Chargeback Reversal

monkeyt

Is it worth using the "resolver.co.uk" website? 
Is there anything I should 100% make sure I mention in any further letters to Aqua?

monkeyt

Streaky_Bacon said:

jonesMUFCforever said:

So in the ''contract'' are you saying there are no clauses which state that the hirer is responsible for any damage incurred?
I still say there is no S75 here but hey ho.

Why do you keep mentioning damage? The OP hasn't said there was damage, and has had no information as to why the chargeback was disputed, damage or otherwise.

As it currently stands, the hire company has simply taken too much money from the OP, so there is a prima facie breach of contract.

By submitting a s75 claim, the onus will be on Aqua to explain why there was no breach of contract (assuming it believes that no breach exists).

There was certainly no damage and they physically inspected the car in my presence when I returned it.
I expected no further bill at all as I paid 100% in advance at the time of booking in April. Now I have paid 854£ for a hire car which was pre-booked at a price of 298£ all-inclusive. The original receipt even confirms it is all-inclusive with zero excess, etc.

Even if they could argue there was damage (which there was not!) I was covered fully by the insurance with zero excess, I ensured I added this when I booked the car in April.

MrBojangles42

Is it possible you booked the car via a 3rd party website (Cardelmar) and you took their insurance out? If so they cover you for any damage (100%) but you still need to claim. This is then nothing to do with Avis and you decline their cover as you have it with Cardelmar. In  the even of damage Avis charged you your excess (£500) for damage plus admin fees which you should have then passed onto the 3rd party you were insured with ie the booking website. If there was or wasn't damage should be down to Cardelmar and Avis but you might have left it too long....

Rhubarb_Shed

I agree with the above poster; it looks like Car Del Mar were agents but the car was supplied by Budget.
If Budget subsequently found damage after you'd left, then they could charge that to your card and it would be up to you to recover it from whoever supplied the excess insurance, although exactly how you are supposed to do that if Avis/Budget don't even inform you of the damage is unclear.
They would only recover it directly from the insurance if you had taken Budget's own Super CDW (or whatever they call it).

At the time you picked up the car, Budget will have prepared a rental agreement and asked you to sign it.  This should then have been handed to you and/or emailed.  This will have the hire charges, airport surcharge, and any potential extra costs (e.g. refuelling charges, damage limits) together with any additional service fees you agreed to.  If you still have this somewhere, you need to check that 'compulsory' charges balance out with the deduction for what you prepaid, and you didn't unwittingly sign up to anything extra that you did not want.  If you don't have it, I would expect Avis/Budget in the UK to be able to obtain it (though it is now a while since the hire).  Hopefully, this should help you deal with Aqua.

Tip....Always, always go through the rental agreement with a fine toothed comb before signing anything, regardless of any queue behind you; even with reputable companies abroad I have all too often found discrepancies between what the agreement says I'm charged and what I have prepaid (not saying this is what happened here).

eddddy

lr1277 said:

I don't know about Aqua but my credit card company has something like a 100 or 180 day limit on S75 transactions.  Again I can't remember if this counter started at the transaction date or the date whatever was meant to be supplied. But if the time limit rule applies then it looks like the S75 claim might be out of time.

Also I expect with the name S75, this is from the clause in the relevant law. So it may not just be my credit card company that has this time limit. Perhaps the OP should ask Aqua about time limits on S75 claims.

s75 (Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act) makes the credit card company jointly liable for 'Breach of Contract' (or 'misrepresentation'). 

The law relating to contracts in England/Wales allows you up to 6 years to make a claim for 'Breach of Contract', so that 6 year limit applies to s75 claims as well.

But in this case, the car was hired in Switzerland, so the OP needs to check if the contract is governed by Swiss law or the law of England/Wales.

If it's governed by Swiss law, the OP would need to show that there was a 'breach of contract' under Swiss law (and different time limits etc might apply).

monkeyt

MrBojangles42 said:

Is it possible you booked the car via a 3rd party website (Cardelmar) and you took their insurance out? If so they cover you for any damage (100%) but you still need to claim. This is then nothing to do with Avis and you decline their cover as you have it with Cardelmar. In  the even of damage Avis charged you your excess (£500) for damage plus admin fees which you should have then passed onto the 3rd party you were insured with ie the booking website. If there was or wasn't damage should be down to Cardelmar and Avis but you might have left it too long....

I just checked back at my correspondence at the beginning of this charade. I did contact Cardelmar after speaking to Budget Switzerland in May 2019, Cardelmar said I needed to provide a breakdown of costs and a damage report. Budget was asked for this and could not provide it (even after multiple calls and them promising to call me back), Cardelmar then told me to contact my credit card company as they couldn´t do anything about it. This is why I then went to Aqua for further advice and subsequently to dispute the payment (as per Aqua recommendation, but I still don´t know if it was a "chargeback" or an "s75").

I don´t believe it was to do with damage, I returned the car in the same condition and they inspected the car physically on my return, I did not sign anything to agree to any damage, I even returned with a full tank of fuel. 

I have this sneaky suspicion that Budget has charged me for their own "extras" as I read other cases of this happening (not just with Budget but other car hire firms too). My booking documentation was very clear, that I already had full insurance etc, so any further selling by Budget would be inappropriate, but can they just bill it anyway? The AVIS (Budget) bill was almost twice as much as my actual pre-booked all-inclusive price..... It doesn't even make sense it could even be that expensive. And why was it charged at the end of the rental? Since when were car hire charges not made upfront, on collection at latest?

Without Budget´s clarification I can´t say anything for sure, when I ring the Budget office now at the airport in Basel they say they have no idea what the extra charges were for. I would expect Aqua to tell me why the chargeback was reversed over 4months later, I have to wonder if this is even allowed, to reverse a chargeback so long after making it?

Life__Goes__On

monkeyt said:

MrBojangles42 said:

Is it possible you booked the car via a 3rd party website (Cardelmar) and you took their insurance out? If so they cover you for any damage (100%) but you still need to claim. This is then nothing to do with Avis and you decline their cover as you have it with Cardelmar. In  the even of damage Avis charged you your excess (£500) for damage plus admin fees which you should have then passed onto the 3rd party you were insured with ie the booking website. If there was or wasn't damage should be down to Cardelmar and Avis but you might have left it too long....

I just checked back at my correspondence at the beginning of this charade. I did contact Cardelmar after speaking to Budget Switzerland in May 2019, Cardelmar said I needed to provide a breakdown of costs and a damage report. Budget was asked for this and could not provide it (even after multiple calls and them promising to call me back), Cardelmar then told me to contact my credit card company as they couldn´t do anything about it. This is why I then went to Aqua for further advice and subsequently to dispute the payment (as per Aqua recommendation, but I still don´t know if it was a "chargeback" or an "s75").

I don´t believe it was to do with damage, I returned the car in the same condition and they inspected the car physically on my return, I did not sign anything to agree to any damage, I even returned with a full tank of fuel. 

I have this sneaky suspicion that Budget has charged me for their own "extras" as I read other cases of this happening (not just with Budget but other car hire firms too). My booking documentation was very clear, that I already had full insurance etc, so any further selling by Budget would be inappropriate, but can they just bill it anyway? The AVIS (Budget) bill was almost twice as much as my actual pre-booked all-inclusive price..... It doesn't even make sense it could even be that expensive. And why was it charged at the end of the rental? Since when were car hire charges not made upfront, on collection at latest?

Without Budget´s clarification I can´t say anything for sure, when I ring the Budget office now at the airport in Basel they say they have no idea what the extra charges were for. I would expect Aqua to tell me why the chargeback was reversed over 4months later, I have to wonder if this is even allowed, to reverse a chargeback so long after making it?

I would certainly raise a formal complaint on how Aqua is handling your case

Life__Goes__On

eddddy said:

If it's governed by Swiss law, the OP would need to show that there was a 'breach of contract' under Swiss law (and different time limits etc might apply).

If it went to the Ombudsman,  they would have to know the full contract law of every country in the world in making a decision (this one being Swiss law).
And who would say they interpreted correctly?
I might be wrong, but I'm not sure how that would work if it's not under English law

digalumps

Why Swiss law? You credit contract is with Aqua and it is irrelevant if the money was debited from a uk purchase or a swiss purchase. Aqua are equally liable as the merchant.

Your way forward is to tell Aqua an unauthorised charge was made to your card and you want it refunded. This is particularly true if the care hire company won't even tell you what it is for.

Forget Switzerland. Raise a complaint with Aqua and escalate if necessary.

born_again

monkeyt said:

Is it worth using the "resolver.co.uk" website? 
Is there anything I should 100% make sure I mention in any further letters to Aqua?

Why?
Op is already dealing with card company & has a complaint outstanding. Why involve a 3rd party?