In case you don't already know about this:
There's a class action lawsuit against Visa, Mastercard, and some other credit card companies for overcharging people on overseas transactions (if you travelled outside the US, or ordered stuff from Canada, Mexico, Europe, etc.). They inflated the exchange rate AND added hidden fees - very naughty.
Naturally, they deny any wrongdoing, but because they are goodhearted people, they're paying out $336 million or so to cheer everyone up.
So if you ordered any anime stuff from Japan, or went to Canada to eat poutine and visit the king's igloo, or went to Mexico to recruit illegal immigrants, etc. between 2/1/96 and 11/8/06, you can apply for a piece of the settlement before May 30, 2008.
The payouts are likely to be small, especially if you've only ordered a few things online. But if you traveled at all, it could add up. When I submitted my claim a long while back (couldn't have been more than a year, I guess), all I could remember was a $30 order to Germany for some Kraftwerk junk. Later on I remembered buying something from Russia, but it was too long ago and I couldn't provide any specifics. So I'll be getting somewhere between 30 cents (thirty!!! cents!!!) and $25. Yeah, that's quite a spread, but the uncertainty is because of the way I filed out the form when they weren't offering the three different refund options yet.
You probably won't get a lot of money back, but why let someone else keep it?
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I think I've only done a couple of foreign transactions in the past few years. So, I'm doing the Option 1/Easy Pay thing, which is pretty cool ... $25, no questions asked. But, like you said, it could be a year before I see the check.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's $25 I didn't have before.
huh, I just got a form in the mail for this yesterday. Patti and I went to England, Wales and Scotland for 2 weeks in this period so I'm going for an actual estimate. I also went to Belgium on business and Canada a couple of times. Also I've ordered books from the UK on occasion since European authors often publish there as much as a year ahead of the us.
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