Nationwide & Section 75 - first response is to deny claims?

ChirpyCheapCheap

Hi folks,
I've just had the experience of being denied a Section 75 claim by Nationwide on my credit card.  I made the claim online by clicking the bit of their website that says Section 75 Claim.  The claim was denied because more than 120 days had elapsed since I was due to fly (an airline going bust).  When I called up about the claim being denied, I was told that Nationwide's first reponse is to review as a ChargeBack and if it doesn't meet those criteria, then they just deny the claim.  I pressed them and they admitted they will now process as intended as Section 75.  Nowhere in the claim letter does it say that there are other claim options and I wasn't a bit savvy, I'd have shrugged and thought the ChargeBack response was the end of it.  I'm sure many people would get caught out by this.

It feels borderline unethical to (1) re-route a valid S75 claim into the ChargeBack route and (2) deny the ChargeBack and not clearly offer the Section 75 route and (3) tell customers that after waiting 8 weeks for the denied ChargeBack claim, that they now have to wait another 8 weeks to get the Section 75 claim reviewed?

Or am being overly-sensitive here??? 

[Deleted User]

Bank will always go for chargeback if they can as it is taking money from the supplier rather than the bank having to fund it.

whitesmith

I think the OP complaint is that once they were informed the chargeback route was not applicable they were not told about the  S75.route

Sandtree

I can understand the OPs complaint... tells the bank to do a S75 claim, they decide to do a chargeback instead and simply tell him the claim was unsuccessful without reference to the other possible resolutions available.

The one point I would question is if they really did a S75 in the first instance. Whilst they came across the form (or whatever the online tool was) from a page on S75 it doesnt necessarily follow that the form is explicitly for S75... I’d suspect its more a generic “dispute a transaction” and doesnt go into the specifics of Chargeback or S75 etc

phillw

I don't know if you're overly sensitive or we're all jaded, but only dealing with people who are going to keep on their back is quite standard.

You should raise a complaint.

ChirpyCheapCheap

Sandtree said:

I can understand the OPs complaint... tells the bank to do a S75 claim, they decide to do a chargeback instead and simply tell him the claim was unsuccessful without reference to the other possible resolutions available.

The one point I would question is if they really did a S75 in the first instance. Whilst they came across the form (or whatever the online tool was) from a page on S75 it doesnt necessarily follow that the form is explicitly for S75... I’d suspect its more a generic “dispute a transaction” and doesnt go into the specifics of Chargeback or S75 etc

This is the page so I guess I did have an expectation of a Section 75 review  
(sorry MSE says I need to be around more before I can post links)
Thanks all for your thoughts!

eskbanker

Although that page ( https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/manage-your-account/section-75-claims ) is indeed littered with references to section 75, it ultimately directs claimants to a generic 'credit card dispute' form ( https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/media/MainSite/documents/support/support-articles/SF316-credit-card-visa-dispute-form.pdf ) that encompasses a variety of scenarios, not just contract breach/misrepresentation and non-delivery of goods/services but also unauthorised transactions, CPAs, etc.

However, I agree that if they choose to prioritise chargeback and it isn't applicable then they should try s75 rather than reverting to the customer as a decline, so a complaint would seem appropriate....

born_again

Timeframe for  S75 claim can be far more than 8 weeks. They take as long as they take, and given the current situation that dispute teams are facing and the sheer number of claims due to travel co's failing in their legal duty to refund customers. 8 weeks is a pretty good timeframe.

But if a chargeback is declined and S75 is available it should automatically move to that stage.

[Deleted User]

whitesmith said:

I think the OP complaint is that once they were informed the chargeback route was not applicable they were not told about the  S75.route

OP first complaint:

It feels borderline unethical to (1) re-route a valid S75 claim into the ChargeBack route 

Hence my reply why they did chargeback first not S75