Refund rejected by bank - what now?

mrtenant

Hi, I was recently persuaded to pay £7,000 for a 1 to 1 coaching program with a 15 person mastermind. When it arrived I realised that the program was an email that arrives every morning that has the same 2 instructions every single week, the 1 to 1 coaching barely occurs (29 mins in 3 months) and the 15 person mastermind contains 41 people. So I went through my bank to instigate a charge back. The retailer contested the chargeback and astonishingly they won!! I'm staggered by this.
Here's the thing. My bank are now going to take £7,000 back from my bank account on 29th February for a service I'm simply not getting. The retailer is based in the USA. What can I do? If the money isn't there then I'll be taken into an unauthorised overdraft.
I am considering simply closing my bank account. Is that possible? Would they allow me to? If I did, who would be coming for me for the 7k? The retailer? Or the bank? Or Mastercard?
I've really been badly ripped off here and I am very keen to protect myself. 
Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks 

mrtenant

Also, the bank say that if I am experiencing any financial difficulty that may make repaying this debit problematic, call the collections line. I've done this and am awaiting a reply. I don't want to pay this at all, but if I do seek to pay this slowly, will this go against me for future credit?

Voyager2002

mrtenant said:

Also, the bank say that if I am experiencing any financial difficulty that may make repaying this debit problematic, call the collections line. I've done this and am awaiting a reply. I don't want to pay this at all, but if I do seek to pay this slowly, will this go against me for future credit?

Yes, your credit file includes details of all cases where you have made an arrangement with a creditor. Clearly this is not as bad as a default but is not a loan being serviced normally.

[Deleted User]

You won't be able to close the account while there's a debt.

Repaying slowly means you'll be in your OD for much longer which isn't a good look when other lenders are looking at you, but if you can't afford to repay faster, you have no choice.

Voyager2002

mrtenant said:

Hi, I was recently persuaded to pay £7,000 for a 1 to 1 coaching program with a 15 person mastermind. When it arrived I realised that the program was an email that arrives every morning that has the same 2 instructions every single week, the 1 to 1 coaching barely occurs (29 mins in 3 months) and the 15 person mastermind contains 41 people. So I went through my bank to instigate a charge back. The retailer contested the chargeback and astonishingly they won!! I'm staggered by this.
Here's the thing. My bank are now going to take £7,000 back from my bank account on 29th February for a service I'm simply not getting. The retailer is based in the USA. What can I do? If the money isn't there then I'll be taken into an unauthorised overdraft.
I am considering simply closing my bank account. Is that possible? Would they allow me to? If I did, who would be coming for me for the 7k? The retailer? Or the bank? Or Mastercard?
I've really been badly ripped off here and I am very keen to protect myself. 
Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks 

This post is really not clear. Did you pay by credit card; by debit card, or simply from your bank account?

If you paid by credit card, then the payment goes back on your account and each month you are given details of the minimum payment required.

If you paid by debit card then yes: the full balance goes out of your bank account (just as it did when you paid for the course) and you need to reduce the amount owing to your allowed overdraft.

You might care to make a separate post in the Consumer Rights section about why the chargeback failed; whether that was the correct decision according to the rules and if not how you can appeal.

mrtenant

Voyager2002 said:

mrtenant said:

Hi, I was recently persuaded to pay £7,000 for a 1 to 1 coaching program with a 15 person mastermind. When it arrived I realised that the program was an email that arrives every morning that has the same 2 instructions every single week, the 1 to 1 coaching barely occurs (29 mins in 3 months) and the 15 person mastermind contains 41 people. So I went through my bank to instigate a charge back. The retailer contested the chargeback and astonishingly they won!! I'm staggered by this.
Here's the thing. My bank are now going to take £7,000 back from my bank account on 29th February for a service I'm simply not getting. The retailer is based in the USA. What can I do? If the money isn't there then I'll be taken into an unauthorised overdraft.
I am considering simply closing my bank account. Is that possible? Would they allow me to? If I did, who would be coming for me for the 7k? The retailer? Or the bank? Or Mastercard?
I've really been badly ripped off here and I am very keen to protect myself. 
Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks 

This post is really not clear. Did you pay by credit card; by debit card, or simply from your bank account?

If you paid by credit card, then the payment goes back on your account and each month you are given details of the minimum payment required.

If you paid by debit card then yes: the full balance goes out of your bank account (just as it did when you paid for the course) and you need to reduce the amount owing to your allowed overdraft.

You might care to make a separate post in the Consumer Rights section about why the chargeback failed; whether that was the correct decision according to the rules and if not how you can appeal.

Hi, yes I paid by debit card so the chargeback was Mastercard's procedure via my bank. I'll make a post to the CR section but the only answer I have is that "The retailer successfully contested this - on the grounds that service was received in full in line with terms and conditions." Which staggers me frankly.

born_again

mrtenant said:

Voyager2002 said:

mrtenant said:

Hi, I was recently persuaded to pay £7,000 for a 1 to 1 coaching program with a 15 person mastermind. When it arrived I realised that the program was an email that arrives every morning that has the same 2 instructions every single week, the 1 to 1 coaching barely occurs (29 mins in 3 months) and the 15 person mastermind contains 41 people. So I went through my bank to instigate a charge back. The retailer contested the chargeback and astonishingly they won!! I'm staggered by this.
Here's the thing. My bank are now going to take £7,000 back from my bank account on 29th February for a service I'm simply not getting. The retailer is based in the USA. What can I do? If the money isn't there then I'll be taken into an unauthorised overdraft.
I am considering simply closing my bank account. Is that possible? Would they allow me to? If I did, who would be coming for me for the 7k? The retailer? Or the bank? Or Mastercard?
I've really been badly ripped off here and I am very keen to protect myself. 
Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks 

This post is really not clear. Did you pay by credit card; by debit card, or simply from your bank account?

If you paid by credit card, then the payment goes back on your account and each month you are given details of the minimum payment required.

If you paid by debit card then yes: the full balance goes out of your bank account (just as it did when you paid for the course) and you need to reduce the amount owing to your allowed overdraft.

You might care to make a separate post in the Consumer Rights section about why the chargeback failed; whether that was the correct decision according to the rules and if not how you can appeal.

Hi, yes I paid by debit card so the chargeback was Mastercard's procedure via my bank. I'll make a post to the CR section but the only answer I have is that "The retailer successfully contested this - on the grounds that service was received in full in line with terms and conditions." Which staggers me frankly.

Well there is no way to contest the chargeback scheme. It is over & above your consumer rights. Given it is a US company you payed, then I can see no way to claim it via the courts.
It is not your bank that have turned it down, but mastercard. If you went for non receipt of services, then it was destined to lose.
Given your statement "When it arrived I realised that the program was an email that arrives every morning that has the same 2 instructions every single week, the 1 to 1 coaching barely occurs (29 mins in 3 months) and the 15 person mastermind contains 41 people."
So even you admit you received something. 
If it was on the basis of Misrepresentation. They are very weak chargebacks and easily contested by retailer. As the retailer simply says "You got what we offered"
Sadly you should not have spent the £7K that was refunded, till you knew you had one the case. So now you will have to pay it back. So either via their collections team and all that does to your credit history or take out a loan to put the funds back in your account to pay it.

End of the day you owe the BANK £7K... No one else.

mrtenant

Thanks for the info. You live and learn. I've not spent it. I kept it. But there would be some pleasure in giving them the money in dribs and drabs over a 1 million year term if I could. But it seems that wouldn't be good for me. So I suppose the best I can do is tell others to steer clear of these people. Thanks for the clear info.

robatwork

There is no 29th February.

Where do I claim my prize? I know, I'm a 1 person mastermind.

eskbanker

mrtenant said:

My bank are now going to take £7,000 back from my bank account on 29th February

mrtenant said:

there would be some pleasure in giving them the money in dribs and drabs over a 1 million year term if I could

As robatwork effectively points out, they've given you just over three years....

mrtenant said:

So I suppose the best I can do is tell others to steer clear of these people

Your warning would obviously be somewhat more effective if you actually named them!

AbundantBudget

mrtenant said:

 But there would be some pleasure in giving them the money in dribs and drabs over a 1 million year term if I could. 

Very childish attitude -'to spite my mom, I'll frostbite my ears'. You didn't research the course properly, paid to crooks yourself but it's your bank fault. If you don't pay the bank you will be the one to suffer for years being unable to obtain a credit in the future, your credit history will be destroyed. Take it as a learning experience and move on.