Dilemma with requesting Mastercard chargeback

[infiniti]

Hi all I have a similar problem in that I bought an item (a car usb charger) of ebay and payed with a registered paypal account. The item arrived not as described (the cable length was ~0.75m instead of 1.5m) and faulty.

The seller (which is a company) will refund the money however I have to return the item at my own cost. I have tried to resolve through paypal however they have said that I must pay the return cost even though the item is significantly not as described and faulty as part of their T&Cs!

I paid with a lloyds tsb mastercard and asked them to dis[pute the transaction under section 75 to which they said that 3rd party (paypal) transactions are not covered to which I did some searching and this does appear to be the case. I then requested them to process a dispute and chargeback and they have said that again as it is a 3rd party payment processing transaction they cannot.

I have read on which.co.uk that mastercard chargebacks should be possible when paypal has been used however the bank are saying that it is not.

Does anyone know definitively whether MC chargebacks are possible and if so how do i prove this to Lloyds card services?

Alternatively what are my options?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Tony]

I would be interested to see where it states that returns have to be paid for faulty/not as described items. Was it a UK trader?

This will be of interest, essentially if it were a Visa card then you would be covered.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/paypal-chargeback/

Tony

 

[infiniti]

Thanks Tony, that is useful however the card I used was a Matercard credit card issued by Lloyds. The trader is UK based and to add I did try and resolve with them first and again they will give a refund however will not pay for the return postage.

The information I found on Mastercard chargebacks is found on the which.co.uk site > advice > your rights > your rights when paying by credit or debit card > chargeback on credit and debit cards

(I cannot post links)

The link between the transaction and the funds coming from my mastercard credit card is clear - the statement entry has the traders name after paypal.

Is the information on the Which website correct or is Lloyds' opinion correct?

Any advice as to how this can be clarified in a manner that I can then present to Lloyds (so long as the which information is correct)?

 

[Tony]

I believe that the they will only do a chargeback if the transaction is fraudulent - I was meaning to write to Mastercard to get clarification about this.

The other option you have is to make a small claim - see my signature. You have to pay £35 but you will get it back if you win and they are able to pay.

I would write the letter a letter stating that your statutory rights have been breached as defined in the Sale of Goods Act and will be starting a small claim and reporting them to Trading Standards unless the return postage is paid within three weeks.

Best wishes,

Tony

 

[infiniti]

I believe that the they will only do a chargeback if the transaction is fraudulent - I was meaning to write to Mastercard to get clarification about this.

Thanks again Tony, I have just emailed mastercard UK office to get clarity on this =- I shall let you know the outcome.

 

[infiniti]

I have the following response from Mastercard although am not wholly happy as it still goes against the information on the Which website:

Further to your query below that you raised on 8th September.

Firstly MasterCard do not handle direct queries from Cardholders as we do not have the relationship with you as a customer, so apologies if there has been a delay in coming back to you with any information.

What I can tell you is that LTSB have informed you correctly. The chargeback right is determined by several factors - the merchant type, the transaction type, the reason for claim etc. In this case the issuer does not have chargeback rights as the merchant's obligation was only to transfer the funds and not to guarantee the delivery of the goods. What this means is that we see the transaction as between you and Paypal, rather than the trader who actually supplied the goods.

I understand that your Issuer will be contacting you directly with a view to resolving this query.

I hope that the above is of assistance

Regards

However Lloyds has now refunded the money as 'goodwill' so basically they or mastercard are not admitting liability...

This is slightly crazy as there appears to be a lack of consumer rights in this scenario which is being flaunted by paypal, mastercard and the issuing banks. Would be very upset if this happened on a paypal transaction for a large item from an international seller.

 

[MixedCase]

Closing the loop on this: the I think the window of opportunity for the merchant to dispute the chargeback has now expired: the only attempt they made to contact me was to return the item at my own expense, which I declined citing the relevant laws. So now I have an unwanted laptop battery to try to sell to compensate myself for the time, postage and printer paper involved in logging the chargeback request!