Customer had no valid chargeback right over unsatisfactory accommodation

Categories:

Chargebacks, Bank decisions,

Summary:

Heather booked three weeks’ accommodation in a self-contained apartment through an internet booking site. At the end of the stay, however, she complained to the site about several problems with the accommodation, saying she would not have stayed the full three weeks if alternative accommodation had been available. It refunded her deposit but declined to refund anything else. She asked the bank to dispute the transaction through her credit card company. The bank said it could dispute only the amount of the service not used. In Heather's case, she had stayed for the entire three-week booking, so there was no unused amount that could be refunded. Heather maintained that she wanted to dispute the full amount and complained to us.

Published:

May 2025

Our investigation

Banks do not have to act on a customer’s request and dispute a transaction with a credit card company or merchant if no valid chargeback right exists. In this case, there was no valid chargeback right. The credit card company’s rules were clear that a chargeback right applied only to the unused portion of a service, and there was no unused portion. Banks can attempt goodwill chargebacks directly with a merchant's bank – something Heather believed the bank should have done – but the bank knew the booking site was prepared to refund only the deposit, making it pointless to attempt such an approach.