Garage Refuses To Provide Invoice - Barclaycard Refuses To Assist Under Section 75

OrsonCarte_2

Thank you all for your input, especially naedanger. The link to the Section 75 page is very useful.

I shall reply to Barclaycard and reiterate the point regarding the absence of a requirement for documentation. I will also imply that I am considering taking the matter further on behalf of everybody who has been, or will be, in a similar situation and see what happens.

I will update this thread when I receive a reply.

Thanks again.

naedanger

I suggest you say you will pursue your complaint methodically, ultimately to the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary, rather than saying "[you are] considering taking the matter further on behalf of everybody who has been, or will be, in a similar situation".

If Barclaycard are aware you know how to complain effectively, and will do so methodically, then I think it less likely they will try to fob you off. They will know that even if they fob you off you will take the matter to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service who will consider the matter properly and aim to ensure you have been treated fairly.

Cygnus_Alpha

OrsonCarte wrote: »

Thank you for your input.

Yes, the name of the garage is on the credit card receipt. It is also on my credit card statement.

I spoke to a very helpful lady at the Financial Ombudsman's office yesterday who told me that Barclaycard were behaving according to the letter of the CCA 1974 Section 75 by insisting on sighting an invoice or a contract and that, in the absence of said document, a valid Debtor-Creditor-Supplier agreement cannot be proven. This despite the fact that nobody is disputing that £150 has changed hands.

I would imagine that Barclaycard are going to do whatever they have to do in order to avoid chargebacks because, presumably, they would lose their commission and potentially damage their relationship with the supplier, who, after all, pays them.

The suppliers will be aware of this.

I think the woman from the ombudsman has been far from helpful. The fact is, the garage took your money and did not provide the service they said they would. You do not need reams of paperwork to establish this, Barclaycard themselves are aware of a transaction taking place because they processed it!


You do not need to prove that there was a creditor supplier agreement, you just need to prove that the service promised was not provided.


Barclaycard are jointly and severally liable for the actions of the garage. They are just trying to fob you off.

OrsonCarte_2

Thank you all once again for your advice. As promised, here is an update on the situation.

I replied to Barclaycard expanding upon the points discussed above. I didn't threaten legal action but I implied that I had 'taken advice' and would be taking the matter further if there wasn't a mutually satisfactory resolution.

A few days later, I received a telephone call from a very businesslike, but pleasant, customer services representative. He listened patiently to my tale of woe but was adamant that Barclaycard was within its rights to request a contract or an invoice for a chargeback under Section 75.

To cut a long story short, he offered me £100 credit as a gesture of good faith if I was prepared to close the dispute, to which I agreed. I am still a little miffed that Stevensons has got clean away with it but it has been a learning experience and well worth the £50 that I am ultimately out of pocket.

The very valuable lesson to be learnt here, and confirmed by both the Financial Ombudsman and Barclaycard, is to always get an invoice BEFORE handing over your credit card. Without an invoice, Barclaycard will not entertain a claim under Section 75. In retrospect, I have been very lackadaisical over the years regarding this point as I always expect people to play fair which, unfortunately, doesn't always happen.

Always get an invoice before paying by Visa!

I hope that my experience will be useful to you.

Best,
Kevin

P.S. Unbelievably, I have just had to submit another claim to Barclaycard under Section 75. It's not my year :-(

In this case, the supplier is Monarch Airlines, which has just gone into liquidation. Once again, it is perfectly obvious that the transaction has taken place, as evidenced by my Visa statement, but Barclaycard have requested hard copies of my Monarch receipt and flight confirmation documents before processing my claim.

This confirms my previous experience described above that Barclaycard will always require documentation to support a claim. Don't get caught out.

vikingaero

If someone refused to provide me with an invoice, I would be reporting the person/company to HMRC.

unholyangel

Thanks for the update.

They're still incorrectly advising you though - no invoice is required. No invoice or receipt can ever be required to enforce your consumer rights because theres no obligation for a business to give one unless you're both vat registered (and if you're vat registered then you'll be a business and won't have consumer rights anyway).

The legislation giving you rights under the CCA (including section 75) contain all the requirements in law in order for you to have a section 75 claim. If the act doesn't mention an invoice (it doesnt), then they can't make your rights contingent on one being produced.

Perhaps not important to you as you seem to have already accepted their offer but personally, I would have called their bluff and made it quite clear that due to them trying to rewrite the law, I would now be claiming all and any costs I incurred in addition to the refund.

unholyangel

vikingaero wrote: »

If someone refused to provide me with an invoice, I would be reporting the person/company to HMRC.

What would you be reporting them for? They're only obliged to provide one if both parties are VAT registered.

OrsonCarte_2

Yes, that is correct. An invoice is only mandatory if both parties are VAT registered.

Your point is well made, unholyangel, but do I really want to take on Barclaycard for the sake of fifty quid? I realise that there is possibly a point of principle at stake here but I don't have pockets deep enough to pursue it.

Furthermore, as I mentioned above, both the Financial Ombudsman and Barclaycard appear to be pretty sure that Barclaycard's position is correct. Barclaycard must surely have come up against this situation before now and I would be surprised if they would respond thus if they hadn't already consulted their legal department..

I have searched in depth for any legal or other actions that have tested the point without success.

Good luck to whoever wants to take on Barclaycard over Section 75 as they must be experts by now. I would suggest that the lesson to be taken from this is never to hand over your credit card before getting an invoice. Otherwise, you will simply be running an unnecessary risk.

glentoran99

You could have went for chargeback instead, that was your resolution, Barclaycard then aren't out of pocket

glentoran99

OrsonCarte wrote: »

Yes, that is correct. An invoice is only mandatory if both parties are VAT registered.

Your point is well made, unholyangel, but do I really want to take on Barclaycard for the sake of fifty quid? I realise that there is possibly a point of principle at stake here but I don't have pockets deep enough to pursue it.

Furthermore, as I mentioned above, both the Financial Ombudsman and Barclaycard appear to be pretty sure that Barclaycard's position is correct. Barclaycard must surely have come up against this situation before now and I would be surprised if they would respond thus if they hadn't already consulted their legal department..

I have searched in depth for any legal or other actions that have tested the point without success.

Good luck to whoever wants to take on Barclaycard over Section 75 as they must be experts by now. I would suggest that the lesson to be taken from this is never to hand over your credit card before getting an invoice. Otherwise, you will simply be running an unnecessary risk.

Similar story here


http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?475772-Section-75-Consumer-Credit-Act-Paid-on-credit-card-but-lost-original-invoice