Travelers, check fraud by Visa

Travelers, check fraud by Visa

In response to Ina R's and Citibank's letters (May 21 and June
28 respectively), I would like to warn users of travelers checks
of the "investigative process". I had purchased Visa checks from
Standard Chartered bank in Jakarta and lost them, plus passports
etc., in Melbourne. I complied immediately and fully with all the
refund terms and conditions as stated on the back of the purchase
agreement. The "investigation" continued for almost a year,
during which time Interpayment Services, owned by Thomas Cook and
contracted by Visa, gave a number of reasons, including implied
suspicion of criminal intent on my part. I checked up on their
"investigation" and found that they had not followed up on the
information I had submitted.

Interpayment Services were rude and accusatory the whole time.
Standard Chartered, by the way, although polite claimed no
responsibility for the problem. After ten months, my claim was
refused. Even after my complete compliance with each and all of
their requests, they opted to "reserve the right of decision at
their discretion", which is added at the bottom of the "legal"
agreement. They did reverse their decision, quickly I might add,
only after I officially threatened court action.

I have found a number of people on the Internet with the same
problem -- this appears to be common procedure by Interpayment
Services in their statistical evaluation that many people give up
on their "delayed investigation", and they are able to retain
customers' money.

BRIEN D

Jakarta