HSBC credit card ,Am i entitled to a refund ?

monners1963

Hello . I used my hsbc credit card to get help from an online immigration advisor . My wife had her application for an extension to her visa refused and I have dealt with most of the forms ref tribunal hearing etc etc But we decided we might need specialist help at the hearing . So I googled some immigration advisors in our local area and immigration on call contacted me ( although not local to my area ) Now what gave my wife and I hope was that this lawyer said in most of these cases they are able to have the visa refusal overturned before it goes to the hearing ! Well I was so impressed I agreed to pay an initial £500 and was told that would cover us until we go to the hearing ! We had already done all the work and the lawyer said he would be in touch after a few days during that time I emailed him case details etc etc .
After a few days the lawyer contacted us and said after speaking to his associates he now said we had 2 options , option 1 was relocate to Ireland for 6 months get my wifes passport stamped there as the visa process was much easier ! I said this was not an option for us. option 2 we re-apply for the extension visa , bearing in mind the HO are holding my wifes passport and at the time we were unable to present a new A1 English language test which is why we were refused the visa ! The lawyer said he would need another £500 for filling the new application form and another £600 for the new visa application. The lawyer also failed to mention that we would have to cancel the pending hearing and contact the HO (home office ) to inform them that we were withdrawing appeal etc etc before we could start new appeal .........It was not what the lawyer initially said he stated that they could have the visa refusal overturned before we went to the appeal hearing and that's why I agreed to pay him £500 . Can I get my £500 back ? Are credit cards covered for this ?

stator

Have you done any real checks or is this just a guy from the internet? Do you think he's a bad lawyer or a fraudulent scamster?

eddddy

I guess you are asking if you can claim your money back from HSBC under section 75 of the consumer credit act.

If the Lawyer 'Breached the Contract' or 'Misrepresented' something, then: Yes, you can claim from HSBC or the Lawyer.

It sounds like you're saying the Lawyer misrepresented things (i.e. misled you or lied to you.)

Have you put this to the Lawyer and asked for your money back? What did he say?

To make a claim against HSBC, you will need to be very specific about what the lawyer said, when he said it and why it was misleading. If it was in writing that's great, but if it was things the Lawyer said - he may deny that he said them.

rehanmalik3030

monners1963 wrote: »

Hello . I used my hsbc credit card to get help from an online immigration advisor . My wife had her application for an extension to her visa refused and I have dealt with most of the forms ref tribunal hearing etc etc But we decided we might need specialist help at the hearing . So I googled some immigration advisors in our local area and immigration on call contacted me ( although not local to my area ) Now what gave my wife and I hope was that this lawyer said in most of these cases they are able to have the visa refusal overturned before it goes to the hearing ! Well I was so impressed I agreed to pay an initial £500 and was told that would cover us until we go to the hearing ! We had already done all the work and the lawyer said he would be in touch after a few days during that time I emailed him case details etc etc .
After a few days the lawyer contacted us and said after speaking to his associates he now said we had 2 options , option 1 was relocate to Ireland for 6 months get my wifes passport stamped there as the visa process was much easier ! I said this was not an option for us. option 2 we re-apply for the extension visa , bearing in mind the HO are holding my wifes passport and at the time we were unable to present a new A1 English language test which is why we were refused the visa ! The lawyer said he would need another £500 for filling the new application form and another £600 for the new visa application. The lawyer also failed to mention that we would have to cancel the pending hearing and contact the HO (home office ) to inform them that we were withdrawing appeal etc etc before we could start new appeal .........It was not what the lawyer initially said he stated that they could have the visa refusal overturned before we went to the appeal hearing and that's why I agreed to pay him £500 . Can I get my £500 back ? Are credit cards covered for this ?

Whatever you do you need to be very carefull!

The reason being this lawyer knows everything about you and your wife and may anonymously send information to them which you have already supplied him which may damage you current or future case(s).

If you are going to claim under section 75 for misrepresentation you should do so straight away if you can prove the misrepresentation otherwise i would just put it down to lesson learnt the hard way.

monners1963

I emailed the lawyer and explained I was not happy and said I thought he lead me up the garden path so to speak ! He obviously denied this and denied saying " in most of these cases we are confident in getting the visa refusal overturned" ! Also said they do not give refunds !

eddddy

monners1963 wrote: »

I emailed the lawyer and explained I was not happy and said I thought he lead me up the garden path so to speak ! He obviously denied this and denied saying " in most of these cases we are confident in getting the visa refusal overturned" ! Also said they do not give refunds !

Hi monners1963

Just to make sure you're clear on this, things like: you being unhappy with the Lawyer, or the Lawyer doing a poor job are not grounds for making a claim.

But if he said something like:

"If you pay me £500, I will definitely get the the visa refusal overturned"

... and he didn't get it overturned, that is misrepresentation. You would clearly have a valid claim against the Lawyer and the Credit card company.

If he said:

"If you pay me £500, I am confident I can get the the visa refusal overturned"

... and he didn't get it overturned, it would be very difficult to argue that was misrepresentation.

thebritishbloke

From what you're saying, he said that the £500 should cover all your fees up until the hearing date. He has then come back and said he wants more money for more things before the hearing date. I'd say it's a breach of contract, but you need to get it in writing so you can prove it.

monners1963

Thanks for your imput guys . There was or is no contract between myself and immigration-on-call im not even sure how he got to contact me maybe a third party passed him on im really not sure and it might seem strange that I never checked but with all the stress I have been under ref this appeal I was just glad someone gave us hope ! ( although it seems this was false hope that might cost us £500 that we cant afford to simply give away for nothing this so called lawyer done absolutely nothing to assist or help with our appeal ) Is there a list where I can check to see if this lawyer is a immigration lawyer ? Richard Cosgrove ( immigration-on-call )

zenmaster

If you agreed to commence the services and paid money then, I'm afraid, you have got a contract.

What you are arguing now is the terms of that contract or the level of service.

eddddy

monners1963 wrote: »

...Is there a list where I can check to see if this lawyer is a immigration lawyer ? Richard Cosgrove ( immigration-on-call )

Anybody who does law related work can call themselves a "Lawyer". It doesn't imply qualifications or regulation - so there is no list of lawyers.


immigrationoncall.com is a strange website. I can't see any people's names, company names, address or even email address. Just a phone number. And all the content seems to be waffle.

The only clue to who is behind it is the 'whois' registration: http://who.is/whois/immigrationoncall.com

It seems to be Elizabeth Firman and Milton Firman. See: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/miltonfirman (Lots more waffle here too.)

Also, there was a solicitor called Milton Firman who was struck off in 2006: http://www.solicitorstribunal.org.uk/Content/documents/9283-2005%20-%20Firman.pdf

I think a reasonable person might look at all that evidence and walk away.


But to get your money back, you still have to prove misrepresentation or breach of contract.

(Somebody mentioned that they paid a Milton Firman company by paypal - did you pay by paypall?)

monners1963

I have a friend who can check out this guy for me ! Bit late now but I just caught out by this chap ! The payment was by credit card I have started a dispute already and spoke to the dispute team today who will zero my balance ref the £500 payment to immigration-on-call but weather I keep the money will depends on what the lawyer says I guess ! Then if im not happy with outcome I have to take it to the ombudsman ! Watch this space