Paying for glasses with credit card, will sec 75 still apply ?

retiree

MSE advises us to pay for services by credit card so that in the event of problems arising, we may be able to claim against the card issuer under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Nationwide Visa point out:
“Considering your eye examination was free of charge, I am unable to accept any liability under section 75 for any breach of contract and/or misrepresentation arising from the prescription. This is because your credit card was not used to finance the eye examination”

In other words, since OAPs get free eye tests, compensation cannot be claimed if the opticians compound their own NHS prescription error by supplying glasses based on that prescription.

[Deleted User]

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

molerat

If the glasses themselves are faulty then of course paying by CC still gives you protection.

eskbanker

retiree said:

MSE advises us to pay for services by credit card so that in the event of problems arising, we may be able to claim against the card issuer under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Nationwide Visa point out:
“Considering your eye examination was free of charge, I am unable to accept any liability under section 75 for any breach of contract and/or misrepresentation arising from the prescription. This is because your credit card was not used to finance the eye examination”

In other words, since OAPs get free eye tests, compensation cannot be claimed if the opticians compound their own NHS prescription error by supplying glasses based on that prescription.

There's no doubt that section 75 isn't the ultimate panacea that MSE sometimes imply it is, but I'm not sure that the above Nationwide argument holds water, although much depends on the exact circumstances.

I'd have thought that the purchase of glasses, financed by a credit card, will effectively be a different contract from the examination, but it would presumably be framed (sorry!) as a purchase of glasses with a given prescription, so that contract wouldn't be breached if the glasses were produced in accordance with that prescription, even if the wearer then felt that the prescription was flawed.  On the other hand, if the glasses weren't manufactured to suitable quality standards and fell apart, for example, then I'd contend that this would still be an actionable breach of the glasses supply contract.

If a prescription is considered to be flawed, that isn't necessarily the fault of the optician (who is obviously heavily dependent on what they're told by the customer during testing) but a formal complaint to the optician and ultimately any supervisory body is probably a more appropriate route than trying to recover the cost of the glasses via s75.

born_again

I can see it if it is the actual prescription that is wrong (they are very subjective, as they rely on user telling optician the truth) from the eye test, as you are not paying for that. But if there is a issue with the actual frames (subject to being more than £100) then it should be covered.
As @eskbanker
S75 is far to often touted as the "Get out of jail free card" or extra insurance on purchases, which it is not.

mjm3346

Deleted_User said:

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

I agree what a totally useless thread title.

retiree

mjm3346 said:

Deleted_User said:

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

I agree what a totally useless thread title.

Fair comment. I should have phrased it better. I just wondered what people thought of the issue.

MalMonroe

mjm3346 said:

Deleted_User said:

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

I agree what a totally useless thread title.

How rude. We're supposed to be kind and helpful on this forum, as per the rules. It really doesn't matter what title people put on a thread. If you don't think you can help (you didn't help) then you should just ignore, rather than attack. I've been 'reprimanded' for less on this site!!

silverwhistle

retiree said:

mjm3346 said:

Deleted_User said:

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

I agree what a totally useless thread title.

Fair comment. I should have phrased it better. I just wondered what people thought of the issue.

Just change the exclamation mark to a question mark..:-)

MalMonroe

retiree said:

mjm3346 said:

Deleted_User said:

I'm not sure any of that is a reason to avoid paying for glasses with a credit card.

I agree what a totally useless thread title.

Fair comment. I should have phrased it better. I just wondered what people thought of the issue.

I don't think your thread title is useless at all. Take no notice.

I'm a pensioner and I think Nationwide is trying it on. Just keep on at them.

The eye test is a totally different thing to buying a pair of specs. And this is evidenced by the fact that you are allowed to take your prescription to any other optician in the country once it's been issued. You are not bound to use the same optician. So that means that if you did use another optician - I have in the past - then the dispensing optician's goods and services DO fall under Section 75. I don't see any difference between that and using separate different opticians. If you have a problem with your glasses, you should definitely pursue this.

You need to point out to Nationwide (I have an account with them and am thinking of switching!) that they are two entirely different and separate issues and that Section 75 does, indeed, apply to your situation. Don't let them fob you off with such pompous nonsense. Good luck! But you won't need it.

eskbanker

MalMonroe said:

You need to point out to Nationwide (I have an account with them and am thinking of switching!) that they are two entirely different and separate issues and that Section 75 does, indeed, apply to your situation.

My initial reply earlier today was along broadly similar lines to your post but I think Nationwide's statement is actually recognising the two separate issues and is therefore defensible if you put the emphasis in the right place:

Considering your eye examination was free of charge, I am unable to accept any liability under section 75 for any breach of contract and/or misrepresentation arising from the prescription. This is because your credit card was not used to finance the eye examination

In other words, if the customer is effectively accepting that the glasses are compliant with the prescription but is claiming that the prescription is wrong, then Nationwide are asserting that they're not liable for reimbursing the cost of the glasses in this situation, which seems a reasonable position for them to take.

On the other hand, if there's a breach or misrepresentation relating to the quality of the glasses themselves then they're not trying to evade liability for that, at least not in the quoted wording....