Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Miss B purchased a designer handbag online and discovered undisclosed defects. Nationwide raised a chargeback on her behalf and credited her account pending investigation. The merchant offered to inspect the bag and refund if the issues were confirmed, but Miss B refused to return it due to concerns about transit loss. Nationwide discontinued the chargeback and re-debited her account, which Miss B claims caused financial difficulties. The ombudsman found Nationwide acted fairly as the chargeback could not proceed without the item being returned for inspection, and the credited funds were a loan with proper notice of re-debit given.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that chargeback is a card network dispute resolution process with specific rules, and Nationwide correctly raised the chargeback. When the merchant offered to inspect the item and provide a refund if the condition issues were confirmed, the impasse created by Miss B's refusal to return the bag meant there was no reasonable prospect of success for the chargeback to proceed. The ombudsman rejected Miss B's argument that returning the item would result in loss of refund rights, noting the merchant's terms and conditions clearly provided for refunds. The ombudsman found Nationwide gave appropriate notice of the re-debit and that the credit was a loan, not Miss B's money. While acknowledging Miss B's vulnerability and resulting stress, the ombudsman concluded Nationwide had not treated her unfairly and therefore had no obligation to take further action.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website