Refund on to CC when you have your full limit available?

metrobus

I am due a refund from Agoda after THEY cancelled a booking that was confirmed and i had paid in full for,terrible how they can do that ,but thats another story.

My question is since you can not put money onto a credit card that you do not owe anything on ,how are Agoda going to be able to refund my money?

My only thought is if i withdraw the amount from an ATM off the card, and pay interest on it until the refund appears,which they say can take up to 30 days.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Brie

Some cards do allow a credit balance.  Santander has never been a problem and you have to actually ask to have the money refunded.  Other cards will pay the money directly to the account which is set up for your direct debit.  

Personally I would wait until you actually see the refund.  Why be out of pocket because they have messed up on your booking?

eskbanker

metrobus said:

My question is since you can not put money onto a credit card that you do not owe anything on ,how are Agoda going to be able to refund my money?

Your card terms will probably prohibit you from loading your card into credit, but that doesn't prevent merchants from refunding to put the account into credit, after which you can simply ask the card provider to make a credit balance refund to you.

daveyjp

The credit card can accept a refund and you end up with a postive balance.

Its happened to me recently on my now closed Partnership card, a small insurance premium refund.  It will be refunded within a week.

Previously I've had a four figure sum for a cancelled holiday credited to a credit card with zero balance.  We just used up the balance by spending on credit card rather than debit card.

x_raphael_xx

I've had a refund to my paid up cc before (Halifax).
It went on as a credit over my limit. I just bought groceries on it to use it up.

MalMonroe

It happened to me on my Tesco credit card. I just phoned them up and it wasn't a problem. They just credited my current account with the minimum of fuss and delay.  Don't do any withdrawals as you will be charged and it's not necessary.

Speak to your credit card provider, they are there to help. 

Ebe_Scrooge

As others have said, it's against the T&Cs to deliberately put a credit card into credit by deliberately making overpayments (or "pre-loading" it, if you want to look at it like that).  But having a credit balance due to a refund is perfectly OK, and not an uncommon situation.

Just wait for the refund to come through, you then have 2 options.  Phone up your card company and ask for it to be refunded to you (which they will do without any problem).  Or, just let it sit there and use it up via you normal everyday spending patterns.  Don't go withdrawing cash on the card, and don't go buying stuff you don't want/need/can't really afford just to use up the credit!

cymruchris

Definitely don't start withdrawing funds from your credit card to cover an anticipated refund. You'll likely have charges left right and centre as a result, and the credit reference agencies will have a heart attack.

As above - your account can go into credit with a refund. 

If the refund is a nominal amount (I'd say under £200) I'd leave it there, and just spend it as when you normally do. If you usually spend £1000 a month - and the refund is £1000 - again you'll spend it in normal use. 

If it's a high value refund, and it might be hanging around in your account for a while as you're not a big spender  - the credit card company will happily arrange to transfer the money back to your current account.