Section 75 refund without receipt

cov1987

I moved house a few months ago, paid a deposit for the removals company by Amex and they took the balance from my account the day after I moved in. The only problem is that the final price was roughly three times the original quote. I have raised this with Amex but as I do not have a receipt for the final cost and only a quote they will not sanction this as a disputed transaction. I have been unable to get a receipt from the supplier due to the dispute. Where do i go from here?
Thank you

[Deleted User]

Raise a chargeback. You may find it easier and then puts the onus on the company to provide the evidence.

jonesMUFCforever

How many months? You only have 120 days to raise a chargeback.

eskbanker

Is the company a member of a trade association, such as the British Association of Removers?  These may be able to intervene in a dispute like this: https://bar.co.uk/why-use-a-bar-member-for-your-move/

Have you gone through the removals company's formal complaints process?

Do you have a contract or access to Ts & Cs governing the work?  If they issued a binding quote but took a larger amount then it could be argued that this was an unauthorised transaction, but this would depend on what rights the contract gives them....

eddddy

What reason did the removals company give for charging you three times the original quote?

On one hand, you're not necessarily required to discuss the matter with the merchant before making a chargeback or s75 claim - but it might help you to know what they'll say, when the CC company asks them about it.

It means you can challenge whatever they plan to say when you make your initial claim. 

cov1987

Thanks for all your replies. I have tried to raise a chargeback but Amex will not allow one without a receipt. They say as the only "paperwork" I have is a quote this is not enough. The removals company are adamant the charges are correct. They took longer than they quoted for and used a lot of their own materials for packing as they told me mine weren't good enough. I cannot find specifics in the agreement regarding materials for packing other than they have to be sturdy (which I thought they were). In terms of time I raised this in plenty of time with Amex but they keep knocking me back. I think my real question is do I need a receipt to challenge a charge especially as the removals company have been unwilling to supply one?

eskbanker

The obvious answer is yes, you need to have some documentary support for your claim, given that you're not denying that they did the job but are looking to demonstrate that the charging was wrong.  Unless you can show that the quote was fixed and binding, i.e. that it didn't give them the contractual right to levy charges for additional time and materials, then the whole issue of exactly what they charged for is very much in play and so it's not unreasonable for Amex to demand sight of the final invoice.

Life__Goes__On

Are you sure it's a quote not an estimate, as a quote should only be change with the agreement of both parties.


https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/

After you say yes to a quote, it’s a binding agreement between you and the contractor, whether it’s written down or not. But having it in writing means you can check what you agreed and prove it if there’s a dispute later.

Make sure you get a quote, not an estimate. A quote is a fixed price, so you'll know what you’re getting and how much it will cost. An estimate is just a rough guess, so you could end up paying more.

The contractor can’t charge you more than the price on their quote unless:

• you ask for extra work that’s not included in the quote
• they let you know they have to do extra work and you agree to pay more for it
• they made a genuine mistake when writing down or calculating the price - they have the legal right to charge you what it should have been

Amex should accept the quote as it's an legal agreement, and then the onus is on the removal company to show why they charged more.

cov1987

Thanks all again. I will go back to my paperwork and check and see what avenues your thoughts lead me to.

eddddy

It's not really a case of needing a receipt to make a chargeback. It's about providing sufficient evidence to support whatever you've said in your chargeback claim.

Perhaps you need to be a bit clearer about what actually happened.

For example, was it as simple as this:

• You received a quote for £x, which you accepted
• The merchant did the removal
• When you received your statement, you realised the merchant had charged you £y
• There was nothing agreed about the merchant being able to charge you more in certain circumstances
• When you asked the merchant to refund the difference, they refused

Or for example, something like this:

• You received a quote for £x, which you accepted
• When the merchant arrived they said that you had not stuck to the terms of the agreement (by not packing correctly etc)
• So the terms of the contract were changed, and a new price of £y was quoted which you agreed to (perhaps under protest)
• But perhaps you believe that you had packed correctly etc, but felt backed into a corner as you had to move house - so you agreed to the new terms under protest.

If it was something like the first example, you'd probably have a fairly clear cut case for a chargeback.

If it was something like the second example, it's obviously a bit more messy.