Not upheld: chargeback and section 75 claim handling; alleged misrepresentation and breach of contract complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Tesco Bank

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L complained to Tesco Bank about a hotel stay he paid for with his credit card, claiming the hotel was misrepresented as 5-star with satellite TV when it was neither, and that it was unclean with rusty furniture. He requested a 50% refund. Tesco declined a chargeback claim as Mr L had stayed the full duration and offered a 10% refund (£82.50) plus £75 compensation for service failings under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The ombudsman found that Tesco acted fairly, as the chargeback claim had no reasonable prospect of success under MasterCard rules and Mr L failed to provide sufficient evidence of breach of contract or misrepresentation for the section 75 claim. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Tesco correctly assessed that the chargeback claim had no reasonable prospect of success because Mr L had utilised the full booking and chargeback rules typically only succeed when consumers cancel and return early. For the section 75 claim, Mr L failed to provide sufficient evidence of breach of contract or misrepresentation. The 5-star description was from a third-party website, not C's own website, and Mr L was not promised satellite TV in his specific room. The ombudsman noted that cleanliness standards are subjective and that Mr L did not raise issues with the hotel during the stay to allow remediation. A 10% price reduction was considered fair given Mr L received the full service. The £75 compensation for service failings was appropriate.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website