How long can a company legally retain my cc details?

MPH80

Well - it has gone off topic a bit.

Let me answer the original question.

Two elements cover retention of data - the first is the DPA - which says that a company can retain personal data as long as it has a legitimate business need.

(And arguably - in this case - with an open case for refund - there was a legitimate need)

The second is the PCI compliance code. This simply says that you must not retain card holder data for longer than is 'required for legal, regulatory and business requirements.'

So - in short - they can hold on to it if they think they might need it.

On the other topic - I can tell you exactly how that specification of items would work. "Sir - in order to hire the car - you need to agree to a charge which covers any repair work, tolls, maintenance ... <snipped as the person at the counter goes on for 5 minutes> ... or we won't let you hire the car. Do you agree?"

No one gains anything as the companies will just cover their backsides and everyone gains a slower experience.

M.

spacey2012

A harsh situation, but" losing the card" is often the only way to have a block put on the self helpers.

GingerBob_3

MPH80 wrote: »

On the other topic - I can tell you exactly how that specification of items would work. "Sir - in order to hire the car - you need to agree to a charge which covers any repair work, tolls, maintenance ... <snipped as the person at the counter goes on for 5 minutes> ... or we won't let you hire the car. Do you agree?".

Exactly. And that's just the sort of apologist claptrap which brings down this board - if you don't mind me saying so. That is exactly the situation, we know! The point is, it shouldn't be. These organisations need proper regulation so they can't do that sort of thing. As far as they are concerned they have an open cheque on your bank account, and in case of difficulty you're left arguing the toss after the event. When hiring a car you have no choice but to "agree" the terms (i.e. hand over access to your credit card account) - hardly a bloody agreement, is it? No. If they incur additional expense as a result of your actions they should invoice you for it. The current arrangements have crept in under the radar as credit card use has become more popular over the years. It's about time the regulators took a long hard look at it - and then did something about it.

eskbanker

GingerBob wrote: »

Exactly. And that's just the sort of apologist claptrap which brings down this board - if you don't mind me saying so. That is exactly the situation, we know! The point is, it shouldn't be. These organisations need proper regulation so they can't do that sort of thing. As far as they are concerned they have an open cheque on your bank account, and in case of difficulty you're left arguing the toss after the event. When hiring a car you have no choice but to "agree" the terms (i.e. hand over access to your credit card account) - hardly a bloody agreement, is it? No. If they incur additional expense as a result of your actions they should invoice you for it. The current arrangements have crept in under the radar as credit card use has become more popular over the years. It's about time the regulators took a long hard look at it - and then did something about it.

I mind you saying so! Among the posters on here, there are inevitably some who rant about how they'd like things to be, as well as those who explain how things actually are - just because you appear to be in the former camp doesn't mean that those in the latter should be dismissed as apologists who are in some way making a lesser contribution to the boards!