united-states finance fraud
What are the legal consequences of disputing a legal credit card transaction?
<p>Purely hypothetical question. Recently I rented a car from a company, let's call them Thrifty, the total cost for the trip was ~$150. Days later I got a bill for ~$70 in administrative charges for having them pay ~$7 in tolls. They will automatically collect this money from the card used to pay for the rest of the rental. I'm sure this was specified in the contract and is completely legal(something like a $15 per toll they had to pay). </p>

<p>In addition to never using their services again, I was wondering if there would be any serious repercussions to marking the transaction as fraudulent on the credit card and making them justify the transaction to the credit card company to get payment. Obviously this would be unlikely to get me my money back, but I like the idea of spitefully causing them to have to do more work, since I feel taken advantage of.</p>

<p>This is in the United States.</p>

<p>If I take this action, am I breaking any law? If I am, am I likely to be prosecuted for the breaking of said law? Am I likely to have my credit score decreased (perhaps not on topic)?</p>

<p>You can legally dispute any charge levied on your credit card. You can legally require a creditor to prove that you owe them money.</p>

<p>However, if they successfully prove that you owed them money then you are liable not only for the money you owed but their costs (including legal costs, bank charges etc.) in proving it and interest from the date you should have paid until the date you do pay.</p>

<p>You do have the right to speak freely on the internet. The number crunchers at corporate get very sensitive when they start to see a lot of one star reviews, because they can quantify the how much money that loses their franchises.   So if I were you, I would pick a "Thrifty" with relatively few ratings, and simply state the policy and how it affected you and give them 1-star on Yelp.   This won't net you anything, but will really aggravate them, and might even give them some incentive to change the policy.  </p>

<p>P.S.  If you are really mad and want to write a one star review for all locations in your state, it's probably best to do this in an Anti-SLAPP state.<br>
P.S.S.  If you are in NJ, take a close look at the NJ Consumer Fraud Act.  It's fantastic. 
P.S.S.S  I am in no way a lawyer.  </p>
