Is it typical for an internist to charge a retention fee?

As a wholesaler can I charge a re-stocking fee?

• Here is a little more background info...I work for a small wholesale company that manufactures woman's apparel. All of our merchandise is cut to order. All of our invoices and packing slips clearly state our return policy that includes the 15% re-stocking fee on all non-defective returns. I have sold to a company several times and in the past have always used the Credit card they have on file after leaving a message to confirm the amount. After shipping out the past two orders they were return to my shipping address with UPS notification that the store was closed. Before shipping out the package I called the store and left a mesg as usual with the dollar amount to be charged and an ETA, I asked the company to call back with in 24 hours if they needed to use an alternate card. After 24 hours we I charged the card and shipped the package. Nothing out of the ordinary. Again the merchandise was returned and I incurred a massive amount of fees to ship and unknowingly have the package shipped back. My question is: can I charge a re-stocking fee OR the shipping amount to cover my losses and refund the remaining amount to the CC charged? The clients has called and is demanding the entire amount be returned. She is also now claiming that it is not her CC, which I really have no way of verifying. She claims the CC belongs to someone that has or had no affiliation with the store. I could just refund the sales amount less the re-stocking fee...BUT i really don't want any marks on the company record if a charge back or a dispute is filed with the card provider. Any legal info would be MUCH appreciated. Again this is not a moral question as we attempted to deliver the goods and the buyer failed to notify us of store closure. We are charged twice for shipping and now I also have $900 worth of merchandise that was custom made for a client. I would like to charge the re-stocking fee and be done with it as that would help cover the cost of the shipping. I am NOT trying to squeeze every penny out of them that I can BUT I think its only fair that they play by the rules. Thanks in advance

• Answer:

  If it's not her card, she cannot make decisions about refunds. The cardholder can dispute it, but odds are you won't be backcharged because it's been charged by your company before. It is their fault for not changing their address with you, but at the same time, no one was actually spoken to. Whoever placed the order should be responsible, and they owe you back the original shipping, but the second time. You can charge the 15 percent if they decide not to take the merchandise.