Malev Hungary - airline ceases all flights

luci

Carlusha wrote: »

Back from bank. It was pointed out that the airline failure isn't covered

I have completed the Section 75, posted it and dropped a copy at the branch.

Again, thanks to all and, of course, I will keep you posted as to developments.

That is nonsense. You paid for a service which wasn't provided. Section 75 applies.

You should go the Section 75 route and not chargeback as this should have more success. Chargeback means they try to get the money from the company in administration and won't refund you if they are unsuccessful.

Good luck with it.

chattychappy

luci wrote: »

You should go the Section 75 route and not chargeback as this should have more success.

To be fair, I think the OP just made a claim and that is all they have to do. No doubt it was the CC that tried the chargeback process - and when it failed used this as an excuse to say they couldn't "help".

meer53

luci wrote: »

That is nonsense. You paid for a service which wasn't provided. Section 75 applies.

You should go the Section 75 route and not chargeback as this should have more success. Chargeback means they try to get the money from the company in administration and won't refund you if they are unsuccessful.

Good luck with it.

I've not known many chargebacks for failed airlines to reject.

The debt is usually just added to the list of creditors by the administrators. A chargeback is always the first option used by card issuers if possible, Section 75 is normally only considered if the chargeback rejects. Card issuers simply redebit the merchant via the Visa/Mastercard system then wait for a response, there's no dialogue between the 2 parties unless it rejects.

Chargebacks are a much faster and simpler way of trying to resolve a dispute and are less hassle for the cardholder.

I got the impression that the OP was originally told that Airline Failure wasn't covered by someone in the branch who thought they were asking about insurance cover provided with their card. Not all bank staff know what the procedure is for disputes such as this one. Even now they have the documentation from the OP, they may still action a chargeback initially rather than a Section 75 claim.

All that matters now is that the bank are dealing with it, doesn't really matter for the OP as long as they get their money back ! Shouldn't be any problems really, it seems fairly cut and dried to me.

luci

The reason I suggested Section 75 rather than cashback is following a post on this site in the past couple of days. Someone had their money refunded after a dispute only to have withdrawn a couple of months later as the credit card company couldn't get the funds from the vendor.

meer53

The credit card issuer always get their money back initially from the retailers as they debit them via the Visa/Mastercard system. The difficulties arise when the retailers reject the chargebacks, they have 60 days to do this. The retailers don't debit the card holder when the chargeback rejects, they debit the card issuer who then looks at why they have done this, sometimes a second chargeback can be done, sometimes it can't, or the case can go to arbitration with Visa/Mastercard. If there isn't anything else that can be done for the card holder, then a Section 75 claim can be looked at.

You can go straight for Section 75 if you choose to (always best to ask advice about this though rather than make your own decisions) but with failed airlines, the chargebacks don't usually reject as it's quite clear cut, the card holder has paid for a service that they haven't received. The only problem sometimes with these chargebacks comes when people have been offered alternative flights and have decided not to accept them, for whatever reasons. These cases usually end up with arbitration so that the case can be argued in more depth but they usually work.

If you feel that the case may eventually have to be referred to the FOS, it's always better to have exhausted all avenues of dispute beforehand.

Carlusha

Just an update here.

As of today, I have an acknowledgement from the credit card people telling me the complaint is being looked into.

The Section 75 was submitted on 8th February.

I will update as things unfold.

Carlusha

Hi again All

Just received a response from HSBC regarding the Section 75 which isn't even mentioned. The gist of the letter:

We have investigated your complaint and thank you for giving us the opportunity to investigate the issues you have raised.

Having reviewed your concerns, I understand you would like to raise a dispute in regards to the Malev transaction. I have arranged with disputes department to send you the relevant form to complete and return to HSBC within 14 days.

I would like to assure you that a provision of high quality service is a key priority for us and I regret any misunderstanding on this occasion.

I hope I have answered your complaint.

If we cannot offer you a satisfactory resolution, you can refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We will assume you are satisfied if we do not hear from you within the next 8 weeks.

That's weird because I told them when completing the Section 75 template that we would be flying with an alternative airline next week and will not be returning for 3 months!

I am at a loss as to why this is proving so difficult. The writer has also requested I can telephone her despite my mentioning that I cannot use the telephone.

I will be doing a short letter to my branch manager, asking him to take responsibility for sorting this out. When we return, if we haven't been credited our near £600 loss, I shall be moving all our accounts elsewhere ........ after first carrying out some research here as to best banks.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Carlusha wrote: »

Hi again All

<snip>

Thanks for the update. Hope your trip goes well.

Carlusha

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

Thanks for the update. Hope your trip goes well.

Thanks very much for your kind words.

The trip is a 70th birthday present for my wife to see her family and friends for an extended period of time. We're leaving next week, not taking any chances by flying BA as far as possible. We then have a 520km coach trip to her city!

At our ages, I am not sure how much longer we can make such a difficult trip. If only we didn't have this problem trying to spoil this special present.

sherbie

hi, thanks for letting us know whats goin on!

im afraid i cant offer any constructive advice as to why things are being difficult, but hopefully someone else will.

i just wanted to say the second you get there youll totally forget about all this palaver and have a wonderful time. i wish ure wife a very happy birthday, and both of you a fab holiday!

my parents are 77 and 72, and still make the car journey to hungary so im sure theres a good few years of enjoyable holidays on very distant shores ahead of you both. dont forget to enjoy all the scrummy food when you get there!

have fun, take care, and do please let us know how things work out.:)

ps room in ure suitcase for a not so lil one?