Not upheld: refund claim handling - chargeback and Section 75 claim administration complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Tesco Bank

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Tesco Bank improperly handled his refund claim after discovering that some advertised performers would not attend an event he had purchased tickets for using his Tesco Bank credit card. Mr S had not attended the event after allegedly being advised by Tesco Bank that this would improve his chances of obtaining a refund. Tesco Bank declined both a chargeback claim and a Section 75 claim. The ombudsman found that the promotional material did not guarantee specific performers would appear, the booking agent's terms permitted line-up changes, and the debtor-creditor-supplier relationship required for Section 75 was not established. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the promotional material stating fans would 'have the opportunity to see' performers did not constitute a clear guarantee that specific performers would definitely appear, and therefore the service was not defective or not as described for chargeback purposes. For the Section 75 claim, the ombudsman determined that the necessary debtor-creditor-supplier relationship was not established because the booking was in Mrs S's name while Mr S was the debtor, and even if it had been valid, there was insufficient evidence of breach of contract or misrepresentation given the booking agent's terms explicitly permitted line-up changes. The advice to not attend was reasonable as it preserved Mr S's position for claiming the service was not used.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website