Dispute recurring debit card payment?

Buster_Danog

I signed up for a subscription with an internet service in 2021 with my Visa debit card. I cancelled  the following year so it would not recur. I received a marketing email a few weeks later stating "Since you've been gone..." and then info on how they were changing their content. However, in December 2024 I was looking through my bank statement for another trensaction and found the company had been charging me every year. When I checked my emails they had only emailed me on one of those years to mention a price increase. I did not receive any other emails to tell me they were taking payments.

My question is whether there is a time limit to dispute transactions made on a Visa debit card. I am aware that there is a Visa subscription mandate that merchants have to follow, but I am not sure if I stand a chance of getting a refund. I believe the company are deliberately ripping people off as they are based in a US state that has not had any legislation to prevent such behaviour from businesses.

eskbanker

If it's set up with your bank as a Continuous Payment Authority then you can advise them not to make any more payments and they're responsible from that point, but if you didn't do so when cancelling your contract with the merchant then you won't be able to reclaim prior payments via your bank (unlike the protection afforded to direct debit mandates) and will need to pursue the merchant for these.

PRAISETHESUN

Complain to your bank about the CPA and request that they cancel it. They might try and pawn you off by saying to contact the retailer, but legally the bank has to cancel it if you request they do so.

Unsure about the previous payments though as I suspect you're well beyond the chargeback period, but all means dispute them with your bank. That said, you'd probably need to check the terms of the agreement that you signed up for in the first place. Cancelling or forcing a chargeback won't remove any obligation to actually pay if you've agreed to do so, and the merchant would be within their rights to chase you for the money.

Buster_Danog

Thanks. It's interesting that Visa have their own rules for merchants where members here seem to mention the CPA. I may have passed the time limit for both but my understanding on the Visa rules for merchants is that the merchant would have broken at least three requirements on them in not giving me the oppoortunity to cancel in reminder emails that they are required to send, but didn't. 

However, this doesn't mean Baclays will care so I may be out of pocket. Be careful if you use the streaming service Curiosity Stream as they seem to have a habit of doing this.

eskbanker

Yes, it's entirely plausible that the service provider may have fallen foul of Visa's merchant rules, but that doesn't translate into any liability for your current account provider to reimburse you for that, so all you can do is to insist that the bank prevents further payments in future, while you pursue the merchant concurrently....