The bank said it could do nothing because he had authorised the transactions by entering his card details on the website. As a goodwill gesture, it refunded the amount charged to his card.

However, Ravi didn’t think the bank had properly considered his complaint. He also believed the merchant had not been held accountable, so he brought his complaint to us.

Our investigation

We found that the bank had failed to properly advise Ravi about the chargeback process and that it could have required the merchant to provide evidence Ravi had authorised the transaction. As a result of the bank’s poor handling of the complaint, Ravi had missed the opportunity to dispute the transaction.

Outcome

The bank agreed its service to Ravi had been poor and offered $500 as compensation for inconvenience. We advised him we thought this was a reasonable offer and he accepted it.