Section 75 Claim for Refused Refund

DistortedVision

I purchased a watch as a Christmas present for my son. It was pre-owned and from a watch dealer who is a VAT registered company.

The reason was that there was cosmetic damage not evident in the photos of the listing on the retailer's website. The watch was not worn I returned it with agreement from the seller but I did not explain the reason for the return to the seller. In hindsight this was my mistake.

The retailer has emailed me and said that the cosmetic damage was caused by myself by wearing the watch. This is untrue as I did not wear it. It was immediately repackaged in the box. They are returning the watch back to me.

The purchase value was £1700 and I paid using a credit card. Do I have any protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. 

DullGreyGuy

DistortedVision said:

I purchased a watch as a Christmas present for my son. It was pre-owned and from a watch dealer who is a VAT registered company.

The reason was that there was cosmetic damage not evident in the photos of the listing on the retailer's website. The watch was not worn I returned it with agreement from the seller but I did not explain the reason for the return to the seller. In hindsight this was my mistake.

The retailer has emailed me and said that the cosmetic damage was caused by myself by wearing the watch. This is untrue as I did not wear it. It was immediately repackaged in the box. They are returning the watch back to me.

The purchase value was £1700 and I paid using a credit card. Do I have any protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. 

Are you the primary cardholder for the credit card account?
Was the invoice from the retailer in your name?
Did you pay them directly or via an intermediary like PayPal

S75 just replicates your rights from the merchant to the bank. Depending on the answers to the above you may be able to mirror your claim against your bank but will still have to substantiate that it was delivered damaged and not damaged by you. 

DistortedVision

Yes I am the primary cardholder
Invoice was in my name
I paid directly using my credit card not PayPal.

DistortedVision

It seems impossible to substantiate that it was delivered damaged and not damaged by myself.
Unsure how to deal with this.

DullGreyGuy

DistortedVision said:

Yes I am the primary cardholder
Invoice was in my name
I paid directly using my credit card not PayPal.

Ultimately contact your bank and discuss. I would never lie to my bank but I wouldn't add unnecessary details unless explicitly asked (eg that it was intended to be a gift). 

Most banks only give you the option of raising a dispute rather than explicitly saying you want a S75. In most cases they will raise a chargeback first before considering it under S75