Has anyone actually received a refund yet?

[Eliza]

I have some questions about the Great DVD Debacle of 2002.

Background: Preordered in March (#W3210644); was charged $20 in March and subsequent $79.98 in April. Was charged $79.98 again in August.

I've filled out the customer service form, sent emails to the appropriate people, called and talked to Wade ... the whole thing that everyone else has gone through ... and have received the same auto-responses and assurances that everything will be hunky dory.

Here are couple of questions ... and I would appreciate if those of you who have dealt with this could respond:

1.) Has anyone actually received a refund / credit to your credit card? If so, how long did it take from the time that you noticed the double charge and made your complaint to AU? (I've been waiting a little more than 1 week.)

2.) If you disputed the additional charge(s) with your credit card company, did it negatively affect your initial order? As in, did AU cancel your order?

Thanks in advance for any light anyone can shed.

[Denie]

I was double-charged $115 on July 23. I notified my credit card company right away and e-mailed Jason and AU. Jason replied back...no response from AU. According to Jason, AU was going through each order, one by one, and correcting errors. On August 11 I e-mailed Ross at AU, per his request. Never heard back from him. On August 14, I completed the mscl customer service form. When I checked my credit card account on Fri. August 16, my money had finally been refunded. So it took about 3 weeks to get my money back.

As far as I know, contacting my credit card company has not cancelled my order. Because of the amount of time it took for AU to refund my card, I'm glad I disputed the charge right away. Otherwise, I would have had to pay my bill (including the extra $115) and/or accrue interest on the charge.

[Sara]

When I pre-ordered the dvds (ages ago!) I made the mistake of giving my debit card number (can be used as a credit card but pulls $$ straight out of my account) So I got double charged last week and I have NO money left...i emailed Gord and filled out that form and even though I got an auto reply, NO POSTS have been made to my account. If I go into the negative b/c of this, do you think AU will pay for their mess up?

[Rich D.]

I'm in the same boat as Sara. Debit card - the money is actually gone (and AU ACTUALLY HAS IT), and still no posted refund. This is really beginning to piss me off. My account DID go negative because of the overcharge, and I've had some rather embarassing problems because of it.

(it's also not useful that neither Mike or Ross will respond to e-mail queries about the situation...)

~ Rich
~ W3210700

[jmwoodward]

I first talked to AU a month ago and was assured I would have my refund. Still no refund. My husband doesn't want me to call the credit card company because he is afraid I will lose my order. I don't know what to do.

Jenny

[Dancin'InTheDark]

I'm on the same boat. *sigh* Saying this feels like dejavu...but "I've been charged $115 in July and $79.98 just a couple weeks ago, and still no refund." It's not my style to whine, but I've written already a few requests and filled out the proper form like advised,...you give me the right information and I'm about to go hunt you down. I'm rackin' my brain about this just as some others are...and I've put my patient face on for too long. Please, please *I'm on my hands and knees now* give me a look over here. Checkin' the list, or checkin' it twice...how much more is this gonna take??? (*Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!*)

[Sara]

It's been TEN days since I got $79.98 pulled out of my bank account...and SOME OF us poor college kids survive on amounts like that for 2 weeks easily!!! Don't mean to boo-hoo myself but SERIOUSLY...i'm so frustrated at this point....it's another NINE days till I get paid and I'm tired of RAMEN NOODLES DAMNIT! I've gone through all the procedures too and in the end, I don't care for much else...i just need that money back in my account SOON! Jason, can you possibly step in and see if you can speed up the refund process?? (Sorry for being a baby guys but I really needed to vent!!!!)

[Rich D.]

Don't worry about it Sara - missing money is missing money. Vent away. MOST of us, I'd dare say, count on having most of every penny we thought was in our accounts.

For what it's worth, the credit showed up in my account today. 10 days after I started "pestering" them about the double-billing. Way too long, IMO, but EVER is better than NEVER, I suppose.

~ Rich

[Jason R]

I've tried to act as a go-between, but with the sheer number of errors, it has just been too overwhelming for me.

Thanks to Gord for putting together a great complaint web form. I log in all the time, and, again, it looks like AU.com is processing the complaints as they are received.

The web form was to be temporary (for my honeymoon), but it seems that it may enable me to get some of my life back, and perhaps extend this honeymoon a bit. I admit to being burned out with all of the emails.

I will still be handling all of the emergencies, but there is no reason that some things, like undercharges or address changes can't be processed entirely automatically. It gives me the ability to focus exclusively on serious problems. It is a better system than emailing me and me then forwarding your request to AU one at a time.

Jason

[cool rider]

I got double charged on July 15th, and starting emailing AU within a couple days after that. Finally after a few emails from Jason I started calling and that seemed to work a little better. I started calling at the end of July, (or whenever Jason sent that email saying calling might be better)and finally my refund posted on August 19th, although it wasnt listed until today. So after calling it took about 3 weeks to get my refund, but over a month since I first noticed the problem and tried emailing.