Filing a Chargeback

Filing a chargeback with my credit card company turned out to be a much more affordable option than launching a lawsuit.  I wanted to file a lawsuit very much in the beginning because the idea of proving myself in court was just so satisfying.  But as I've mentioned previously, Israeli small claims court charges $1000 to file suit, and as my lawyer informed me, when you sue for court costs, even if you win, you are unlikely to get back your actual outlay of cash.   This is why I decided to go with the chargeback option.  Chargebacks are a more powerful weapon than I initially realised, and I think they are probably the safest route and most likely to shake down in your favour if you have been scammed the way I was.  In a chargeback dispute, your credit card company fights on your behalf to get your money back.  In my case, I used VISA through PayPal.  This means that VISA fights to get my money back while PayPal tries to protect Isadore.  As I write this, I do not know what the outcome will be, but I do feel I have chosen wisely and with lots of information on my side to help me make the best decision.  (Losing a chargeback dispute does not, by the way, prevent you from going to court afterward, which may be my next step if this doesn't go in my favour.)

I'm recommending chargebacks - for a number of reasons - to anyone who has had a transaction go wrong with Isadore.  Here's why:

1.  Chargeback is free to the purchaser.  If you paid using your credit card (even through PayPal or another company), your credit card company can launch a chargeback dispute on behalf, and it does not cost you anything but time.  A dispute can take awhile to resolve - but it's worth it!  My hair piece cost over $4000.  I'm willing to wait to have that resolved.

2.  Chargebacks have a cost to the vendor.  I'm not certain exactly what it costs because each credit card company charges differently, but the merchant must pay fees when a chargeback dispute is launched.  This is a good deterrant and should, in theory, encourage the vendor to settle a dispute fairly rather than fighting it when they know they are in the wrong.  In Isadore's case, she did not have a reason not to refund my money.

3.  Chargebacks hurt the vendor's credit rating .  Like point #2, there is a cost to the vendor in terms of their credit rating.  Again, this should deter the vendor from being reckless, although I am not sure this has worked in Isadore's case!  My research into Isadore's business leads me to believe she has lost a large number of chargeback cases, which can eventually lead to receiving hefty fines, an deven having her credit card privileges revoked.  This would be very damaging to a business.


There are some documents you will need in order to win your chargeback dispute, and for that reason I recommend saving EVERY email and every related document you receive from the start of your inquiries about purchasing until you receive the product and are positive you are happy with it.  From what I have read, it looks like most credit card companies will give you from 90 to 120 days from when you receive your product to file a chargeback.

My credit card company officially filed my chargeback case on January 28th.  This was after a few weeks of back and forth with their disputes specialists, asking Isadore to send a courier to pick up the hair and waiting 15 days, gathering up my documents, writing my statement, and sending it all in for the credit card company to look at.  On January 28th, the bank notified PayPal that they were filing a dispute on my behalf, and I received an email from PayPal to inform me they were aware of the chargeback.  When I log into my PayPal account,  I now see this:

Isadore has ten days to respond to my claim.  If she does not respond in that time, I automatically win.  (This probably won't happen.  I anticipate she will fight.)  Once her response is filed, PayPal reserves 30 days to review the documents and make their decision.   Wish me luck!


There is a lot of useful and interesting information about chargebacks here:  http://chargebacktech.eu/what-is-a-chargeback/

Before this situation happened to me, I didn't know anything about chargebacks.  It is valuable to know about this process when you have been scammed as it may be the best - or only - recourse.