Upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S paid £2,424 for a flight upgrade bid on Flight 1 using her Nationwide debit card. The upgrade confirmation email arrived after the flight departed, and her boarding passes showed economy seats. Although E later provided a flight manifest claiming business class seats, the ombudsman found this evidence unreliable due to discrepancies and the fact that E's other evidence appeared to relate to Flight 2, which Mrs S was not disputing. Nationwide initially pursued a chargeback but closed it without taking the claim to Visa arbitration. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Nationwide should have progressed the claim as there was reasonable prospect of success, and ordered a refund of £2,424 plus interest.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mrs S did not receive confirmation of the Flight 1 upgrade before departure, contrary to E's stated policy. The successful upgrade for Flight 2 resulted in booking confirmation changes, but no such changes appeared for Flight 1, suggesting the upgrade was not properly processed. E's evidence contained discrepancies, with ticket numbers matching the Flight 2 upgrade value rather than Flight 1. On balance of probabilities, there was a reasonable prospect of success at Visa arbitration because E failed to demonstrate clearly that Mrs S received and could use the upgrade. Nationwide should have progressed the claim to arbitration rather than closing it.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website