Money That's What I Want

As readers will recall I had a 'disputed transaction' with my bank over a number of theatre tickets from an internet company called Seatwave paid for with my card, transactions which I did not make.

When I reported the disputed transaction I subsequently received a letter which initiated the very much anticipated “nothing to do with us” response. The letter stated:

I would like to point out that this transaction has been initiated through ‘Verified by Visa’ or VBV. With transactions like these where VBV has been used as a verification tool, all details processed are fully authenticated against your personal information held with [my bank] before authorisation will be granted

As a result [my bank] do not have any immediate chargeback rights which would enable us to retrieve your funds. We are therefore only able to advise that you continue your dispute with the merchants directly if further resolve is needed.

If I could help you further I would, but unfortunately my hands are completely tied, as in accordance with the operating rules and regulations we have no chargeback claim against the merchant’s banker’s for this circumstance.

Nice try. Clearly there is reluctance to even investigate and instead to try to pass the buck hoping to fob us off. The law somewhat differs. My response sent yesterday was as follows:

Dear Ms xxxxx

Ref: XXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your letter, dated 30th October, regarding the dispute on our debit card with Seat Wave Tickets debited 28th October 2013.

It is with considerable regret that we cannot accept your explanation that you are unable to reimburse our account due to your hands being tied because it was “Verified by Visa”.

My wife and I did not authorise this transaction. Not only were we unaware of the company Seat Wave Tickets until it appeared on our statement (we had to Google it), but crucially my wife is disabled, thus wheelchair-bound, therefore any trip to the theatre requires liaising with them directly due to disability requirements. This is a situation reflected in our joint account records which show no such transactions with theatre ticket internet sites for many years.

As I’m sure you are aware FCA Rule BCOBS 5.1.11R states:

"(1) Where a banking customer denies having authorised a payment, it is for the firm to prove that the payment was authorised.

(2) Where a payment from a banking customer's account was not authorised by the banking customer, a firm must, within a reasonable period, refund the amount of the unauthorised payment to the banking customer and, where applicable, restore the banking customer's account to the state it would have been in had the unauthorised payment not taken place."

Succinctly put it means that it is for [my bank] to prove we did authorise this transaction, which cannot be proved precisely because we did not. Therefore we consider this an unresolved unauthorised transaction.

Please take this letter as a formal request to investigate further and reimburse our account accordingly. If you are unable to do so then we request that you escalate this unauthorised transaction via normal internal escalation procedures.

We look forward to your prompt reply.

Yours sincerely

The letter was sent by Special Delivery and arrived just before midday today, at around 2pm our account was credited with the full amount.

I have to say it has been resolved a little quicker than I expected. I anticipated I would have to request a 'Letter of deadlock' before taking it to the ombudsman.

It doesn't stop banks trying it on though.

Disputed Transaction

Annoyingly, I've just discovered that one of my cards has been cloned and used to buy a number of theatre tickets from an internet company called Seatwave, which I confess I've never heard of until I Googled it.

Given the card used I know it must have been cloned having paid for some petrol at the Tibshelf service station on the M1 on my return from Harrogate - what is it with service stations? It's not the first time.

So now I have to face the irritations of waiting for a new card and for the money to be refunded from my bank. I’ve noticed that since the introduction of chip and pin there has been a greater insistence of the card provider disputing the ‘disputed transaction’ to place the onus on the card holder to prove that they weren’t negligent or fraudulent, despite that the onus is on your provider to prove that you have been:

But, despite clear rules that state banks can only refuse to refund a customer if he or she has acted "fraudulently" or had been "grossly negligent", there is growing evidence that the banks are taking a tougher line and refusing a refund – in some cases for the sole reason the thief used the card with a merchant the account holder had also done business with.

Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the account holder was miles away at the time, and it could not have been them, some banks have been insisting their customer is liable.

Interestingly the Cairn Hotel in Harrogate tried to insist on keeping my card (a different one) behind the bar when I requested to open a bar tab - absolutely no chance. The barman in question looked a little puzzled when I informed him that to do so would be negligence on my behalf and a breach of the terms and conditions to allow my card out of my sight.

Anyway, like last time, I have informed my bank that should they continue to drag their heels, and especially if it has to go up to the Ombudsman, I will be invoicing them for my phone calls and my time in dealing with it. I charge a reasonable hourly rate.