Mastercard - Transaction Dispute

ABZ_FLYER

I have recently made a purchase from a website online which I thought was legitimate. However a few days later when I was looking at my Bank Statement online, the description of the transaction lists a completly different company name and also has converted the amount to British Pounds from Chinese Yuan. The company which I thought I had ordered from in the first place made no mention of being based in China.

I have since received no e-mails from the company to confirm my purchase, I have received no response from the company to e-mails which I have sent to them. And even worse the website does not appear to exist anymore.

The purchase I made totalled £80, and I used my Bank of Scotland Mastercard.

Basically, I am wondering if there was anything I can do to claim this money back? I have read about Section 75 Claims etc.. but can not seem to see if anything applies.

chattychappy

No doubt people will be quick to point out that you are not covered under s75 because the amount involved is less than £100. If it was above £100, then under this section, the CC becomes jointly and severally liable for performing the contract.

This does not mean that CC is totally off the hook, but you might struggle. I would alert the CC by phone and in writing that you believe that the transaction is fraudulent. (You will have to decide for yourself whether you can say this at this stage.) Whether the CC is willing to refund will probably come down to whether they can charge back through the system. Legally it is precarious if a company (ie the CC here) is benefiting from the proceeds of crime. Of course they will probably rightly say that they didn't know this at the time of the transaction - but banks are under pressure to reduce financial crime so they might do something, particularly under the threat of escalation.

Be prepared to lose it though.

PS look out for any "enhanced" protection your particular card may offer in the case of internet transactions.

chattychappy

I should add that I don't think it's an issue that the company made no mention that it was operating out of China unless it was stated to the contrary.

It's a technical point - but if you were given a figure in GBP and nowhere did it say or you agreed that an amount of Yuan could be charged, then you can argue that the transaction was not charged as authorised.