Online Credit Card Loophole

fantasy222

In September of this year I went on the internet to buy a compost tumbler (a device for speeding up the making of compost from garden and household waste). I found a company in Newcastle upon Tyne called https://www.britisheco.com and ordered a tumbler at a cost of £129.99. I was not given a time period for the delivery of the item from them and started to worry. After several emails and phone calls to https://www.britisheco.com I cancelled the order. I then got a phone call from the owner of the business 4 days later with a tirade of abuse because I had been impatient. I was just worried that the company was not legitimate.

I contacted the Alliance and Leicester Credit Card customer service who have told me that due to the consumer credit act they are unable to refund my money and I will have to get the money back from https://www.britisheco.com. This interpretation of the law is supported by my local trading standards department who confirm that I have no rights against my credit card company in law because I cancelled the order. I have been advised to pursue https://www.britisheco.com in the small claims court.

Although I have been advised to take https://www.britisheco.com to court for my money, I am going to take a different approach.

I am going to write to the Alliance and Leicester (MBNA) and advise them that they have a duty of care to me as a customer the same as I have a duty to pay my bills and charges within their terms and conditions. I believe that they have not pointed out to me at any time that they will not pursue money that is taken and not returned when transactions go bad, unlike Barclaycard, The Co-op Bank and Capital One. The Alliance and Leicester have pointed out the benefits of 0.9% and loyalty money back on purchases but have not informed me of the disadvantages of them not looking after my security when my ignorance of the financial regulations leaves me vulnerable.

MarkyMarkD

Welcome to the board.

If you didn't have advice from Trading Standards that MBNA are in the right, I would have thought you had a case.

Because they are advising to the contrary, I presume that the situation is as follows:

- the supplier's Ts & Cs stated that the order could not be cancelled and if you did cancel the amount you paid would not be refunded.

- therefore MBNA believe that their "joint and several liability" with the supplier means nothing, because neither the supplier nor they are liable to refund you.

The law states that the credit card company is equally liable with the supplier, for the supply of the goods in line with your contract. It does not impose any additional liability on them.

If you are being advised to seek a refund from the supplier by small claims court, this contradicts the view that the supplier is not liable to refund you (and hence that MBNA is not liable to refund you).

Frankly I am confused by your situation and could do with a little more information.

Looking at the britisheco.com website, there ARE no terms and conditions (that I can see) so it's hard to see how they can justify not returning your money if they have failed to deliver the goods.