Mastercard Chargeback

Tweetyboris

Apologies if this is not the right forum, but I'd really welcome advice about trying to claim a charge-back on my Mastercard.

Basically I joined an online property rental agency called alwaysonvacation.com, which is an owner listing site, to advertise my property.

Soon after signing up, but before I had actually posted my advertisement, I became aware of problems other property owners had had with the site. Some had had unauthorised debits on their credit cards, or subscriptions renewed without authorisation. Listings were inaccurate, telephone lines were never answered...

I never posted my advertisment for the above reasons, so the company cannot argue that I received advertising time that I should pay for.

I am going to try to claim a charge-back with my Mastercard on the grounds that I'm not satisfied with the product & that I'm afraid of my card details being used by them without authorisation (ie fraudulently) by the company. The charge was £86.

Does anyone here have any clue if I have a hope in hell? Or any advice?

I'd be immensely grateful.

Many thanks.

sinizterguy

Call your credit card company and tell them you did not authorise the transaction - provided you did not do so by signing up to the company and agreeing to the terms and conditions.

Tweetyboris

sinizterguy wrote: »

Call your credit card company and tell them you did not authorise the transaction - provided you did not do so by signing up to the company and agreeing to the terms and conditions.

But I did authorise the transaction at the time, before I discovered the company has terrible business practices...

sinizterguy

Tweetyboris wrote: »

But I did authorise the transaction at the time, before I discovered the company has terrible business practices...

Then your best bet is to call the company and ask for a refund - or see if they have a cool off period to cancel.

Tweetyboris

sinizterguy wrote: »

Then your best bet is to call the company and ask for a refund - or see if they have a cool off period to cancel.

I've already done so, they said they'd refund me & they haven't. That's why I'm having to resort to this...

Premier_2

Tweetyboris wrote: »

I've already done so, they said they'd refund me & they haven't. That's why I'm having to resort to this...

If they have already said they will refund you, then I suggest you issue a letter before action and then raise a claim on mcoline.

However, your post suggests more that after you entered into an agreement with the company you then got cold feet due to hearsay, and opted not to continue with the contract yourself. In such case, a refund would only be on the basis of goodwill, and so you should ask again nicely as to where the money is that they previously offered you.
Maybe they've just forgotten to process the refund they offered.

Tweetyboris

Premier wrote: »

If they have already said they will refund you, then I suggest you issue a letter before action and then raise a claim on mcoline.

However, your post suggests more that after you entered into an agreement with the company you then got cold feet due to hearsay, and opted not to continue with the contract yourself. In such case, a refund would only be on the basis of goodwill, and so you should ask again nicely as to where the money is that they previously offered you.
Maybe they've just forgotten to process the refund they offered.

Thanks for your reply.

It's not actually hearsay -which implies second hand information, it was the direct personal experiences of many owners who'd used the firm & experienced the shoddy practices of the firm first hand. I also spoke to an ex-employee who had left due to "their terrible business practices".

I don't think they've forgotten to refund me I don't think they intend to, despite assuring me that they will. Indeed I was told at one stage that the refund had already been processed, & I just needed to wait for the money to go back onto my card. That turned out to be nonsense. I've spoken to so many different people at the firm now I don't think they can all have forgotten.

If they're unscrupulous enough to take unauthorised payments off credit cards, I think they're quite capable of lying to my face & doing nothing. They're cowboys basically, & quite unlike any other rental listing agencies I've dealt with. Unlike any online company I've dealt with in fact.

What is mcoline? I've googled & come up with nothing.

Thanks for your time.

YorkshireBoy

Tweetyboris wrote: »

What is mcoline?

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

MCGONIS

Hi. That is terrible. I really don't like using Mastercard now. They seem to have different [poorer] rules to Visa.

I bought an item from a website. It was delivered to me and was clearly counterfeit. I called my bank - Clydesdale/Yorkshire and the operator took details and had the cheek to say "I have looked up the garment you purchased and nothing on the website says the garment is authentic therefore we will not instigate a chargeback"

I was furious. I said to sell an item that is anything but "authetic" is a criminal offence. He would not budge. I emailed Mastercard in the US and they never even replied.

I called Clydesdale Mastercard back and got a supervisor and told her the same thing and that I had emailed Mastercard and was waiting on a reply and all of a sudden the bank changed their position and would begin a chargeback.

I did eventually get a refund via PayPal and the intervention from the bank was not needed in the end. However, I will now not use Mastercard.

To contact them in the US and not even bother to reply - then I won't use a Mastercard now. Visa seem more geared to customer service and to the cardholder. If you have any problems, tell the bank you have emailed mastercard and they seem to listen a bit more to you.

Good luck - please report back would you?

MonkeyMad

Tweetyboris wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

It's not actually hearsay -which implies second hand information, it was the direct personal experiences of many owners who'd used the firm & experienced the shoddy practices of the firm first hand. I also spoke to an ex-employee who had left due to "their terrible business practices".

Thanks for your time.

I don't know if it will help you with a legal claim but when I briefly studied law that was almost exactly the definition of hearsay - you do not have this experience yourself, others have reported it which may or may not make it true. In otherwords you have heard bad things of this company but you yourself have no prima facae evidence. This does not necessarily preclude its use in a civil proceding, but should be viewed for what it is.

Tweetyboris

MCGONIS wrote: »

Hi. That is terrible. I really don't like using Mastercard now. They seem to have different [poorer] rules to Visa.

I bought an item from a website. It was delivered to me and was clearly counterfeit. I called my bank - Clydesdale/Yorkshire and the operator took details and had the cheek to say "I have looked up the garment you purchased and nothing on the website says the garment is authentic therefore we will not instigate a chargeback"

I was furious. I said to sell an item that is anything but "authetic" is a criminal offence. He would not budge. I emailed Mastercard in the US and they never even replied.

I called Clydesdale Mastercard back and got a supervisor and told her the same thing and that I had emailed Mastercard and was waiting on a reply and all of a sudden the bank changed their position and would begin a chargeback.

I did eventually get a refund via PayPal and the intervention from the bank was not needed in the end. However, I will now not use Mastercard.

To contact them in the US and not even bother to reply - then I won't use a Mastercard now. Visa seem more geared to customer service and to the cardholder. If you have any problems, tell the bank you have emailed mastercard and they seem to listen a bit more to you.

Good luck - please report back would you?

Thanks very much for your reply, I think you're on firmer ground with counterfeit goods as selling them is illegal. It's extraordinary for your bank to say the website didn't say they were genuine - as the onus would be on them to say they're fake - altho' of course then they'd be breaking the law.

I've been told by my bank that for Mastercard I need written proof of their promise to refund. So I'm trying to winkle an email out of them...
My bank were actually quite good, but they said they knew what Mastercard would ask for to justify a chargeback.

They're sending me a cancellation form which means that if the website does try to debit my credit card without authorisation, my bank will pay it back to me. (It seems they can't block this website from using my details).

We'll see, thanks for your time.