Chargeback claim refused... total injustice

m4rc

I think the issue is if it went to court they would decide if it made much difference to the value at purchase, and I really don't think it would. If it had 10k extra miles or a smaller engine or lower spec you would have a right to complain, but I don't see how the extra owner is going to make that much a difference to its value. A court would rule one way or the other, and at least it would be resolved, but you need to be prepared that it may not be the outcome you really want. It may be that once you issued court papers the garage decide they don't want or need the hassle and decide to negotiate with you, so it may be a good idea to decide what you want but also how far you are willing to negotiate to get it closed. I'm not sure refusing to budge an inch is the best way of going about this, you may end up losing more than you wanted.

Just saying it may be an idea to think of how you could compromise, losing you would be no better off and you would have to pay the court costs.

naedanger

boilingpoint wrote: »

Any ideas out there as to the next step? Thanks.

Ask your bank for a copy of their complaints procedure.

Then following that procedure, keep things in writing (so you have evidence of what is said). The substance of your complaint is that the bank are unfairly denying your chargeback as the item was misdescribed. You may add a subsidiary element to your complaint regarding the bank's poor service in handling this matter.

Follow that procedure to the end. If the bank does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, within a specified period of time, you will be able to take your complaint to Financial Ombudsman Service.

If at the end of that you are still unhappy (e.g. because the Ombudsman does not uphold your complaint) then consider legal action instead of accepting the Ombudsman's proposal.

Note if you start legal action then the Ombudsman will not consider your case. But you don't need to accept the Ombudsman's decision. So if you complain first via your bank you get two bites at the cherry. But if you start legal action then you have no recourse to the Ombudsman later.

Nearlyold

The first owner may have been the original dealer as the van may have first been sold as a pre reg. Dealers often pre reg. vehicles to boost sales figures - it can take them to the next level of manufacturers bonuses.

boilingpoint

Nearlyold wrote: »

The first owner may have been the original dealer as the van may have first been sold as a pre reg. Dealers often pre reg. vehicles to boost sales figures - it can take them to the next level of manufacturers bonuses.

Hmm, I'll have to check this - in the letter denying a chargeback they claimed that the 2 previous owners was simply down to a 'change of address of the original owner' but I considered this nonsense because changing address does not add owners to the V5 does it?

I actually first complained to them because the original VIN inside the vehicle had been scratched off and another one put by its side. Usually if a VIN is scratched it means the van was stolen at some point... maybe it was a stolen/recovered van? Anyway this put me off the van quite a lot since it was less than ideal in terms of resale.

They also claimed a previous keeper was a garage in a previous email but I understand that owner and keeper are two different things. Gonna call the DVLA and see what I can find out...

boilingpoint

naedanger wrote: »

Ask your bank for a copy of their complaints procedure.

Then following that procedure, keep things in writing (so you have evidence of what is said). The substance of your complaint is that the bank are unfairly denying your chargeback as the item was misdescribed. You may add a subsidiary element to your complaint regarding the bank's poor service in handling this matter.

Follow that procedure to the end. If the bank does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, within a specified period of time, you will be able to take your complaint to Financial Ombudsman Service.

If at the end of that you are still unhappy (e.g. because the Ombudsman does not uphold your complaint) then consider legal action instead of accepting the Ombudsman's proposal.

Note if you start legal action then the Ombudsman will not consider your case. But you don't need to accept the Ombudsman's decision. So if you complain first via your bank you get two bites at the cherry. But if you start legal action then you have no recourse to the Ombudsman later.

OK cheers for the advice

boilingpoint

Well Santander are refusing to take calls from me now. They said that they 'followed procedure' and that their decision is final (despite it being completely unfair). They didn't even want to send me any copy of their procedure and said to just contact the Ombudsman if I had a problem with that (I do).

This is a stark difference to how it has been with Nationwide. I'd paid for the van with 2 different accounts so I had to initiate a chargeback with both.... Nationwide came back to me and said the same thing a few days ago - saying that my claim had been refused. I called them up to tell them that I was the one with the evidence and sent them an emailing refuting all the counter claims made by the dealer... they said ok and would try again.

But with Santander.... their attitude towards their own customers sound more along the lines of 'f*** you' and 'deal with it'. Bottom line when things get tough - they are not on your side.

naedanger

boilingpoint wrote: »

Well Santander are refusing to take calls from me now. They said that they 'followed procedure' and that their decision is final (despite it being completely unfair). They didn't even want to send me any copy of their procedure and said to just contact the Ombudsman if I had a problem with that (I do).

This is a stark difference to how it has been with Nationwide. I'd paid for the van with 2 different accounts so I had to initiate a chargeback with both.... Nationwide came back to me and said the same thing a few days ago - saying that my claim had been refused. I called them up to tell them that I was the one with the evidence and sent them an emailing refuting all the counter claims made by the dealer... they said ok and would try again.

But with Santander.... their attitude towards their own customers sound more along the lines of 'f*** you' and 'deal with it'. Bottom line when things get tough - they are not on your side.

Did Santander send you a resolution letter setting out your right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service? If not they are in breach of their own complaints procedure.

Personally I would pursue my complaint against Santander rather than Nationwide. For two reasons. Firstly the less reasonable the company the more likely the Financial Ombudsman will rule in your favour. And secondly to ensure their poor service is not rewarded by you taking your complaint elsewhere.

In any event you should complain to Santander if they have not followed their own complaint procedure. (That is a serious failure.)

I suggest you read Santander's complaint procedure (below). Then either call Santander on the number given in the link. Or alternatively do as Santander suggested and call the Financial Ombudsman Service (their number is also in the link below) and explain to FOS what Santander told you, and ask FOS how to proceed.

http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/help-support/complaints

davidious

Did you pay any amount by Credit card even a £1

takman

You should have just accepted the refund from the dealer minus the £300 for the inconvenience you haw caused them. The fact is that you have rushed into buying this van and regret it so want your money back. So why should they loose out because of this?.

The only reasons you have given are:
-Paid too much; well that is obviously your fault!
-Paintwork; this should have been spotted when viewing the van
-Too many kepeers; you could have looked at the V5 and seen this yourself. Checking the V5 and making sure the VIN numbers match up is something you should do anyway when buying a used car.