Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Sumup Payments Limited

Decision detail

Summary

H complained that SumUp Payments Limited delayed processing a refund for card readers after terminating their merchant services agreement. SumUp promised a refund within three weeks of receiving the terminals on 3 April 2025, but the £79.98 refund was not received until 29 April 2025, approximately four weeks later. H's director claimed the delay caused financial loss by preventing the purchase of new card readers and raffle tickets for an event. The ombudsman found that while SumUp did delay the refund and H's director should not have needed to chase payment, H failed to provide substantiating evidence of material inconvenience or financial loss, and therefore the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that SumUp did delay processing the refund beyond the promised three-week timeframe and that H's director may not have needed to chase the payment. However, the ombudsman found that the key issue was whether H suffered material inconvenience or financial loss. Despite being given a fair opportunity to provide evidence, H's director failed to substantiate the claimed losses. The ombudsman was not persuaded that a delay of a few days in receiving a payment of less than £100 caused material inconvenience or financial loss, particularly as H could have purchased the card readers and raffle tickets after receiving the refund, albeit later than desired.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website