Transaction dispute

dic-w

Hi,

Having problems with my cc company regarding a charge that was issued against my card by a car rental company. I have basically attached the email I sent to the financial ombudsman to try and explain it-

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Dear Sir,

I am looking for some advice regarding what I believe to be a fraudulant transaction against my credit card, the transaction was originaly reported to my card issuer in May 2012.

The transaction has been made by Budget car rental following a holiday in Orlando. The card that it has been charged against was used for security against the rental at pick up.
The car was prepaid using another credit card, I do not believe there should be any additional charges regarding this rental.

I reported the transaction to my issuer who removed the charge & investigated my query. I have just recieved my latest bill which has the £75 transaction re-instated.
I contacted the Post Office financial services who have informed me that Budget car rental have responded and the mystery charges must be paid.

I would like some advice to where exactly I stand, I have never recieved any bills from Budget outlining the charges. I also never authorised the payment of these charges to my credit card.
Surely my credit card company should not be accepting the charges & Budget should be contacting me directly with regards to this mystery bill?

Also from my perspective I believe that I shouldn't have to pay any interest on the transaction as no bill has ever been issued to me from Budget.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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What do you guys think? Can companys just issue charges to credit cards & the credit card company pays them? I have told my cc company to reject the charge as I think the rental company should deal with me directly.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

The Ombudsman will not be interested until you have exhausted your card provider's complaints procedure.

k12479

You'll probably find you did authorise any charges when you gave them your credit card details.

How did you return the car, to the car rental return place where you're met, scanned and the final bill printed?

dic-w

Car was returned & bill printed out. No 75 pound charges on that bill.

meer53

Sounds like it could be a traffic violation (speeding ticket in English !) Have you asked Budget what the charge is for ? Your card issuer will also know what the charge is for, have you called them ?

It's quite common for car hire companies to debit you after the car has been dropped off, for refuelling. parking tickets, speeding fines etc. You may not even have known you got a speeding fine as it was probably issued to Budget after you left Orlando.

It's easily sorted with a telephone call. The FOS won't want to know at this stage.

chanz4

FOS none starter, op its not fraudulent as you gave them the card details for security, check your paperwork that YOU signed it will say when they will charge

Hooloovoo

dic-w wrote: »

What do you guys think? Can companys just issue charges to credit cards & the credit card company pays them? I have told my cc company to reject the charge as I think the rental company should deal with me directly.

They did deal with your directly. At the counter when you authorised transactions on the card for "security".

They will bill you (as you authorised them to do) and then later send you an invoice (that you have already paid).

However, given how Budget are operated by a bunch of morons, I wouldn't expect to get the invoice any time soon. I refuse to use Budget after the last (non-billing related) fiasco I had with them.

meer53 wrote: »

It's quite common for car hire companies to debit you after the car has been dropped off, for refuelling. parking tickets, speeding fines etc. You may not even have known you got a speeding fine as it was probably issued to Budget after you left Orlando.

Unless Budget are particularly awful, the usual admin charge for a traffic violation is around £20.

You don't actually pay the fine via the rental company, the respective government will chase you for that once they have your details from the rental company.

OP - you may find you get a lovely letter from the US government in a few weeks/months.

meer53

Hooloovoo wrote: »

They did deal with your directly. At the counter when you authorised transactions on the card for "security".

They will bill you (as you authorised them to do) and then later send you an invoice (that you have already paid).

However, given how Budget are operated by a bunch of morons, I wouldn't expect to get the invoice any time soon. I refuse to use Budget after the last (non-billing related) fiasco I had with them.



Unless Budget are particularly awful, the usual admin charge for a traffic violation is around £20.

You don't actually pay the fine via the rental company, the respective government will chase you for that once they have your details from the rental company.

OP - you may find you get a lovely letter from the US government in a few weeks/months.

In my experience of dealing with disputes, the hire company receives the violation notification, then passes this on to the customer.

Hooloovoo

meer53 wrote: »

In my experience of dealing with disputes, the hire company receives the violation notification, then passes this on to the customer.

Yes, charging around £20-£25 for doing do. Not usually £75 - that seems high.

You then get the actual fine from the respective government.

dalesrider

Which credit card ? Visa, mastercard ?

If its a Visa card and you have not recieved pre-notification of the charge from Budget. Then there is a pre-compliance right for the card provider to go back to the retailer on their failure to advise you of the charge.
Did your card provider tell you what budget said the charge was for? As they should have been provided with this information when they requested the voucher from budget.


They can take the payments as you will have provided the card when picking up the car as security. Its all in their T/C.
I hope you kept all the paperwork from the hire.

Robisere

Traffic Violations abroad: (this is only my own experience)
Some years ago, 3 days from the end of my posting in BAOR, I was "photographed" exceeding the limit, whilst driving on to the Autobahn from a slip road.

The Offence was eventually communicated to me via an MP who called to my home after I had left the army. I told him that I did not have to pay it and he had no powers to enforce the Military notice he had brought. He left. Some weeks later, a civil policeman arrived to serve a European notice of prosecution. I told him that I had taken legal advice and that the British Goverment would have to provide me with Legal Aid and expenses to travel and reside in Germany whilst the case was brought to court. That was the last I ever heard of it.

How can the laws have changed, to the point at which you can be fined at long distance for a simple traffic offence committed in another country, which you are not even aware you have committed? Surely an offender has a legal right to be made aware of the offence he/she has committed, and the details? Where is the defence against such an alleged offence?