Lost $2,000 credit card dispute for digital course - merchant showed I "accessed" content for 10 minutes

I bought a $2,000 "masterclass" on making money with AI. The sales page showed testimonials of people making $50k/month, professional production, the whole thing.

When I logged in, it was literally 6 YouTube videos (total runtime maybe 2 hours) with generic advice you could find for free. Nothing like what was advertised. I logged in, watched about 10 minutes, realized it was garbage, and immediately filed a credit card dispute.

The merchant responded with "proof" that I accessed the course portal and "consumed the digital product" so no refund. Chase sided with them and I'm out $2,000.

This feels like fraud. Do I have any recourse? Small claims? FTC complaint? Or am I just screwed because I clicked on a few videos?

This is why digital goods are so hard to dispute. The second you access anything, the merchant can claim you "received" the product.

You could try escalating with Chase - ask for arbitration through Visa/Mastercard (whichever network). But honestly, once they've ruled, it's hard to reverse.

The chargeback process has limitations, but you may still have legal options depending on what exactly was misrepresented.

Key questions:

• What specific claims did they make on the sales page? (screenshot everything if you still can)
• Did they have a refund policy posted?
• Is this merchant/seller identifiable with a real business entity?
• What state are you in and where are they based?

If they made specific false claims (like "you'll make $50k/month" or misrepresented what was included), that could be deceptive trade practices. But you'll need to prove what was promised vs. what was delivered.

I took screenshots of the sales page, thank god. It says things like "Proven system that generated $487K in 90 days" and "Join 10,000+ students making $10K+ per month."

Their refund policy says "30-day money back guarantee, no questions asked" but when I requested a refund through their system, they said "digital products are non-refundable once accessed."

I'm in California. The business is supposedly in Delaware (probably just incorporated there) but I think the guy running it is in Florida based on his social media.

Okay, you're in California - that's actually good for you. California has very strong consumer protection laws.

The contradiction between "30-day money back guarantee" and "non-refundable once accessed" is a problem for them. Under California law, if they advertise a refund policy, they have to honor it. They can't have a bait-and-switch where the refund policy is prominent in marketing but hidden exceptions make it impossible to actually get a refund.

California Business and Professions Code Section 17200 (Unfair Competition Law) and 17500 (False Advertising Law) both apply here. You have a few options:

1. File a complaint with the California Attorney General's office
2. File a complaint with the FTC
3. Small claims court (CA allows up to $12,500)
4. Consult with a consumer protection attorney - some take these on contingency

Also check if they made any income claims without the proper FTC disclaimers. Saying "students making $10K+ per month" without disclaimers about typical results is an FTC violation.

The FTC has been cracking down hard on "make money online" courses with fake income claims. Your complaint could actually get traction.

I went through something similar with a $3,500 course. Filed in small claims court and the seller didn't even show up. Got a default judgment.

Problem is collecting on it. If they're running this as a scam operation, they might not have attachable assets. But it's worth trying.

Also, name and shame them publicly. These gurus rely on their reputation. One well-documented complaint can hurt their business.

Small claims sounds doable. What's the process in California for serving someone in Florida? Or can I sue the Delaware LLC?

Also, if I do small claims, can I still file FTC and Attorney General complaints or is that double-dipping?

You can absolutely do both - file regulatory complaints AND pursue civil remedies. They're separate tracks.

For small claims, you'd sue the business entity. If it's a Delaware LLC, you need to sue the LLC and name the registered agent. You can serve them through their registered agent in Delaware.

California small claims courts can exercise jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants if they're doing business in California (which they are if they're selling to California residents). But getting them to show up is another matter.

The practical reality: many of these operators will ignore small claims court, leading to a default judgment. Then you have to figure out collections. But having a judgment is better than nothing - you can try to collect, and it's public record which can hurt their business.

What platform did they use to host the course? Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific? Those platforms have their own terms of service and dispute resolution processes.

If the course violated the platform's TOS (like making fake income claims), you can report them and the platform might refund you and ban the seller.

It's hosted on Kajabi. I didn't even think about reporting to the platform. That's a good idea.

Okay, here's my plan based on everyone's advice:

1. File FTC complaint (already did this)
2. File California AG complaint
3. Report to Kajabi for TOS violation
4. File small claims suit against the LLC
5. Leave honest reviews everywhere I can find

Even if I don't get my money back, maybe I can prevent this guy from scamming others.

Good plan. One more thing - check if there's a class action already forming. These scam courses often hit hundreds or thousands of people. Sometimes consumer protection attorneys will organize class actions.

Search "[course name] class action" or "[seller name] lawsuit" and see what comes up.

Update: Reported to Kajabi with screenshots of the income claims and the contradictory refund policy. They said they're investigating and will respond within 5 business days.

Also found a Reddit thread with 40+ people complaining about the same course. Looks like I'm not alone. Will keep everyone posted on how this resolves.