Scout failing to refund reservation

[jole]

I could not wait any longer, so I bought an used R1S. With that, I needed to cancel my Scout reservation.

The process has taken over three months:

• Cancelled online. Got confirmation. Waited for a month and never received the refund.
• Cancelled online again. Got confirmation. Waited for another month and never received the refund.
• Contacted support. They are polite, but now after three weeks of discussions the status remains "Our team is still working on this issue to process your refund. As soon as I receive an update, I will be sure to let you know."

The original card has already been cancelled, so that likely slows the process down. Bank confirmed that they have not yet received refund, but that refunding to a cancelled card is normal and they will route the refund to another account when Scout initiates it. Scout confirmed that they have not yet initiated the refund.

Anyone else in the same situation? Any guidance on how to get Scout to refund the reservation fee?

(Posted the same question on r/ScoutMotors and received less than helpful replies there — widely pointing out that I am silly to even expect a refund)

 

[speedrye]

Can't help, but I remember Rivian struggled early with the exact same situation when refunding to a cancelled card. Is there a way to update your payment information before cancelling so that it gets applied to your updated payment method?

 

[maynard]

I could not wait any longer, so I bought an used R1S. With that, I needed to cancel my Scout reservation.

The process has taken over three months:

• Cancelled online. Got confirmation. Waited for a month and never received the refund.
• Cancelled online again. Got confirmation. Waited for another month and never received the refund.
• Contacted support. They are polite, but now after three weeks of discussions the status remains "Our team is still working on this issue to process your refund. As soon as I receive an update, I will be sure to let you know."

The original card has already been cancelled, so that likely slows the process down. Bank confirmed that they have not yet received refund, but that refunding to a cancelled card is normal and they will route the refund to another account when Scout initiates it. Scout confirmed that they have not yet initiated the refund.

Anyone else in the same situation? Any guidance on how to get Scout to refund the reservation fee?

(Posted the same question on r/ScoutMotors and received less than helpful replies there — widely pointing out that I am silly to even expect a refund)

Sorry that you're going through this, but I have faith that Scout will do right by you... Please let us know when they do.
@trailguides - can you folks help here?

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

I have elevated this to the head of our Customer Service team. Sorry for the delays and additional hassle that you shouldn't have to deal with.

 

[jole]

I have elevated this to the head of our Customer Service team. Sorry for the delays and additional hassle that you shouldn't have to deal with.

Thank you!

 

[jole]

Is there a way to update your payment information before cancelling so that it gets applied to your updated payment method?

There is not.

Cancelled card should not prevent refund —I believe all major card issuers will route refunds regardless of cancellation status.

 

[R1TVT]

There is not.

Cancelled card should not prevent refund —I believe all major card issuers will route refunds regardless of cancellation status.

If the card was cancelled AND the account was closed, then no, that won't work. Scout would be notified by the card's issuing bank. Then Scout would need to credit you directly (ACH, check, gift card or by some other means to make you whole).

If your card was replaced and Scout had issued the refund, then the issuing bank (not Scout) should be able to automatically route your refund to that NEW CARD automatically (in most cases).

 

[J Alynn]

If the card was cancelled AND the account was closed, then no, that won't work. Scout would be notified by the card's issuing bank. Then Scout would need to credit you directly (ACH, check, gift card or by some other means to make you whole).

If your card was replaced and Scout had issued the refund, then the issuing bank (not Scout) should be able to automatically route your refund to that NEW CARD automatically (in most cases).

My wife is in banking and she’s 99.9% you are correct on this but to be fair, Scout shouldn’t have to be the one to do all the legwork either. Perhaps a $100 in free merch would be great

 

[Firemedic2714]

My wife is in banking and she’s 99.9% you are correct on this but to be fair, Scout shouldn’t have to be the one to do all the legwork either. Perhaps a $100 in free merch would be great

Or, give the 100 dollars back and some merch for the inconvenience..huh, huh!?

 

[jasdeep27b]

My wife is in banking and she’s 99.9% you are correct on this but to be fair, Scout shouldn’t have to be the one to do all the legwork either. Perhaps a $100 in free merch would be great

Having worked in accounting and finance for different start ups. There is plenty of automated processes major CC payment processors offer to automate these kinds of things. But companies need to be enabling them. It’s probably not a focus for Scout back office yet because either 1. Like most start ups, back office functions are the last to be the focus of any kind of process improvement 2. They haven’t felt a need to do more because there’s been so few CC refunds

 

[J Alynn]

Having worked in accounting and finance for different start ups. There is plenty of automated processes major CC payment processors offer to automate these kinds of things. But companies need to be enabling them. It’s probably not a focus for Scout back office yet because either 1. Like most start ups, back office functions are the last to be the focus of any kind of process improvement 2. They haven’t felt a need to do more because there’s been so few CC refunds

Very true

 

[R1TVT]

My wife is in banking and she’s 99.9% you are correct on this but to be fair, Scout shouldn’t have to be the one to do all the legwork either. Perhaps a $100 in free merch would be great

Yes, Scout only needs to do the legwork in the scenario I described (where the credit card account was completely CLOSED), otherwise the card network will simply redirect the refund directly to the new card that was issued as a replacement.

Yes, Scout may still be in the process of finalizing or setting up their enterprise-wide relationships with FinTech or banking partners. In the case whereby a reservation holder's account is completely closed (not just a simple card re-issuance due to something like fraud) Scout will still be responsible to process a disbursement or "payout" to make that reservation holder whole if they request a refund. That type of transaction is almost like the inverse of a credit card payment to Scout, and does require a service to "push" the refund to the reservation holder's new card if its a brand new account with a different card issuer.

Alternatively, they could send a physical check or ACH to the card holder's bank account. The challenge of operating without a "platform" really comes down to manually processing refunds and reconciling those refunds.

I'm a payments nerd

 

[Scoutsie]

I could not wait any longer, so I bought an used R1S. With that, I needed to cancel my Scout reservation.

The process has taken over three months:

• Cancelled online. Got confirmation. Waited for a month and never received the refund.
• Cancelled online again. Got confirmation. Waited for another month and never received the refund.
• Contacted support. They are polite, but now after three weeks of discussions the status remains "Our team is still working on this issue to process your refund. As soon as I receive an update, I will be sure to let you know."

The original card has already been cancelled, so that likely slows the process down. Bank confirmed that they have not yet received refund, but that refunding to a cancelled card is normal and they will route the refund to another account when Scout initiates it. Scout confirmed that they have not yet initiated the refund.

Anyone else in the same situation? Any guidance on how to get Scout to refund the reservation fee?

(Posted the same question on r/ScoutMotors and received less than helpful replies there — widely pointing out that I am silly to even expect a refund)

When you say three months, do you mean that three months have lapsed or you have been checking on this daily for three months with no follow-up? When making a claim like this, I’d note the dates and times when you took action.