Section 75 does not apply to booking.com? 9 January at 11:29PM in Credit cards 8 replies 510 views

Phil_m

I had a poor experience with a London apartment booked via booking.com. The apartment’s internet was not working which also meant the TV did not work. The apartment management company refused to offer any compensation so I have tried to make a claim via section 75 through my credit card provider.  This morning I received a letter from the credit card company stating they could not proceed. They state that any claim must have a debtor, creditor relationship in place. The retailer is the apartment management company however payment is processed by booking.com. This means the debtor, creditor, and supplier link is broken and therefore section 75 does not apply.

If this is correct you have no protection from the credit card company when using booking.com. This does not seem right to me, any thoughts?

Perksy5

Sounds bizarre to me. I'd be eager to go the complaint route, exhaust that with your lender then see what the ombudsman have to say in the matter. Never heard of this as a requirement for a claim.

grumbler

Perksy5 said:

Sounds bizarre to me.

...

Never heard of this as a requirement for a claim.

Really? IMHO, what's really bizarre is the s75 itself. Hardly a surprise that CC companies use every possible excuse for rejecting claims.

MSE: What does Section 75 cover?

zagfles

I think they're right, see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/ and the example of buying a ticket from a travel agent, I'd guess buying a hotel room would be similar. Usually, booking.com don't process the payment but they do sometimes, i giuess it'd be different if the hotel had processed the payment.

But have you tried complaing to booking.com, they quite often resolve this sort of issue.

MattMattMattUK

Phil_m said:

I had a poor experience with a London apartment booked via booking.com. The apartment’s internet was not working which also meant the TV did not work. The apartment management company refused to offer any compensation so I have tried to make a claim via section 75 through my credit card provider.  This morning I received a letter from the credit card company stating they could not proceed. They state that any claim must have a debtor, creditor relationship in place. The retailer is the apartment management company however payment is processed by booking.com. This means the debtor, creditor, and supplier link is broken and therefore section 75 does not apply.

If this is correct you have no protection from the credit card company when using booking.com. This does not seem right to me, any thoughts?

It would also not be covered by Section 75 as that does not deal with customer service complaints. You paid for accommodation and they provided you with accommodation, you might not have got the WiFi but that does not mean you did not get the main part of what you paid for, as such it comes down to a customer service dispute rather than anything else. As others have said the chain is also broken so S75 is not applicable.

Booking do have a complaints procedure and they can be helpful and reasonable, although how much they will think is reasonable to discount accommodation because the free WiFi did not work is anyone's guess.

eskbanker

Phil_m said:

I had a poor experience with a London apartment booked via booking.com. The apartment’s internet was not working which also meant the TV did not work. The apartment management company refused to offer any compensation so I have tried to make a claim via section 75 through my credit card provider.  This morning I received a letter from the credit card company stating they could not proceed. They state that any claim must have a debtor, creditor relationship in place. The retailer is the apartment management company however payment is processed by booking.com. This means the debtor, creditor, and supplier link is broken and therefore section 75 does not apply.

If this is correct you have no protection from the credit card company when using booking.com. This does not seem right to me, any thoughts?

Yes, section 75 doesn't apply where there is any intermediary between the three key parties, but chargeback may be an option, if you're able to make a sufficiently compelling case that the internet problem constituted 'goods/services not as described':

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/visa-mastercard-chargeback/

DullGreyGuy

Phil_m said:

If this is correct you have no protection from the credit card company when using booking.com. This does not seem right to me, any thoughts?

You get protection from using a credit card but for failures by the company you paid. Booking.com doesnt own or operate the apartment so no protection for an issue with it... had booking.com failed to make the booking then there would have been protection.

As others have said, S75 is fundamentally an oddity in today credit based economy... the fact you get any protection at all is a free bonus even if its not as complete as you'd hoped. 

penners324

Not even something covered under S75.

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

Phil_m said:

I had a poor experience with a London apartment booked via booking.com. The apartment’s internet was not working which also meant the TV did not work. The apartment management company refused to offer any compensation so I have tried to make a claim via section 75 through my credit card provider.  This morning I received a letter from the credit card company stating they could not proceed. They state that any claim must have a debtor, creditor relationship in place. The retailer is the apartment management company however payment is processed by booking.com. This means the debtor, creditor, and supplier link is broken and therefore section 75 does not apply.

If this is correct you have no protection from the credit card company when using booking.com. This does not seem right to me, any thoughts?

It would also not be covered by Section 75 as that does not deal with customer service complaints. You paid for accommodation and they provided you with accommodation, you might not have got the WiFi but that does not mean you did not get the main part of what you paid for, as such it comes down to a customer service dispute rather than anything else. As others have said the chain is also broken so S75 is not applicable.

Booking do have a complaints procedure and they can be helpful and reasonable, although how much they will think is reasonable to discount accommodation because the free WiFi did not work is anyone's guess.

What a load of trash. Yes, S75 doesn't apply because of the break in the chain but if the apartment was advertised as having internet and TV then that forms part of the contract.

You could try a chargeback or Small Claims route if you feel aggrieved.