Credit Card Payment - No service provided?

Hannah7743

Hi all,

Wondered if you could help with a query on a credit card payment. Basically I booked a car check for £160, the company took the money from my credit card over a week before the date it was booked which I have only just found out - they did not notify me. I called on the day to say I was running late from work & would be approx 30mins late. They called a few hours later to say they did not get the message to the engineer in time & he had been and gone minutes before I arrived, as he had to be somewhere else only leaving 40mins for the check?!!?

Basically they are saying I have to pay a £50 charge for cancellation inc credit card charges, & they will refund the £110 now if I don't complain. If I do complain about it they will keep hold of my £160, which they have already had for well over a week, until its resolved.

Where do I stand on this? Can I reclaim the payment from my credit card on the basis of services not provided.

I have since spoke to AA who say for their check they spend over 8 hours checking the car for a lesser price so I am not sure how this company would have done so in 40mins.

Thanks for all your help.

lisyloo

I called on the day

How much notice did you give them?

as he had to be somewhere else only leaving 40mins for the check?!!?

I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone to wait more than 30 minutes and then expect a refund.

Basically they are saying I have to pay a £50 charge for cancellation

As you cancelled with late notice and he had to travel AND spend 30 minutes waiting plus travel time, then I personally think that's quite reasonable.
Do you have extentuating circumstances like illness or were you just "running late".

I have since spoke to AA who say for their check they spend over 8 hours checking the car

I find that hard to believe. Do you have a reference or name of the check you are talking about?
Their inspection says it last 1-2.5 hours and they charge you £76+VAT if you cancel on the day, but perhaps you are talking about a different product, so a name would be good.

In legal terms i.e. no service provided, they the engineer was there at the time and place stated.
You didn't turn up.
On legal grounds I don't think you have a leg to stand on because they were there to provided the service, it's you and your car that was not there to receive it.
Not getting the service because you didn't turn up is not the same (legallly speaking) as them not providing it.

Degenerate

lisyloo wrote: »

On legal grounds I don't think you have a leg to stand on because they were there to provided the service, it's you and your car that was not there to receive it.

You're right up to a point. They're entitled to levy a charge for the missed appointment, this would almost have certainly been laid out in the T&Cs at the time of booking, and £50 sounds about right. However, the threat to withhold the entire £160 if she complains does seem improper. If £50 is their late cancellation/missed appointment fee, they should refund the £110 regardless of whether she complains.

lisyloo

You might be right, but until we know the company and product name we can't check the Ts&Cs.
It might be that they are entitled to withold the full amount but are making a gesture of goodwill. Possibly partially because of circumstances (he didn't wait for the entire appointment before leaving).
Witholding he entire amount if you don't turn up but incurr the bulk of the persons time and travel costs does not seem totally unreasonable to me but as you say it depends on what is in the Ts&Cs.

Can we have the company and product name or the details of the Ts&Cs.

chattychappy

Agree with the analysis so far.

lisyloo wrote: »

Can we have the company and product name or the details of the Ts&Cs.

As a footnote, if no T+Cs were discussed or brought to the attention of the OP at the time of making the booking, then regardless of what standard T+Cs the company might have they won't apply. It will just be what was agreed between the parties, the gaps being filled in by what is reasonable/normal.

Of course if booked by the web you usually agree to T+Cs (whether or not you see them/read them). But not so if booked by phone with someone you've not dealt with before.

Sounds like the "£50 if you don't complain else withhold the whole lot" is some attempt at an offer to settle the dispute - though not put in an amicable way!

Personally I tend to agree that the £50 could be quite reasonable in the circumstances.

eschaton

Also, if you believe someone from the AA would spend a full 8 hour shift checking a car and charge less than £160 then you are seriously deluded.

A £50 charge for not turning up is quite reasonable.

lisyloo

You're right up to a point. They're entitled to levy a charge for the missed appointment

What I meant and what I should have said was that I don't think the CC company will get involved because it's not clear case of non-delivery so it's not a section 75 case.
They may be a further argument about how much they can charge but I don't think the CC company will be keen get involved on section 75 grounds (in fact from most anecdotes they seem to be keen to get out of claims).

Hannah7743

Right - thanks for all the "constructive" responses.
- Firstly I called the company an hour before the appointment time as I was having to take a half day from work to get this completed. They originally indicated the engineer would be there between 12.30pm & 4.30pm and did not confirm an exact time as I know companies often don't.
Unfortunately due to my job I cannot just get up and leave if something needs to be done so I had to stay a half hour longer to get something finalised. Hence the reason why I called as soon as I knew that I may not be there for 12.30pm when he could turn up.
I was never made aware of any T&Cs by the company, I even had to request confirmation of the booking several times - which in the end I did not get at all.
-My other half has just become a member of the AA and they came and took the car away for a full 8 hours on saturday to check it over and with his cover it only cost me £40 plus VAT so thank you but no I am not deluded as you so nicely put it!
My dispute with this company is that they took my money over a week before the appointment was due without notifying me of this or any terms & conditions & are now if I threaten to complain about their service will potentially not refund me anything, which I find completely unreasonable.
I will take my chances at retracting the payment!

Dabooka

Having your car for 8 hours does not mean they were checking it for 8 hours; I think you've clarified that point by adding "they took it away"

Was the appointment for 12:20 - 4:30 inclusive, or for an hour or so in that time? If the whole duration, then your call to mention your delay seems warranted. However, I suspect the time spent there would eb far less, so in effect your half hour mau have meant the whole service would have to be cancelled.

With regards to the reasons of your delay, I'd say that was immaterial. It is your repsonsibility to have the car there for the agreed time.

Forgot to add, either way it's sod all to do with your CC as you didn't keep your end of the bargain.

lisyloo

Right - thanks for all the "constructive" responses.

Huh? Who do you think was being unconstructive ?
I think we were all trying to do our best to help?

and they came and took the car away for a full 8 hours on saturday to check it over and with his cover it only cost me £40 plus VAT so thank you but no I am not deluded as you so nicely put it!

Ah right, I see, you didn't like that comment.
Personally I don't there is any way they did 8 hours work for £40 plus VAT although they may have had the car for that time.
The way you put it in post 1 indicates that you think they spent 8 hours on it and I very much doubt that.

will potentially not refund me anything, which I find completely unreasonable.

An hour is very short notice and many companies will charge full price if there is little notice especially when staff time has been taken up.
I understand you can't just walk out of your job, so perhaps this arrangement wasn't suitable for you in the first place.

I will take my chances at retracting the payment!

Good luck but technically they were able to provide the service and you weren't there.
That doesn't count in legal terms as no service provided. It was provided, you didn't turn up. (I am trying to be constructive BTW in explaining the law and I'm sorry if it isn't what you want to be told).
I'm afraid I don't know where you stand as regards lack of Ts&Cs but as they did commit resources and it was short notice then I think they would have some entitlement to charge for the service you booked.

Godd luck anyway.

eschaton

Hannah7743 wrote: »

-My other half has just become a member of the AA and they came and took the car away for a full 8 hours on saturday to check it over and with his cover it only cost me £40 plus VAT so thank you but no I am not deluded as you so nicely put it!

So what did they do with the car for 8 hours?