How to get money back from a bank (Light Blue Touchpaper)
I got a refund from the NatWest after a dodgy debit appeared on the credit card my wife uses. The bank’s dispute resolution mechanism turned out to be unserviceable, but we got the money back promptly when we sued them in the small claims court. The story is, I believe, an instructive one for people interested in bank security or payment systems regulation.
I have put online the documents which tell the story. A debit of £126.51 appeared last June from “Ian Travel Services” about which there are many complaints online. My wife phoned the bank and didn’t get anywhere. So I wrote to them asking to reverse the transaction or provide evidence that it was made with our mandate.
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The following month they wrote back saying that “we are governed by MasterCard International, who are the governing body for credit card transactions” and had to abide by their rules, under which our complaint was now out of time. This is nonsense on stilts; my contract is with the bank, who may not debit my account without my mandate, and if the bank enters into a contract with MasterCard that prevents it from discharging its obligations to me then that’s the bank’s problem, not mine. The bank suggested i get legal advice, or go to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Local Trading Standards or the Financial Ombudsman Service. Now I documented the failings of the Ombudsman in an earlier post, so I decided to go straight to the heart of the matter and sue the bank in the small claims court.
The bank settled at once.
Wow. Read the whole article. It makes you wonder how many other disputes should be settled this way. Ross mentions that the bailiffs enforce a lot of judgements about Easyjet refunds too.
Half the battle is knowing your entitlements in law.
