Chargeback Charity Auction

eskbanker

lisyloo said:

Won’t help you now sorry but you need to get a credit card.
they offer section 75 protection which is enshrined in law

While Section 75 indeed offers statutory protection, it's not a silver bullet panacea in that some of its provisions are more restrictive than those with chargeback - in particular there is a requirement to have an unbroken debtor-creditor-supplier chain, which would typically nullify a claim if someone in OP's situation paid an intermediary such as an auction organiser rather than the actual service provider.  However, since payment by credit card gives access to both schemes, it does generally keep more options open than a debit card, so even though it's unlikely that it would have worked out here, it's still worth bearing in mind in future anyway....