How long does a credit card company have to resolve a (simple) complaint?

Tragen

I will try to keep this short, but

• november 2019 i was charged twice for an entry visa (£45x2). I was told by immigration i'd receive a refund but never did.
• I opened a dispute in January, supplied requested info, but the card company close my dispute saying I didnt send them enough info. I had nothing else to give them. Visa stamp copy, website link showing visa fee, plus a brief explanation of what happened.
• In July, I decided to complain, so called them. Instead of filing a complaint, they suggested I re-open the dispute and send them a "cover letter" explaining what had happened, as apparently that is what they wanted the first time round, but supposedly I did not send them (I did, in the same email with the evidence which they acknowledged). 
• I sent them a cover letter, which they acknowledged receiving. They said it would take up to 45 days to get back to me.
• 44 days arrived and I messaged them in their app to see if there was an update. They tell me no update but they are going to deal with it that day and they will get back to me via email to let me know.
• They didnt. So I messaged them again, and they tell me they misplaced the cover letter and actually nothing had been done.
• So I tell them they can simply fix this by just offering me the amount (£45) and we'll just leave it there, they seemed positive about that but yep, no go.
• So I say I want to complain and they tell me that;s done and have given me a reference.

Today I get another email from them, saying they have 8 weeks to get back to me before I can go to FOS - I thought they had 3 days to respond to a simple case like this?
After all the run-around they have given me, should I go through the FOS and realistically what should I expect? I understand the FOS themselves are taking 4 months to get started on a case!

thanks for reading!

Sandtree

There are certain milestones a complaint has to mark and a financial services company have to follow the guiding principles of treating customers fairly etc  however there is no legal requirement for it to be dealt with within a set timeframe.

Working day 3 - the complaint must be acknowledged in writing
End week 4 - an update/holding letter must be issued
End week 8 - your right to go to the FOS kicks in even if a final response hasn't been given
End of complaint if after day 3 - a final written response should be given outlining FOS rights

The FOS itself depends on the department it goes to and whats going on thats impacting them... PPI obviously messed up the banking team until they created a dedicated team, right now you can imagine many teams being slower than normal because of furlough etc but insurance probably is particularly bad with complaints on Travel and Small Business. 3-4 months probably isnt a bad guide, my last complaint took less than that but a previous complaint took over 2 years (to the extent that my issue became statute barred and the FOS themselves paid a reasonable sum of compensation out their own pocket)

eskbanker

It's true that financial institutions have eight weeks to resolve a formal complaint from when it's logged, after which you can escalate to FOS if they haven't resolved it, or you can go straight to FOS if they close it off with a final notice before that, although as you rightly say FOS are always overloaded and so aren't a fruitful avenue if you're looking to expedite matters.

From what you've posted it sounds like they've effectively deferred the start date of a complaint by prolonging a routine chargeback request, but having got to where you now are, I don't think there's much you can do other than wait, unless the company's complaint policy specifies tighter response timescales than the regulatory ones for certain cases?

Tragen

OK thank you guys for your response, looks like they are going to drag it out as much as they can. I've added a reminder for 7.5 weeks.

Cheers

[Deleted User]

Tragen said:

OK thank you guys for your response, looks like they are going to drag it out as much as they can. 

That won't be the case, as it simply increases their costs and overheads.

Tragen

Deleted_User said:

That won't be the case, as it simply increases their costs and overheads.

Well it's been nearly 7 weeks since my formal complaint 😳

Sandtree said:

End week 4 - an update/holding letter must be issued

This didnt happen, I've let them know

I've got a reminder set for oct 13 to go through FOS. 

Tragen

Well, an update.
They upheld my complaint, they are sending me my £45 back. 
"along with a gesture for £25.00 for any trouble of upset that the matter may have caused."



I'm glad I got *my* money back, but the £25 just seems like the absolute minimum they could offer me and they purposefully made mw wait the full 8 weeks to uphold my complaint. 10 months in total since I opened the dispute.



I feel like I couldnt have been treated with much more contempt by them without them losing face. My reaction right now, besides my blood boiling further, is that I should still complain through the FOS as I dont feel £25 is enough for all of the time and hassle of chasing them over 10 months, for my own money.

What are peoples thoughts on this? 

[Deleted User]

FOS won't make them pay any more. And if eight weeks for the complaint to be resolved has annoyed you, will waiting three years for FOS to deal with your complaint to them really improve things?

The absolute minimum they could have offered is zero, so you've had a good result.

I'd move on.

SuperAllyB

In your initial post you said you'd be happy just to get the £45 back, now you're unhappy with £70?  Given everything else that's going on in the world this year I think you should move on and spend the £25 compensation on a bottle of wine and a takeaway.

D3xt3r5L4b

£25 is actually £25 too much. You’ve got your original amount back plus another nigh-on 50%...

born_again

Tragen said:

Well, an update.
They upheld my complaint, they are sending me my £45 back. 
"along with a gesture for £25.00 for any trouble of upset that the matter may have caused."



I'm glad I got *my* money back, but the £25 just seems like the absolute minimum they could offer me and they purposefully made mw wait the full 8 weeks to uphold my complaint. 10 months in total since I opened the dispute.



I feel like I couldnt have been treated with much more contempt by them without them losing face. My reaction right now, besides my blood boiling further, is that I should still complain through the FOS as I dont feel £25 is enough for all of the time and hassle of chasing them over 10 months, for my own money.

What are peoples thoughts on this? 

If you were not happy with the £25 then you should have told them at that point. 

£25 is not a bad pay out. FOS might up it a bit, but the delay in that will not bring your blood temperature down much.

TBH. You should be venting your fury at the Visa company, not the bank as they are the ones at fault here.