not to worry. If you charged the sweater to your American Express credit card or certain premium Visa credit cards, you can take advantage of the card’s return protection service. This service will reimburse you for items purchased within 90 days of purchase should you be dissatisfied with the item—for any reason—and if the retailer won’t accept the return. The benefit limit is $250 per item for Visa credit cards and $300 for Amex credit cards, both with a maximum of $1,000 annually per card account.

Not all Amex or Visa cards are eligible for this service, so check with your card issuer to see if you’re covered. The entire purchase must be charged to your credit card, and you’ll need a copy of your sales receipt and other supporting documents. To be sure you’re covered, get the details of how to make a claim from your credit card issuer before making purchases.

Visa credit cards take this credit card deal one step further and offer price protection for purchases as well. Let’s say that you’re happy with the sweater. However, you bought it at a 33% discount and two weeks later an ad comes out with that same item marked down to 60% off.

If you charged the sweater to a premium Visa credit card, you might be in luck. Visa’s price protection service helps ensure that you get the best possible price on everything you purchase-within the United States. If an item charged to eligible Visa credit cards gets marked down further within the 60 days after you purchased it, (and if you can produce a copy of a printed advertisement with the reduced price), Visa International will cover the difference up to $250 per item and $1,000 per year (some retailers will make up the difference themselves too).

Similarly, if you see the same product advertised in print for a lower price at another vendor, your Visa credit card may pick up the difference. The lower price has to be advertised in print within 60 days after your purchase, and you must also make your claim within ten days of that advertisement.

To submit your claim, include a copy of the original printed advertisement, the original sales receipt and the original Visa credit card receipt showing that the entire purchase was made on your Visa credit card. The retailer has to be an authorized dealer in the US (so most eBay deals generally won’t count), and the price guarantee does not include rebates, shipping and handling fees or sales tax.

Not all Visa credit cards offer this credit card deal, so again, check with your card issuer to find out if your card is eligible.

• Credit Card Deal #1: Purchase Protection
• Credit Card Deal #2: Return Protection and Price Protection
• Credit Card Deal #3: Extended Warranty
• Credit Card Deal #4: Your Personal Office Assistant
• Credit Card Deal #5: Global Traveler’s Assistance
• Credit Card Deal #6: Travel Delay and Lost Luggage Protection
• Credit Card Deal #7: Car Rental Insurance
• Credit Card Deal #8: Worldwide Concierge Services
• Credit Card Deal #9: Free Roadside Assistance

Published: May 22, 2009