Not upheld: chargeback handling and provisional refund reclamation complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss W complained that Santander unfairly reclaimed £180 from her account after she reported a disputed payment related to flight cancellation. Santander had raised a chargeback claim and issued a provisional refund, but reclaimed the funds when Miss W failed to respond to a 14-day request for a signed statement. The ombudsman found that Santander properly communicated the provisional nature of the refund and gave adequate notice of the required action. Although Miss W later provided evidence suggesting she may have been victim to an impersonation scam, the ombudsman determined this did not automatically entitle her to a refund and that Santander's actions were fair and reasonable. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Miss W's complaint focused on the fairness of Santander reclaiming the provisional refund without adequate notice, not on whether the payment was authorised. The ombudsman determined that Santander properly communicated that the refund was provisional, gave clear notice that a response was required within 14 days, and correctly sent correspondence to Miss W's registered address at the time. The merchant's evidence supported that the transaction was legitimate and authorised. Even if Miss W was victim to a scam, this does not automatically entitle her to a refund, and the evidence she later provided did not demonstrate a successful chargeback claim would have resulted.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website