Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Miss K purchased a £1,000 events package at Winter Wonderland using her debit card and disputed the transaction, claiming the package was not provided as agreed due to poor service, food quality, and staff behaviour. Barclays raised a chargeback, which the merchant defended with terms and conditions, CCTV footage, and an offer of partial refund for unused vouchers. Barclays closed the chargeback after Miss K failed to provide further information by the deadline, and reversed the temporary credit. The ombudsman found that Barclays acted fairly in accepting the merchant's valid defence and that the chargeback scheme is not intended to resolve all service quality disputes, particularly where partial services were received.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclays acted fairly in raising the chargeback under the dispute condition for goods not as described. The merchant provided a valid defence supported by terms and conditions and CCTV evidence. Under chargeback rules, the dispute amount is limited to the unused portion of cancelled service, and the merchant's offer of a refund for unused vouchers aligned with this. The ombudsman concluded that even if Barclays had proceeded, Miss K would not have obtained a full refund as part of the services were used. The temporary credit was made sufficiently clear as provisional. While the ombudsman acknowledged Miss K's serious concerns about service quality and staff behaviour, these matters do not fall within the scope of what the chargeback scheme is designed to resolve. The merchant's later withdrawal of the partial refund offer was not Barclays' responsibility.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website