I did that once, and it worked. I bought a part for a specific make and model of car from a US company. When I got the part, it wasn't for the generation of car I ordered it for. The company sales guy told me that they figured it was close enough to what I needed and I should make it work, since it was too much trouble to have it shipped back. There really wasn't anyway this part was going to work. I asked for my money back even if I had to eat the shipping, they said sure, then stopped responding. I figured being from Canada, I was go to be SOL on getting anything back.
I hounded them and phoned for a few weeks, no action. I phoned the closest police station to them and talked to a detective, I sent him my invoice and the details of the transaction, he said phone them, and tell them they have a day to return my funds or they're getting charged with fraud. I phoned the company, told the receptionist what the detective said, and gave her the case number, with the detectives name. A few hours passed, I got a call that my refund should be back on my credit card, and it was. I guess the company phoned the detective to see if the trouble coming was real, and it was.