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Can merchants refund to a cancelled credit card?
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MySonEd
Posts: 17 Forumite
in Credit cards
I paid £200 by Visa for access to an online bitcoin trading platform.
I had a phone call from their agent, who wanted to guide me through the use of the platform.
During the chat, he mentioned "stop loss". I asked whether that included "trailing stops". He seemed to think that these two stops are the same thing. Yes, you've guessed it :-)
This was after roughly a 1-hour chat, so I said I needed some time "to reflect and study my notes".
A google search gave two links (definitely only two links) to suggest (only suggest) that the merchant might be less than honest. (After this thread has been completed, I can give the links plus any other identifiable info.) I immediately cancelled my card.
I used the "Withdraw" facility on the platform to withdraw £50. For the mandatory "Reason" I gave "Trialling the withdrawal facility in preparation for larger withdrawals later". Based on no experience whatsoever, I guessed that a request to withdraw the complete £200 would have shown my hand, so I might have lost it all.
I got an email from the same agent to say that he had OKd the transaction. (IMO, he would have done that irrespective of his honesty.)
Obiously, I want to eventually try to cancel this service and ask for a complete refund. I've already received my Claim Form from Visa to reclaim any remaining funds. To answer their question "Why is the service not satisfactory", I've supplied several reasons (not mentioned in this post).
I now need to answer the question, "Have you tried to cancel the service?"
To prepare for that, I will try to withdraw a further £50, which would then leave £100. That's the Visa lower limit for pursuing claims against a merchant. If it works - fine. If not, I'll begin to try and cancel.
Questions: If this withdrawal is "approved":
- Are refunds paid to the same credit card number as the original purchase?
- Or can the merchant say that he needs a current card number?
- Or does the merchant even know that my card was cancelled?
Obviously, if the merchant says he needs the current card number, then that becomes the stage at which I need to "Attempt to cancel the service" - as per the Visa claims form.
Thanks.
I had a phone call from their agent, who wanted to guide me through the use of the platform.
During the chat, he mentioned "stop loss". I asked whether that included "trailing stops". He seemed to think that these two stops are the same thing. Yes, you've guessed it :-)
This was after roughly a 1-hour chat, so I said I needed some time "to reflect and study my notes".
A google search gave two links (definitely only two links) to suggest (only suggest) that the merchant might be less than honest. (After this thread has been completed, I can give the links plus any other identifiable info.) I immediately cancelled my card.
I used the "Withdraw" facility on the platform to withdraw £50. For the mandatory "Reason" I gave "Trialling the withdrawal facility in preparation for larger withdrawals later". Based on no experience whatsoever, I guessed that a request to withdraw the complete £200 would have shown my hand, so I might have lost it all.
I got an email from the same agent to say that he had OKd the transaction. (IMO, he would have done that irrespective of his honesty.)
Obiously, I want to eventually try to cancel this service and ask for a complete refund. I've already received my Claim Form from Visa to reclaim any remaining funds. To answer their question "Why is the service not satisfactory", I've supplied several reasons (not mentioned in this post).
I now need to answer the question, "Have you tried to cancel the service?"
To prepare for that, I will try to withdraw a further £50, which would then leave £100. That's the Visa lower limit for pursuing claims against a merchant. If it works - fine. If not, I'll begin to try and cancel.
Questions: If this withdrawal is "approved":
- Are refunds paid to the same credit card number as the original purchase?
- Or can the merchant say that he needs a current card number?
- Or does the merchant even know that my card was cancelled?
Obviously, if the merchant says he needs the current card number, then that becomes the stage at which I need to "Attempt to cancel the service" - as per the Visa claims form.
Thanks.
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Comments
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The card being cancelled shouldn't make any difference, as it seems the account is still open.0
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Deleted_User wrote: »The card being cancelled shouldn't make any difference, as it seems the account is still open.
Yes, the account is still open.0 -
They should be fine to just refund to the existing card details in that case.0
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I'm confused. Did you pay £200 for a 'service' to access a trading platform or did you buy £200 of crypto-currency? The distinction could be quite important. What you describe is the purchase of currency rather than a service.
If you have paid for a service and want money back then that is indeed a refund and it should be processed back to the card that made the sale. If the card account were closed, the refund should still be processed through. It would then be down to the efficiency of your issuer as to how they handle that refund. If a refund is promised (and you have evidence of that promise) but not received you will probably have a dispute right through your card issuer.
If, however, you have bought some crypto-currency then any transaction to buy back sterling using your CC would not be a refund but an Original Credit Transaction. Your rights with regard to receiving an Original Credit are not so clear cut because that credit doesn't technically relate to any prior obligation and the retailer could say, 'sorry, going to send a cheque instead' - and then not do anything. So, if a credit is not processed then your rights to dispute it with your card issuer are almost nil - unless the retailer provides evidence that it made a credit and it just hasn't come through. In this latter situation the credit can be made to any plastic card of your choosing.
The lower limit for pursuing a Visa card claim is not £100. If you have a legitimate reason to complain about a CC transaction the amount is irrelevant. You may be getting confused with S75 of the Consumer Credit Act which bestows certain rights for purchases made on credit which cost between £100 and £30K where there has been a breach of contract or misrepresentation.
At this stage it is not clear whether you paid £200 for a service or just purchased £200 worth of crypto-currency. Neither is it clear (because you have withheld the information) quite how the retailer is in breach of contract or done anything wrong. Your card issuer may be able to help you with any dispute arising if you purchased a service - regardless of the amount - but not necessarily under the terms of S75. You should also be prepared for resistance to any claim if all you have done is purchase currency.0 -
Terry_Towelling wrote: »Did you pay £200 for a 'service' to access a trading platform or did you buy £200 of crypto-currency?
Thanks for very detailed response.
I have not yet bought any cryptocurrency.
Sorry about this miserly drip-feeding of info. I'm not even sure that it's necessary.
After all this is over, I can give the story for the benefit of others.
Thanks.0 -
Thanks for very detailed response.
I have not yet bought any cryptocurrency.
Sorry about this miserly drip-feeding of info. I'm not even sure that it's necessary.
After all this is over, I can give the story for the benefit of others.
Thanks.
Very curious. If your purchase was for a service then why would you be allowed to withdraw any value? And, because you haven't actually bought any crypto-currency yet it must be that you have simply funded an account in readiness to start trading. Not sure that you will get anything from your card issuer on this one.
For the benefit of the tape and to display my ignorance for all to see, I just don't get crypto-currency at all. It isn't connected to any national economy or stock market and has little or no utility as a physical currency for popping to the shops for a bag of wine gums, so what drives it's movements?
All I can come up with is, it must be driven solely by the hype spread by those who already have some in order to whip up enough demand to push the value up so they can sell.
Eventually it will seal its own fate by getting too high that no one will want to buy at that level, so selling becomes impossible and the price crashes. Those who missed out because it was too expensive can then enter the market and try to hype the price back up again.
Someone enlighten me if I've got it wrong (highly probable)0 -
Terry_Towelling wrote: »For the benefit of the tape and to display my ignorance for all to see, I just don't get crypto-currency at all. It isn't connected to any national economy or stock market and has little or no utility as a physical currency for popping to the shops for a bag of wine gums, so what drives it's movements?
Sounds sensible to me, and that's why I've been short on bitcoin for several months.
Yesterday I read something that said "the value of Bitcoin can't go below $3000 because that's the cost to mine them". I also heard "Bitcoin won't crash because too many people have invested in it and let's face it, it's the future."
Happy to display my ignorance too!0 -
chattychappy wrote: »Yesterday I read something that said "the value of Bitcoin can't go below $3000 because that's the cost to mine them". I also heard "Bitcoin won't crash because too many people have invested in it and let's face it, it's the future."
That certainly sounds like the sort of hype designed to create demand.
So the algorithm-solving miners are effectively able to hold the currency to ransom. Who pays this ransom? If a bitcoin were valued at $3000, how would I buy one? Would it cost me $6000?
Reminds me a little of pyramid selling - nothing of intrinsic worth is created or produced in the pyramid and those in control at the top make all the money and then bring the pyramid crashing down so they can rebuild their stake at the lowest level.
I'm still none the wiser.0 -
I would suggest you haven't paid for a service but have simply transferred £200 from your Visa to a trading account. Which might stop the bank being able to help.
I've also never heard of a lower limit for Visa dispute claims, unless you are referring to Section 75, but that's not to do with Visa.
Sounds like a scam to be honest, and you wouldn't be alone. Hope you get it sorted though.0
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