HSBC - Section 75 doesnt cover our OPB with debit card payment???????????

sedge1997

We recently purchased a car from Car Store (won't ever do it again!) and we paid £99 by credit card to reserve car.  We then decided to buy it and asked if we could put £100 of the balance on a credit card.  They first said no but to get the sale said yes (we thought this would give us cover for the debit card payment of £13,000).  

They sent an email link to us for us to pay the £13,000 before we picked the car up (had to paid 24 hours before collection).  We did this and then paid the remaining £100 on the credit card when we picked the car up.  We took the car back under their 14 day no quibble return.  They signed for it etc and we had to wait until the V5 come through.  They had the V5 and then put the £99 and £100 back into our credit card account (on the 8th April) but still have not returned the £13,000.  

Numerous emails to them, they have even sent a screen shot of their system showing payment request but still no £13,000 (its now 24th April).  Rang HSBC credit card company and they said no, only the two payments we made for the car are covered not the £13,000 - so no section 75.

Tried HSBC charge back - no, as it was an online payment through a link it is not covered.

Can anyone help?  We thought we would be covered but they will not return our £13,000.

Fingers crossed someone has a solution for us.

Many thanks

la531983

Have you been in to discuss with them, rather than sending emails?

eskbanker

sedge1997 said:

Rang HSBC credit card company and they said no, only the two payments we made for the car are covered not the £13,000 - so no section 75.

Tried HSBC charge back - no, as it was an online payment through a link it is not covered.

Both of those explanations are false, but that's not to say that there's a valid s75 or chargeback claim at this stage.

sedge1997 said:

We thought we would be covered but they will not return our £13,000.

Who are you meaning by 'they' here?  Surely the merchant has agreed to repay but the money hasn't come through yet, and it's likely to be too early to invoke assistance from card providers if this was a couple of weeks ago?

sedge1997

HSBC said that they cannot help me get the £13,000 back nas it was paid through an online link that Car Store sent us to pay.  By 'they' I mean Car Store.  I have spoke to them (when they will answer me) anad they always say we will ring back but never do.  I cannot even find a telephone number for Evans HAlshaw Car Store.

born_again

You need to engage with the store.
Maybe better to visit in person.

No chargeback right as they have refunded the CC amount.

HSBC are not going to refund £13k without you fully engaging with them.

km1500

since you paid part of the money on credit card ie £100 then HSBC credit card are on the hook for the full amount

it is incorrect for them to say that because you pay the remaining 13,000 by bank transfer it's not covered.

as said above it might be slightly early for you to worry about not receiving the money but definitely if you don't get it then you should claim the whole amount back from HSBC as they are jointly liable

 if they refuse to pay ball then raise a complaint with them

by the way I don't think the 13,000 will come to your credit card it will be refunded in the way you paid it ie it should go back to your bank

eskbanker

sedge1997 said:

HSBC said that they cannot help me get the £13,000 back nas it was paid through an online link that Car Store sent us to pay.  By 'they' I mean Car Store.  I have spoke to them (when they will answer me) anad they always say we will ring back but never do.  I cannot even find a telephone number for Evans HAlshaw Car Store.

For section 75 to apply, there must be an unbroken debtor-creditor-supplier chain, which effectively disqualifies payments made via intermediaries (such as agents, PayPal, etc), so depending on exactly who the online link took you to, that could indeed invalidate s75.

Chargeback, however, has no such restriction, but can only be invoked if the merchant is refusing to refund rather than simply delaying the process.

DullGreyGuy

eskbanker said:

sedge1997 said:

HSBC said that they cannot help me get the £13,000 back nas it was paid through an online link that Car Store sent us to pay.  By 'they' I mean Car Store.  I have spoke to them (when they will answer me) anad they always say we will ring back but never do.  I cannot even find a telephone number for Evans HAlshaw Car Store.

For section 75 to apply, there must be an unbroken debtor-creditor-supplier chain, which effectively disqualifies payments made via intermediaries (such as agents, PayPal, etc), so depending on exactly who the online link took you to, that could indeed invalidate s75.

Chargeback, however, has no such restriction, but can only be invoked if the merchant is refusing to refund rather than simply delaying the process.

The link payment was made by debit card.

We therefore need to know how the credit card payments were made? Were they a chip and pin machine? Over the phone? Online via a similar link too? How does the Merchant show on the credit card statement?

sedge1997

Thank you all.

I have tried numerous phone calls and emails and none are getting returned.  I dont fancy visiting as they will just fob me off.

How long should we wait, if they are delaying what is a reasonable time frame?  The two credit card payments were returned 9th April - its now 24th April.  Is this too short of time.

They have our current account details for refunding the money.

The £99 reservation fee was paid on line via their sales website but the £100 final balance was paid on site by the hand held card chip and pin machine they had.

I always though Martin Lewis always say that as long as you pay a certian amount on the credit card you are covered for the whole of the transaction for the item no matter what payment method is used but HSBC are saying not. I must have misunderstood Martin Lewis.  Both credit card and current account are with HSBC. 

Reviews of Car Store show that refunds are slow.  Why do they refund the small amounts but not the large amount - oh, they get interest!  Does anyone know what the legal time scale is before we can put a complaint in please?

Many thanks

eskbanker

sedge1997 said:

I always though Martin Lewis always say that as long as you pay a certian amount on the credit card you are covered for the whole of the transaction for the item no matter what payment method is used but HSBC are saying not. I must have misunderstood Martin Lewis.

No, you didn't misunderstand him, and it would appear that HSBC are wrong here.  Although I introduced the subject of the intermediary as a potential explanation, it doesn't get them off the hook if there were direct payments too....

sedge1997

Many thanks eskbanker.  I will call HSBC again and can now be more confident that they are liable for the £13,000.

Will let you know how I get on.