Partially upheld: service failure in chargeback processing and handling complaint against Wirex Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H purchased jewellery overseas using a Wirex card, believing it to be genuine gold of true market value. Upon professional assessment in the UK, he found it was not of expected quality and raised a chargeback on 4 April 2025. Wirex failed to process the claim until 16 July 2025 after Mr H made multiple follow-up contacts. The chargeback was ultimately declined on 22 October 2025. The ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding Wirex's service failure, increasing compensation from £50 to £150, but did not uphold the complaint regarding the declined chargeback, finding insufficient evidence of merchant misrepresentation and that the delay did not contribute to the claim's decline.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding Wirex's service failure in not processing the chargeback claim promptly, finding that £50 compensation did not adequately reflect the inconvenience caused. However, the ombudsman did not uphold the complaint regarding the declined chargeback claim itself, finding that the delay in raising the claim did not contribute to its decline. The ombudsman concluded that Mr H had not provided sufficient evidence (specifically regarding gold purity and the professional assessment report) to support a successful chargeback, and therefore Mr H did not suffer financial loss due to Wirex's delay.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website