HSBC visa debit refunding money taken by a booking site on the day it went into administration

simonmaden

I bank with HSBC and early last year planned a trip with palls to europe, booked hotel early in the year and in october went to said hotel to be told we had no booking, hotel showed us an email on 5th april 2019 from hotel booking site canceling our booking, checking my bank statement the hotel booking company took the money that day 5th april 2019 from my account the same day they had cancelled our booking with the hotel and then went into administration. The basis of our booking was that the money would only come out of my account when we stayed at the hotel in October. On my return after paying at hotel i wrote to HSBC in november and heard nothing back. made complaints used fb to shame them into a response etc.. they eventualy wrote to me 25th April 2020 telling me there was nothing they could do as 120 days had gone by after the transaction no clarity on what date they deemed the transaction to have taken place on and advising me to take the matter up with the retailer, from this i assumed that they had not read my complaint as the substance of my complaint was that i had no prospect of recieving the goods (hotel booking) as the company had gone into administration . I contest this as there was not supposed to be a transaction till october and i wrote imediately to HSBC, are they right, the reason for my complaint was that the booking company went into administration the day they took my money, this was a fraud as we were not due to be at the hotel till October and in the terms they said they would only take the money at the time of the stay. Also the evidence that the hotel stay had been cancelled prior to that company taking money for a stay that would never happen. Should HSBC refund me

eskbanker

As far as chargeback is concerned, the transaction is the payment, so the date of the transaction would be 5 April 2019, and your claim would indeed have been more than 120 days after that.  However, chargeback rules also permit claims within 120 days of when the actual service itself should have been provided, so by claiming immediately after your trip that should have sufficed, even though that second 120 day period has also expired now (through no fault of your own).

I'd avoid getting bogged down in details of email trails, fraud allegations, scheduled payment dates and so on, the bottom line is that you didn't receive something that you'd paid for and you claimed within 120 days of being made aware of that, so pursue HSBC along those lines and escalate to the ombudsman if they fail to reimburse you....

https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/area-of-expertise/cards/chargeback-and-section-75

SnowTiger

simonmaden said:

I bank with HSBC and early last year planned a trip with palls to europe, booked hotel early in the year and in october went to said hotel to be told we had no booking, hotel showed us an email on 5th april 2019 from hotel booking site canceling our booking, checking my bank statement the hotel booking company took the money that day 5th april 2019 from my account the same day they had cancelled our booking with the hotel and then went into administration. The basis of our booking was that the money would only come out of my account when we stayed at the hotel in October. On my return after paying at hotel i wrote to HSBC in november and heard nothing back. made complaints used fb to shame them into a response etc.. they eventualy wrote to me 25th April 2020 telling me there was nothing they could do as 120 days had gone by after the transaction no clarity on what date they deemed the transaction to have taken place on and advising me to take the matter up with the retailer, from this i assumed that they had not read my complaint as the substance of my complaint was that i had no prospect of recieving the goods (hotel booking) as the company had gone into administration . I contest this as there was not supposed to be a transaction till october and i wrote imediately to HSBC, are they right, the reason for my complaint was that the booking company went into administration the day they took my money, this was a fraud as we were not due to be at the hotel till October and in the terms they said they would only take the money at the time of the stay. Also the evidence that the hotel stay had been cancelled prior to that company taking money for a stay that would never happen. Should HSBC refund me

MSE has this to say: 

The rules set by Visa, Mastercard and American Express only usually give you 120 days to get a claim in – and the clock usually starts ticking from the date of the payment, though it does depend on the type of situation. Here are some examples:

[,,,]

Collapsed company

You book a flight or trip with a firm that then goes bust before you take it. The deadline starts from the date the flight was due to take off or the holiday to start.

In your case I think the 120 day clock began in October 2019 when you realised your booking wouldn't be fulfilled.

Did you begin the chargeback process within 120 days of your booking to stay at the hotel?

If not, you could argue the transaction was unauthorised.  It appears you gave the hotel booking company permission to take a payment from your card on or after October 2019.  They took payment on 5th April 2019.

simonmaden

Yes we were due to stay in october, terms of the reservation were that we would not be charged until the date of stay and made my representations to HSBC in November 2019 although did not get a reply till 25th March 2020

Thrugelmir

You knew that the payment had been taken and the hotel had gone into administration in April. Why did it take you until November after the trip had actually been made to lodge a claim. Your old booking would have been cancelled, so presumably you rebooked with the new management? 

Speedbird676

Thrugelmir said:

You knew that the payment had been taken and the hotel had gone into administration in April. Why did it take you until November after the trip had actually been made to lodge a claim. Your old booking would have been cancelled, so presumably you rebooked with the new management? 

I read that the hotel itself had not gone into administration but the booking site the OP booked through had gone into administration. I assume they thought their booking with the hotel was still valid.

mrsplinter

I was in this position last year. Booked a hotel via Amoma in October 2018, they went bust in September 2019 a few weeks before my stay. The booking was only cancelled a few days before the hotel stay, I then had to book another room at short notice. I contacted my credit card company (Tandem). They identified that it was considerably more than 120 days since the purchase, but processed the chargeback as I had contacted them well within 120 days of the booking being cancelled.

Dr_Crypto

I read it as that it was the booking company that had gone pop rather than the hotel. The OP arrived at the hotel to find their booking was gone and had to pay again at the hotel. 
I don't understand why if the OP wasn't expecting to pay until October they didn't make inquiries as to why the money had been taken in April, however. 
That said they seem to be within the time limits (120 days from the date the service was due) and if HSBC won't resolve it should go to the FOS. The letter to HSBC needs to be clear and to the point. E.G. I booked the Hotel California through shonky OTA on 4th April for a stay on 10th Oct. The money was taken on 5th April. I arrived at the hotel to discover that the OTA had ceased trading and cancelled my booking. I was therefore unable to receive the services I had paid for. I wrote to HSBC on X date and again on Y and Z and only received a response on D. I am requesting a chargeback. 

born_again

mrsplinter said:

 They identified that it was considerably more than 120 days since the purchase, but processed the chargeback as I had contacted them well within 120 days of the booking being cancelled.

You have 120 days from either date of debit or date of service. Up to a max of 540 days from debit date. Anything over 540 days is lost and can they can not action  a chargeback.
As OP also used a 3rd party booking site. NO S75 claim either.

simonmaden

Speedbird676 said:

Thrugelmir said:

You knew that the payment had been taken and the hotel had gone into administration in April. Why did it take you until November after the trip had actually been made to lodge a claim. Your old booking would have been cancelled, so presumably you rebooked with the new management? 

I read that the hotel itself had not gone into administration but the booking site the OP booked through had gone into administration. I assume they thought their booking with the hotel was still valid.

Unfortunately i didnt at that time check my bank statement and we at no time were informed that amoma had gone into administration, the hotel when we arrived showed us but wouldnt give a copy of a communication from amoma cancelling the bookingand this was the same date that amoma took the money, the terms with amoma were that they would not take payment till our stay so we were not expecting monies to ome out of the account till october. I immediately wrote to HSBC in November on my return to which they have only now on 25th March this year decided to respond telling me to take this up with the retailer. All a nonsense as my complaint was chargeback due to no prospect of goods or service due to seller going bust.

simonmaden

Speedbird676 said:

Thrugelmir said:

You knew that the payment had been taken and the hotel had gone into administration in April. Why did it take you until November after the trip had actually been made to lodge a claim. Your old booking would have been cancelled, so presumably you rebooked with the new management? 

I read that the hotel itself had not gone into administration but the booking site the OP booked through had gone into administration. I assume they thought their booking with the hotel was still valid.

Speedbird676 said:

Thrugelmir said:

You knew that the payment had been taken and the hotel had gone into administration in April. Why did it take you until November after the trip had actually been made to lodge a claim. Your old booking would have been cancelled, so presumably you rebooked with the new management? 

I read that the hotel itself had not gone into administration but the booking site the OP booked through had gone into administration. I assume they thought their booking with the hotel was still valid.

I did not know that the payment had been taken as i did not check my bank statement and did not recive any communication that amoma had gone into administration.