Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against American Express Services Europe Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs M purchased a bathroom vanity unit for £1,800 using her AMEX credit card in January 2025. The item was delivered in March 2025 but damage was not discovered until July 2025, four months later. Mrs M contacted AMEX on 24 July 2025 to dispute the transaction, but this was 13 days after the 120-day chargeback deadline had expired. AMEX declined both a chargeback and a Section 75 claim, citing the expired timeframe and insufficient evidence that damage occurred on delivery rather than during storage. The ombudsman upheld AMEX's decision, finding that the firm acted fairly in requiring evidence of damage on delivery and that the four-month delay made it reasonable to conclude the damage may have occurred after delivery.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that AMEX could not raise a chargeback because Mrs M's claim was made 13 days after the 120-day deadline expired. Regarding the Section 75 claim, the ombudsman concluded that AMEX fairly declined it because Mrs M failed to provide sufficient evidence that the damage occurred on delivery rather than during the four-month storage period. The ombudsman noted that the delivery images showed no apparent damage and that the passage of time created multiple possible causes of damage, making it reasonable for AMEX to require more certainty before accepting the claim.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website