Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S purchased windows via credit card for over £4,000 and reported multiple quality and specification issues after delivery. He requested Santander refund the payment via a Section 75 claim. Santander declined, citing insufficient evidence of breach of contract or misrepresentation, noting the supplier was willing to remedy issues. Mr S complained that Santander should have attempted a chargeback and failed to support him. The ombudsman found Santander acted fairly by requiring independent evidence rather than accepting Mr S's testimony alone, reasonably relying on the supplier's offer to remedy issues, and correctly determining a chargeback had poor prospects of success. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr S failed to provide sufficient evidence to Santander to substantiate claims of breach of contract or misrepresentation. While Mr S provided testimony based on his professional experience, Santander reasonably requested independent expert opinion or substantive evidence to demonstrate the goods were not as ordered or were faulty. The ombudsman noted that even with compelling evidence, the supplier's offer to remedy issues was a potentially appropriate remedy. Regarding chargeback, the ombudsman found no reasonable prospect of success given the evidence provided, and noted that a chargeback would have been limited to the transaction amount whereas Mr S's claim exceeded this. On customer service matters, the ombudsman found Santander appropriately withheld supplier information due to data protection concerns and provided call recordings in all available formats.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website