Not upheld: chargeback claim handling and card scheme rule compliance complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr R paid £1,000 to organisation W for a digital programme on 29 September 2025. He initially reported the payment as fraudulent on 15 October 2025, and Barclays submitted a chargeback claim. Mr R later recognised the transaction and withdrew the claim. In December 2025, Mr R sought to raise a second dispute based on W's failure to provide the service and refusal to honour a refund guarantee, but Barclays declined citing Visa scheme rules prohibiting multiple disputes for the same transaction. The ombudsman found that Barclays was bound by these scheme rules and had not acted unfairly, despite not warning Mr R of the consequences of withdrawing the initial claim.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclays is bound by Visa scheme rules which explicitly prohibit initiating a dispute for the same transaction more than once. Although the second dispute related to different grounds (service quality rather than fraud), the scheme rules do not permit a second chargeback claim. The ombudsman concluded that even if Barclays should have warned Mr R of the consequences of withdrawing the initial claim, this would not have changed the outcome because the initial claim was made in good faith. The ombudsman also found no obligation for Barclays to intervene further on a genuine payment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website