Virgin Money taking a LONG time to send Section 75 claims form

harasnrubdoow

Hi, looking for advice please!
Basically myself and my partner paid for orthodontist work using our credit card (£1300), the orthodontist has now gone into administration, is not replying to emails, their website has gone, we can't view the treatment plan and (just to top it off!) the treatment isn't going as expected; normally an orthodontist would look at our photos, advise what to do next (be it scan or re-mould the teeth) but at present we were told everything is going well (it isn't) and then we were ignored when I pressed the matter further and asked which ortho is looking at our case.
We contacted Virgin Money to get a section 75 claim form because of the company being in administration (admin started in Jan but until Feb we were told another company (a good one by all accounts so we were relieved) would be taking over, we were then told this wouldn't be the case in mid Feb). We asked for the form on 20th Feb, told it would arrive within 10 working days. It didn't. We asked again on 5th March, told the same thing, it didn't arrive. Now with Flybe in administration and more recently Covid-19 it is pretty much impossible to speak to Virgin on the phone. We sent an email to their complaints department and have had receipt but nothing (they said wait 15 days, it's been only about 7).
I know there is an ombudsman for challenging the decision but is there anything we can do about not receiving the claim form? It feels like we're being passed around and I'm not sure we'll ever receive this form. We asked for it electronically also and had nothing. It's almost 6 weeks since we first asked for a form and were told it would be 10 working days.
To top it off we're selling the house soon (it's vacant and empty so hopefully won't be impacted by Covid-19) and I'm concerned the second we hand over the keys the letter will turn up at the house.

Is there anyone I can complain to, anything I can say or do? Does anyone know of an email address to get through to them on, or a phone number or even just know how I can get the ball rolling on the form? I'm concerned that the longer this takes the less likely we are to get a refund and we may only get a refund on the remainder of the treatment, because he's due to 'complete' treatment in July and his results aren't tracking like they should.

born_again

You don't need S75. This is a straight forward Chargeback for non receipt.

As you have already complained and been told 15 days (thats good at the moment) then you need to wait. Till they get back to you. Complaining to Ombudsman won't get anything done any faster. They are as bad or even worse staff wise.
All banks are under great pressure. As well as suffering staff shortages. For every 1 staff that goes off we lose 9 others for 7 days due to self isolating. That is even with social distancing at work. 

Everyone just needs to be patient at the moment. Bank staff are under great pressure at the moment. So when you get through please be nice. It helps a lot. Being told how long someone has been waiting when you can already see that does not help.

harasnrubdoow

born_again said:

You don't need S75. This is a straight forward Chargeback for non receipt.

As you have already complained and been told 15 days (thats good at the moment) then you need to wait. Till they get back to you. Complaining to Ombudsman won't get anything done any faster. They are as bad or even worse staff wise.
All banks are under great pressure. As well as suffering staff shortages. For every 1 staff that goes off we lose 9 others for 7 days due to self isolating. That is even with social distancing at work. 

Everyone just needs to be patient at the moment. Bank staff are under great pressure at the moment. So when you get through please be nice. It helps a lot. Being told how long someone has been waiting when you can already see that does not help. Remember you maybe sat at home with nothing else to do. We are out there risking working with other people.

I was advised they were sending a section 75 form twice now so assumed this would be correct, I will explore the Chargeback for non-receipt option now, thank you.

As I said above, we started this entire process long before Covid-19 and even before Flybe went under, hence I'm getting impatient because they've had almost 6 weeks and it will only get worse now. I understand how things work in regards to longer waiting and Covid-19, which only applies to the most recently 3ish max of the 6 weeks I've been waiting, I was wanting another approach or avenue to actually get this elusive form for a refund.

Edit as I read your response aloud to my partner and he found your last sentence condescending: you don't know what I'm doing whilst I'm home or where I work so please do not assume you know the risks I am taking.

born_again

Sorry, it was not meant that way.
We are under s lot of stress at the moment. Which is not nice when your see workmates reduced to tears by some customers.

You have not been treated well, it should have been a simple one call and the process started or at worst some paper work to sign & return and process started.

swaledale_one

As per born again,  it's just a straight forward rc53 especially if you have proof of liquidation ie newspaper cutting or email or letter, most payment processors will not dare dispute, tho if you've had a consultation/part treatment then they will bounce it back as invalid dispute amount, anyhoo mastercard are actually incredibly one sided in favour of the cardholder so all good.

2e0arr

Edit as I read your response aloud to my partner and he found your last sentence condescending: you don't know what I'm doing whilst I'm home or where I work so please do not assume you know the risks I am taking.

On the screen is a report button if you are unhappy with posts

harasnrubdoow

swaledale_one said:

As per born again,  it's just a straight forward rc53 especially if you have proof of liquidation ie newspaper cutting or email or letter, most payment processors will not dare dispute, tho if you've had a consultation/part treatment then they will bounce it back as invalid dispute amount, anyhoo mastercard are actually incredibly one sided in favour of the cardholder so all good.

Thank you! This was v helpful. And it's why I'm pressed about the time this has taken; if it goes back to when they went into administration then that's fine, but if its about where he's at in the treatment plan then we've used another 3 retainers since we asked to begin the refund because it's taken so long (and we've not even started the process yet!).
Do you know which they'll most likely refund from?
We've had part treatment but we haven't been getting any correspondence from orthodontists at any point throughout which we were meant to get, which is another reason I'm keen on getting as much of a refund as possible, because the treatment to date hasn't worked well. 

swaledale_one

If you've had 3 out of say 6 treatments and the merchant responds with this the payment processor will bat it back to your bank as invalid dispute/incorrect amount raised, cardholder received part service. Your bank could then go back with the corrected amount and the payment processor would agree and youd get half your money back.

born_again

harasnrubdoow said:

swaledale_one said:

As per born again,  it's just a straight forward rc53 especially if you have proof of liquidation ie newspaper cutting or email or letter, most payment processors will not dare dispute, tho if you've had a consultation/part treatment then they will bounce it back as invalid dispute amount, anyhoo mastercard are actually incredibly one sided in favour of the cardholder so all good.

Do you know which they'll most likely refund from?
We've had part treatment but we haven't been getting any correspondence from orthodontists at any point throughout which we were meant to get, which is another reason I'm keen on getting as much of a refund as possible, because the treatment to date hasn't worked well. 

As you have had part treatment, then any refund will be pro rota. So you will need to say how many you have had and if possible a breakdown of costs.
But it is still a simple chargeback.
Refunds come from retailers merchant bank, so even if no longer trading it is not a issue for refunds.
S75 might come into play if getting the remaining treatment is going to cost more.

As a guide.
Chargeback = money from retailer/their bank.
S75 = from your card provider.

maxximus75

If you are worried about mail being received after you move out, you can set-up mail forwarding (which is a recommended action when moving) with the Royal Mail.  There is a fee for the service but is well worth it. 

Any mail sent to your old address, will be re-directed to your new address. 

You just specify how long you want the service to run for....  usually three months.

harasnrubdoow

born_again said:

harasnrubdoow said:

swaledale_one said:

As per born again,  it's just a straight forward rc53 especially if you have proof of liquidation ie newspaper cutting or email or letter, most payment processors will not dare dispute, tho if you've had a consultation/part treatment then they will bounce it back as invalid dispute amount, anyhoo mastercard are actually incredibly one sided in favour of the cardholder so all good.

Do you know which they'll most likely refund from?
We've had part treatment but we haven't been getting any correspondence from orthodontists at any point throughout which we were meant to get, which is another reason I'm keen on getting as much of a refund as possible, because the treatment to date hasn't worked well. 

As you have had part treatment, then any refund will be pro rota. So you will need to say how many you have had and if possible a breakdown of costs.
But it is still a simple chargeback.
Refunds come from retailers merchant bank, so even if no longer trading it is not a issue for refunds.
S75 might come into play if getting the remaining treatment is going to cost more.

As a guide.
Chargeback = money from retailer/their bank.
S75 = from your card provider.

I was afraid you'd say that  

I didn't think you could get a chargeback from a company in administration? Or is it just not guaranteed? I'm really worried this is a bit of a dodgy company to be honest.

So we paid £1300 for 9 months of treatment, which is 20 aligners to be changed 2 weekly. When they went into administration (Jan) we were part way through on aligner 9, but now we're going onto aligner 13 on Sunday. I didn't wanna stop changing the aligners because if we didn't get the result we expected the first thing they'd say is we didn't follow the plan properly, but now every passing 10 working day period that Virgin keep telling us to wait we're using up a new aligner (taking them out of the sealed packet). By my (probably not entirely accurate) calculations it's about £65 per aligner if it's pro-rata (though I'd still argue that since Jan administration date we haven't been receiving anywhere near the service they promised in terms of ortho advice and customer service etc.) so we'd only get back £550 if it was issued literally within the next 2 weeks. That is nowhere near enough to get his teeth to the predicted result (I'm 100% certain they're not going to end up as good as promised - luckily I took photos of the expected end result because I don't even have access to the online treatment plan anymore) as it would likely cost another £1300 at least with another company, is there a single chance we'll end up with the whole amount? This is beginning to feel like a giant waste of pain, time and money and it'll all be for nothing if we don't get the result we were told we'd get. Because of Virgin's time delay it will affect our claim and we're gonna be out of pocket because of the delay (by 3x £65), is that something for the ombudsman?