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My guess is charge backs are probably a US/Canada thing. Many countries have credit cards without the protections. It happens to work in the US because there is a credit score system, high volumes and most people play by the rules.

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You are right that in practice it's a US/Canada thing, but it's available everywhere. Customers simply don't know about it, banks don't advertise it and if you try to take advantage of it it's very likely you'll stumble upon a clerk who genuinely thinks that "it's impossible". But it is certainly possible and universally available. Consumers should simply know their rights and refuse to be pushed over by banks.

Personally I have made use of "impossible" chargebacks in Romania, Austria, and Germany. Of course the process was obtuse and frustrating compared to the US.

The EU also has charge backs as well. I would have assumed all credit cards would have this as a feature.

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