Patent ID: 7630938

Claim:
A system for processing a billing adjustment request related to one or more past shipping charges that were applied to a credit card used by a customer of a carrier, said system comprising: a database for storing information related to past shipping charges; a display device for displaying billing related information to a user via a graphical user interface; an input device for allowing the user to input information via the graphical user interface; and one or more computers in communication with said input device, said display device, and said database, said one or more computers configured for: (1) allowing the user to enter a reference number that references at least one shipment associated with the customer; (2) retrieving from said database a list of one or more past credit card transactions that are associated with said reference number; (3) allowing the user to select a transaction from the list of one or more past credit card transactions; (4) allowing the user to enter a reason input that identifies a reason for making a billing adjustment request for the selected transaction; (5) based at least in part on said reason input, (a) allowing the user to enter an adjustment amount, the adjustment amount being an amount by which the transaction amount of the selected transaction is requested to be reduced pursuant to the billing adjustment request or (b) automatically setting the adjustment amount equal to the full transaction amount of the selected transaction; (6) submitting the billing adjustment request in association with the selected transaction, wherein the billing adjustment request comprises applying the adjustment amount to a past transaction amount of the selected transaction, the past transaction amount having been previously applied to said credit card; and (7) transmitting the adjustment amount in association with the credit card number of said credit card to a credit card company that is responsible for handling charges applied to said credit card.