Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Connecticut

Re: Credit Card payment of Auto Repair Work

It doesn't work that way because there is a special set of rules you have to follow. The first rule is, do everything in writing, nothing by phone, and everything you mail goes certified, return receipt requested.

1. Get together the paperwork from your repair. Does it say anything about warranty? If not, don't worry, just keep going.

2. Write a letter to the garage explaining the situation, including what you brought the vehicle in for, what was done, what you were charged for, and what the warranty was. Then explain how the same condition happened again, and also what you did to confirm that the cause was the same thing he supposedly had fixed. Point out to him that it is not practical to bring the vehicle back to him, so you are asking that he refund your money by issuing a credit back to your card account. Include in this letter a copy of his bill and your credit card receipt. Tell him you would like his response within two weeks.

2. Wait for the green return receipt card. Check the date it was received. Wait until two weeks after that date for a response.

3. If you don't get a response after 2 weeks, send another certified, RRR letter, telling him you haven't received his response, and want to hear from him within the next 10 days.

4. Wait for the green card, then wait for the end of 10 days from the date the letter was delivered.

5. This is the part you've been waiting for. If after all this you still haven't received a response, or if the response is one you don't like, NOW you write to your credit card company. You include a copy of the bill on which the charge appeared, with the item circled. You include copies of all your bills, receipts, letters, green cards and the response, if any, from the garage. You cover this all with a very polite letter pointing out that you have been cheated, and requesting that the credit card company kindly credit the amount of the bill to your account.

If you have done all this, and if you have truly shown that what went wrong the second time was what was supposed to have been fixed the first time, the credit card company will probably credit your account, and charge the same amount back to the garage.

The garage has a right to protest the charge-back, and if he does, the issue will be arbitrated within the credit card industry, with no participation by you or by the garage. If you are upheld, the charge stays off the account, and the garage has to choose between sucking it up or following you to Vermont and suing you there. If the garage is upheld, the charge re-appears on your bill and you have to choose between sucking it up and coming back to Connecticut to sue the garage.