Day 2 Test Refund Refused (Express Test) - What can I do next?

Jaswahhihi

Hi,

I'll keep this really short, but can provide much more context if needed.

My covid testing provider (Express Test) has not sent me any results from my Day 2 arrivals (test at home) PCR test. I have raised a complaint and requested a refund, they have refused and offered a voucher instead.
As the test cost less than £100, section 75 does not apply, so I am considering a chargeback request with my credit card provider.
Otherwise, does anyone know other ways to escalate this? Is there an ombudsman which I can approach?

Thanks in advance.

[Deleted User]

Chargeback is the best bet. They didn't complete the contract, they can't do anything to rectify that now because it's too late, and so the only remedy is a refund.

Get your bank on it, don't waste time with Express Test as they will just keep stringing you along.

michael1234

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

Jaswahhihi

Thanks for the responses. I have opened a case with my credit card provider.

kaMelo

michael1234 said:

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

What nonsense, Without the contract then who knows what service is on offer and what the rights and responsibilities of both parties are? You don't just make it up as you go along.

If the contract guaranteed delivery then a chargeback will succeed as they indeed failed to keep their end of the deal. Anything less than guaranteed and it's an easily defended chargeback for the company, if they can be bothered to do so, by simply pointing out their terms and conditions of the service they offered to the credit card company.

michael1234

kaMelo said:

michael1234 said:

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

What nonsense, Without the contract then who knows what service is on offer and what the rights and responsibilities of both parties are? You don't just make it up as you go along.

If the contract guaranteed delivery then a chargeback will succeed as they indeed failed to keep their end of the deal. Anything less than guaranteed and it's an easily defended chargeback for the company, if they can be bothered to do so, by simply pointing out their terms and conditions of the service they offered to the credit card company.

Umm, you've bought a day 2 test that can't be taken on or before day 2? That would override anything in the small print UNLESS it is made very clear before purchase what the relevant term is.

Its like buying a car online and then being told in the small print "we can't guarantee we can find a car for you. In that case no refunds will be allowed"

The clause would be clearly unfair, struck out by any CC judge and moreover, it flies in the face of consumer law and I suspect you know it.

kaMelo

michael1234 said:

kaMelo said:

michael1234 said:

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

What nonsense, Without the contract then who knows what service is on offer and what the rights and responsibilities of both parties are? You don't just make it up as you go along.

If the contract guaranteed delivery then a chargeback will succeed as they indeed failed to keep their end of the deal. Anything less than guaranteed and it's an easily defended chargeback for the company, if they can be bothered to do so, by simply pointing out their terms and conditions of the service they offered to the credit card company.

Umm, you've bought a day 2 test that can't be taken on or before day 2? That would override anything in the small print UNLESS it is made very clear before purchase what the relevant term is.

Its like buying a car online and then being told in the small print "we can't guarantee we can find a car for you. In that case no refunds will be allowed"

The clause would be clearly unfair, struck out by any CC judge and moreover, it flies in the face of consumer law and I suspect you know it.

The car purchase is not comparable, you're buying a specific product not a service, if the car doesn't exist then you can't purchase it. I'm not unsympathetic to the point you raise in that you can't take a day two test if you don't receive prior to day two however that's not the point the OP raises. They received and took a test but failed to receive the results in a timely manner.

I'm unsure who you are referring to with the term "credit card judge" but a company who can show they complied with the terms of service offered will succeed on getting the chargeback reversed.  The bank/credit card company do not decide whether the terms are fair or not, that can only be decided by a court.

This doesn't mean I'm unsympathetic to the OP's position, I just don't see how, unless guaranteed results were offered, they will succeed.

onashoestring

OP some more details would be helpful .
Express Test did provide the test .
On what date did you take the test and return it ? 

Did you register the test with correct e-Mail as per their instructions? 

Have you checked your spam / junk e-mails the results of your test may have gone there ?

Have you phoned Express Test for your  results ? 

What did Express Test say when you phoned them ? Did they confirm that you had registered the test with the correct e-Mail address/ contact details ? 

NHS Test & Trace say that you  can make a complaint about a test provider to them  so that it will help them to improve the service. They say you need to chase up the provider to try and resolve it first . Link is here :

https://enquiries.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/s/enquiries

Around 50 providers have been taken off the list who have found to have been failing to meet the Government standards. 

[Deleted User]

kaMelo said:

michael1234 said:

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

What nonsense, Without the contract then who knows what service is on offer and what the rights and responsibilities of both parties are? You don't just make it up as you go along.

If the contract guaranteed delivery then a chargeback will succeed as they indeed failed to keep their end of the deal. Anything less than guaranteed and it's an easily defended chargeback for the company, if they can be bothered to do so, by simply pointing out their terms and conditions of the service they offered to the credit card company.

Contracts are not the be-all and end-all. If the terms are onerous then courts can and will ignore them.

The government has said that these kinds of terms should not prevent people getting refunds. I suppose if you want to get an affirmative confirmation of that you could take them to court and argue your point, but why waste your time and money when you can just complain to the payment provider?

kaMelo

rigolith said:

kaMelo said:

michael1234 said:

Yes agree 100% with that and ignore anyone who might come along to this thread to tell you to read their terms&conditions etc. You bought a service, they didn't deliver so they should refund and it will be easier to do it by raising a dispute with your CC or (for paypal) opening a case.

Frankly, if these companies have a low failure rate, I'm amazed they don't just pay up immediately in the cases where they do fail. 

What nonsense, Without the contract then who knows what service is on offer and what the rights and responsibilities of both parties are? You don't just make it up as you go along.

If the contract guaranteed delivery then a chargeback will succeed as they indeed failed to keep their end of the deal. Anything less than guaranteed and it's an easily defended chargeback for the company, if they can be bothered to do so, by simply pointing out their terms and conditions of the service they offered to the credit card company.

Contracts are not the be-all and end-all. If the terms are onerous then courts can and will ignore them.

The government has said that these kinds of terms should not prevent people getting refunds. I suppose if you want to get an affirmative confirmation of that you could take them to court and argue your point, but why waste your time and money when you can just complain to the payment provider?

That's correct, as I said in my later post, the ultimate arbiter of whether a contract is fair is a court. That can't happen unless someone takes it before a court though.

A payment provider will take no part in deciding whether a contract is fair or not. You can indeed complain to a payment provider who will do a chargeback. If a company disputes the chargeback then they will look at whether the company has done what they said they would,  the terms of service offered that formed the contract.
If they have then the chargeback will (probably) be reversed.

sheramber

Did you get an email confirming they had received the test?