Getting the best protection (after the event) Car Purchase and Paypal

dfarry

Hi all,

I'm probably covering much discussed ground but my query concerns, car brokers, Paypal and Tesco Credit card.

I recently decided to pay a £500 deposit to a online car broker. It's one of the big ones with a mix of very happy and not so happy customers, I had looked across the net and decided on balance to place the order.

To get some protection I decided to use my Tesco Credit card...

MISTAKE - The broker website provided a deposit payment facility provided by Paypal, to pay by Credit Card or Debit Card. Although I do have a Paypal account I decided to make this payment whilst not logged in so that the credit card payment would be direct (or so i thought). Primarily I wanted Section 75 protection just in case something goes wrong with the order but I was then worried to read that as an service provider, using Paypal has negated my S75 Protection.

I called Tesco Credit Card today and they said I would be protected, they mention chargebacks but I assumed that was what they meant by S75 protection but it now appears that that is a completely separate process. In the case of Paypal their protection T&C's do not apparently cover the purchase of vehicles so i'd get nothing from them if it all goes wrong.

Now I am perhaps being somewhat pessimistic and overly cautious, but I'm talking alot of money here and part of the S75 protection was I hoped that I would be protected when it actually comes to paying the final payment (just in case anything went wrong).

I now wonder if I can still gain this protection by paying a further proportion by credit card, although the bulk of the payment will be by bank transfer. If I have the car delivered these funds have to be cleared 48 hours before delivery (risky) or I can collect from the brokers business address and pay on the day (but then I'm concerned distance selling rules might not then apply).

I'm probably just being paranoid so any peace of mind you can offered would be welcomed.

grumbler

dfarry wrote: »

I now wonder if I can still gain this protection by paying a further proportion by credit card, although the bulk of the payment will be by bank transfer.

Do you mean three payments altogether: CC/PP + CC + bank transfer? If so, yes. You'll get full s75 protection for the total amount even if you pay just a tenner directly by a CC. Be cautious as shop terminals can work via Paypal too.

MSE articles:

• Section 75 refunds
• Visa, Mastercard & Amex Chargeback Protection

dfarry

Yes that's exactly what I was thinking... three separate payments... although for S75 doesn't have to be over £100?

Thanks for the links... checking them out now.

grumbler

The price of the item has to be over £100, not the CC payment.

dfarry

Yep gotcha, thanks.... the total I'll be paying (without the deposit) is 15k

thebritishbloke

dfarry wrote: »

Yep gotcha, thanks.... the total I'll be paying (without the deposit) is 15k

You're spending £15k on a car that you've not even seen? Is it brand new or used?

dfarry

It's new, UK dealer sourced via a broker.