Advice needed on section 75 consumer credit act

lighg

I'm not sure this is in the right place but I can't see where else to put it. Basically, after trying to pursue compensation with a used car dealer for a faulty and dangerous car they sold me, I'm now having to look to getting a refund from my credit card as the dealers point blank refuse to accept one penny of liability. When I bought the car I paid £300 deposit by debit card, £1000 on my Barclaycard and £1000 on my wife's Halifax credit card.

After reading Martins page on section 75, I was under the impression that I could ask Barclaycard for the full £2300 refund. After calling them however, they dispute this saying that they would only refund whatever is on my statement. In other words just £1000. They maintained that they were absolutely certain of this. Can anybody please clarify this as I'm now a little confused?

NickX

lighg wrote: »

After reading Martins page on section 75, I was under the impression that I could ask Barclaycard for the full £2300 refund. After calling them however, they dispute this saying that they would only refund whatever is on my statement. In other words just £1000. They maintained that they were absolutely certain of this. Can anybody please clarify this as I'm now a little confused?

Barclaycard are mistaken. They are liable for the full Purchase Price.

You could pursue this with them perhaps by way of an official complaint, or go to Halifax who are also liable.

Note : Please don't go to both Providers for a full refund from each as this would result in you being overpaid and would be fraudulent.

ILW

What proof do you have that the car was not fit for sale?
Sounds more of a trading standards issue to me.

NickX

ILW wrote: »

What proof do you have that the car was not fit for sale?
Sounds more of a trading standards issue to me.

I'm not so sure. Barclaycard appear to be admitting liability for the £1000 paid on their card. If this is the case, they are miss-informed and are legally obliged to refund the full £2300 to the customer.

lighg

The proof is that the main dealer who had the car before my dealer have told me they found the faults with the car and reported them to my dealer. My dealer obviously failed to inform me or fix the car.

You're right that it's a trading standards issue but they will only deal with the criminal aspects rather my own compensation.

ILW

Can you prove the car was unroadworty on the day you took delivery?
Also what compensation are you looking for?

lighg

ILW wrote: »

Can you prove the car was unroadworty on the day you took delivery?
Also what compensation are you looking for?

Well that's much more difficult to prove on the day of purchase because the nature of the faults are such that they didn't become apparent for weeks. There are two very minor issues that I found on the day of purchase but frankly I'm not bothered about minor issues.

As for compensation, I started off completely open and negotiable but my final offer was to repair or refund which they simply rejected, even though I had still compromised by offering to forget the faulty brakes and other costs. Now I'd rather seek compensation through the credit card and just leave the professionals to deal with these people. Frankly, I can't afford to sue them anyway and that's what they are banking on.

dtaylor84

Barclaycard's offer to refund the amount paid on their card is probably under a chargeback scheme, and not an admission of liability under Section 75. They are probably happy to claim back the money they paid, but will not be as happy to pay out of their own pocket for the amount paid by other means.

You could attempt to get all three card providers to charge back their respective amounts. If this fails you are entitled to sue either Halifax, Barclaycard or the dealer for the money, but it may not be easy. Also, it may be complicated by your wife paying some of the money, but as it was on a credit account in her name I think there is still recourse available under Section 75.

lighg

dtaylor84 wrote: »

Barclaycard's offer to refund the amount paid on their card is probably under a chargeback scheme, and not an admission of liability under Section 75.

There may be something to this. When I called first time I really struggled to understand the guy in an indian call centre. I called back again hoping to get some clarification from a UK call centre but got an indian call cntre again and they wouldn't transfer. Despite stating that this was with regards to section 75, both operators mentioned something about "overpayment" and the rest made little sense. Think I probably need to call a third time!

ILW

I believe the problem you are going to have, is that the CC companies are not going to pay anything back until it has been proved (probably in court) that the vehicle was not of saleable quality at the time of delivery. This all seems a bit vague at the moment.