How long should I wait for a response?

Norma_B

Back in January a car rental company took money out of my Halifax Clarity account for damage I hadn't done. I fought and fought it and eventually (after going through Resolver) they said they had paid me back on April 30th. It never appeared in my account so I checked with them again and got a curt response that they'd paid it,
Halifax told me I needed to give it a certain number of days before they could investigate so I did, then asked them to investigate where the money was.
Despite phone calls and emails to Halifax (actually Lloyds - I didn't realise they owned the account) asking what was happening I never got a response until one day, after yet another call to them, they told me that they were very sorry that my emails had never been forwarded from one department to another and that, because their customer service had fallen far short of what they expected they credited me £75 which appeared in my account.
I then waited and waited but still didn't see the money from the car rental company so eventually I emailed a complaint to Halifax on June 19th saying I wasn't happy because nobody had told me anything about what was happening with the investigation.
Apart from an automated email saying they'd received my complaint I've heard nothing!!

It's been 3 months since the rental company said they'd paid me back and 2 weeks since my final complaint. My questions are simple. Am I being unreasonable or should I give them longer? What do I do next?

bigadaj

Afte 8 weeks, or earlier of the provider has rejected and they issue a letter of deadlock, you contact the financial ombudsmen service and get an independent review.

Norma_B

Thank you for that. Sorry to be thick but by 'provider' do you mean the Halifax? If so, they don't seem to even have attempted to find out where the refund went. Do you think the 8 weeks started when I first asked them to track it down back in May or when I made the complaint in June that they still hadn't done anything to find it?

Ben8282

Has it never occurred to you that the most probable reason for the non-receipt of this refund is that the car rental company have never made any refund? I don't really understand why you are trying to blame Halifax and what you expect Halifax to do about it.
In the case of a refund which has not been received, the credit card company will ask for evidence that the refund has been made/is due. Acceptable evidence would be a copy of the refund sales voucher or other letter/document showing that the refund is due. The credit card company can then investigate. Without this there is nothing they can do and it almost defies belief that they have not asked for this.
If the car rental company have not made the refund and you have no written evidence that any refund is due, Halifax can do nothing so stop trying to blame them and instead concentrate your efforts with the car rental company. Halifax CANNOT resolve your differences with the car rental company on your behalf.

Norma_B

Thank you for your reply. When I wrote my original question and said that the car company told me they had made the refund I didn't think to write in the post about everything I had forwarded to Halifax such as the rental company's emails about the refund or the refund form they emailed a copy of. I was NOT expecting Halifax to resolve my dispute with the car company - I did that myself back in April (and thought that was what I said in my original post). What I WAS expecting was something to tell me that they were investigating why it hadn't received the refund despite the rental company telling me they'd made it. I'm sorry if you believe that my actions have defied disbelief!!

bigadaj

Norma_B wrote: »

Thank you for that. Sorry to be thick but by 'provider' do you mean the Halifax? If so, they don't seem to even have attempted to find out where the refund went. Do you think the 8 weeks started when I first asked them to track it down back in May or when I made the complaint in June that they still hadn't done anything to find it?

It's from when you initiated the complaint, alternatively ask them for a deadlock letter and you can go straight to the ombudsmen.

Halifax should have joint and several liability for what appears to be an unauthorised transaction, so should reimburse as a section 75 claim, or potentially a chargeback.