Partially upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Bank of Scotland plc trading as Halifax

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H purchased unsuitable bike lights for £203.02 and requested Halifax's help recovering his funds after the supplier refused refund. Halifax pursued a chargeback claim, but after the supplier disputed it and Halifax did not receive requested supporting information, Halifax withdrew the claim and re-debited the amount. Halifax subsequently refunded the full amount as a gesture of goodwill and paid £60 compensation for service delays. Mr H complained that Halifax should have pursued a Section 75 claim instead and that he experienced poor customer service including a missed manager callback. The Ombudsman found Halifax's decision to pursue chargeback first was reasonable and that Mr H suffered no financial loss since he received full refund. The complaint was partially upheld regarding customer service failures, with the Ombudsman ordering Halifax to pay £200 total compensation (£60 already paid, £140 additional).

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Ombudsman found that Halifax acted reasonably in pursuing a chargeback first rather than a Section 75 claim, as chargeback rights existed and had strict time limits. The Ombudsman determined that Section 75 financial limits would have excluded some items anyway, so Mr H would not have recovered the full amount under that route. Since Mr H received full refund of the disputed transaction amount, he suffered no financial loss. However, the Ombudsman upheld the complaint regarding customer service failures, including delayed responses and a missed manager callback, warranting compensation for distress and inconvenience.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website