Rachel vowed to ‘not give up’ after the drama on her wedding day
A bride says a wardrobe malfunction on her wedding day sparked a wrangle with her bank which lasted almost two years. Rachel, who did not give her last name, was enjoying her big day when the zip on her £1600 wedding dress broke.
She waited until after the wedding to contact the shop where she had bought the dress from to notify them of the problem. She was told they would look into it but she never heard anything else.
That made her apply for a chargeback. This is a rule that a number of debit, credit, and charge cards have to claim your money back when you do not receive the goods or services you paid for. It is not a legal right.
Unfortunately for Rachel, her quest was denied and, for the best part of two years, she thought that was the end of the matter. However, she decided to put in a Section 75 claim, which is when your credit card company has a legal responsibility to help you with something if there is a problem with an item or service that you paid more than £100 for.
Speaking to MoneySavingExpert – the site set up by Martin Lewis – Rachel explained: “On my wedding day, the zip on my wedding dress broke. I contacted the shop after the wedding and they apologised and told me they would investigate, but I never received a response.
“I asked my bank to chargeback but it was unsuccessful and there was nothing I could do. Nearly two years later, almost on a whim, I submitted a Section 75 claim with my evidence to support my case. The bank upheld the claim in part and offered me £800 (50% of the purchase price).”
Chargeback and Section 75
If you buy something and you do not feel you have received what you have paid for, you can attempt a chargeback. This is when you ask your bank to ‘reverse the transaction’ and give you a refund.
Terms and conditions vary depending on your card supplier, but it is basically you bak asking the supplier’s bank for a refund. It should still work even if the supplier has since gone bust as it retrieves the money from the supplier’s bank and not the supplier itself – although MoneySavingExpert warns that this is not always the case.
The key point is that you must be able to prove a breach of contract and the firm in question will not give you a refund. You must ask the business involved for a refund first. You are usually covered for 120 days, meaning any problem that arises after this period is usually not protected. You are also not protected when using PayPal, or when you only pay the deposit on the card.
Section 75 is named after the part of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 where it can be found. This lets you raise a claim against your bank or lender for a breach of contract or misrepresentation by the supplier of goods or services.
The Financial Ombudsman Service says that, to launch a Section 75 claim, you should:
- explain to your bank or lender that you want them to help resolve an issue with something you paid for using a card or loan they provided
- mention that you’d like them to consider the chargeback and Section 75 process
- make sure you have supporting information about your dispute
The bank or lender should look at whether they can raise a chargeback or a Section 75 claim. If you are unhappy with their response, you can complain to them. If you are still not satisfied, the ombudsman may be able to help.
The ombudsman says: “The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is often relevant. This sets out the protection that consumers have when buying goods and services. For example, it says that goods should be of ‘satisfactory quality’ and services should be performed with ‘reasonable care and skill’.
“There are also other relevant laws that are specific to certain situations, such as purchases of package travel holidays. Your bank or lender should be able to tell you which laws apply to your situation, but if you’re unhappy with their response, you can raise a complaint.”
