Upheld: service failure, poor customer service, unfair treatment, failure to pay referral reward complaint against ZILCH TECHNOLOGY LIMITED

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F complained that he could not link his debit card to Zilch's app despite multiple attempts and contact with Zilch, and that Zilch refused to pay a referral reward for his wife's account without providing evidence. Throughout the complaints process, Zilch failed to provide clear explanations for the technical errors or evidence supporting its claim that the referral link was not used. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Zilch had provided poor service and treated Mr F unfairly, and directed Zilch to resolve the card linking issue, pay the referral reward, and compensate Mr F £150 for distress and inconvenience.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Throughout the complaints process, Zilch failed to provide any evidence or information showing the issues were due to Mr F's actions or inaction, and failed to provide evidence that the referral link was not used. The ombudsman found that Zilch had not engaged meaningfully in the process and had treated Mr F unfairly by providing poor service, inadequate explanations, and refusing to pay the referral reward without supporting evidence. The appropriate remedy was to resolve the technical issue, pay the referral reward, and compensate for distress and inconvenience.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website