First off - never get anything on credit you can't afford. It'll all end in tears - so don't.

 

But if you have paid over £100 for something with your credit card (not debit card or charge card), then you have a comeback if it goes wrong.

 

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the credit card company is "equally and severally liable" if there is a breach of contract on a sale. For example if you pay over £100 for mechanical work on your motor and there is a breach of contract (late delivery, departure from agreed work, not reaching agreed specs etc), the credit card company is just as liable as the company who let you down. So if the company won't cough up, the credit card has to.

 

But they won't tell you this.

 

If you have such a problem - call your local Trading Standards people.

 

HTH - Gio

Most Credit Card companies are happy to fix this so please dont think that they will deny every thing when you phone up. Most credit card compaines actually advertise the fact that items are insured for loss or damage, but I didnt thing that it went as far as services too.

 

But thinking about it, what really happens is, the Credit Card company actually buys the product and then you pay them back later, so in essence you buy the product from them, thus they are repsonsibe for the product.

 

Good work Gio.

 

I think that things like these should be put on the site some where.

A few weeks ago I find that by law you have time after you bought a product to review whether is meets your standards and needs, and you have the right to ask for a full refund on return of the product if it doesnt meet your requirements/needs as long as its returned in the condition you bought it in. Also only offering store credit is illegal too. You have the right to FULL REFUND in cash or credit on the card you bought it with.

However the law doesnt state how long a reasonable time is, but most stores offer 14 day return. Amazon offer 30 full return.

 

Stuart.

Good points Stuart - I did a bit of law back in the '80s based on the Sale of Goods Act. I think this has now been superceded by various Consumer Protection Acts but don't ask me - ask a lawyer! (Or Trading Standards - they're free!)

 

I believe that the cover for buying products is as you say.

 

The reason I posted is that I thought services were covered as well. So when a workshop did crap work on my ZX, I wrote to the credit card people in November and called them up many times.

 

The upshot is that they eventually started to say that it was nothing to do with them and call someone else. After hours of this runaround, it was the Trading Standards people who told me that the credit card was telling porkies.

 

Their liability is nothing to do with insurance or chargeback or the million of things they tried to fob me off with. They are liable under the Consumer Credit Act when there is a breach of contract.

 

I am told that they try to hide this - which is what happened to me - so I thought I would flag it up.

 

We all need all the help we can get! :D

 

Cheers - Gio

In February 2001 I had a turbo problem and took my 300ZX TT to a Nissan main dealer. I asked if their mechanics were familiar with the 300ZX TT & told yes they'd worked on them before.....

After a period of time it became blatently obvious that they didn't have a bloody clue - they spent more time emailing/talking to Nissan UK than working on my car. The outcome was that they excitedly told me they could take the LH turbo out without removing the engine... incidently the replaced ECUs etc etc which they charged me for!!!! (@£2,500)

In September 2001 BANG no f...in turbo

Guess what... no dealer either. I took it to another main dealer where it became obvious that the mechanic knew his stuff and loved 300ZX's After removing the LH Turbo his words were that he'd never seen anything like it - blown to smitherins caused by not replacing the oil feed pipe, lack of flushing etc etc etc they even put it in writing for me to persue the original bodge merchants.

Nissan UK denied it was there problem as I'd done over 12000 miles without a service!!! When I looked at the invoice the speedo recording had been entered wrong by the mechanics!!

I do about 5000 miles/year - (Car off road between Oct & Apr + 2 other family cars for work etc) - this year @ 3000 how the fu@k could I do 12k between Feb and Sep (PS the car was off the road all March for a respray) The credit card company said that it was over 6 months since I'd reported it, so I had to swallow a bitter/expensive pill. After reading these forum comments I might ressurect this with trading standards & the credit card company....

Alex

Alex, sh1tty story, good luck mate.

I thought it was anything over £50 and you could get your money back from the credit card company?

My brother has personal experience of this - the liability is exactly as reported on this thread. However, to recover funds, the credit card company has to be sued in the same way as you would the original company. The advantage is that the credit card company are still there normally even if the company aren't.

 

It took him about 18 months and that was via the small claims court. He successfully got the money from the credit card company and, in parallel, they got the money from the ex-company's directors.

 

One other thing I am a current sufferer from is that if you set up a regular payment on your credit card (mine is for Freeserve Broadband), you or the credit card company cannot stop them claiming. Even if you cancel the credit card, the rules mean the card company pays out and claims the money from you.

 

Therefore, in my case, because Freeserve refuse to stop collecting for a service they are not providing, I have no choice but to pay and try to reclaim the money.

 

My advice - NEVER set up a regular credit card payment. Always use standing order or direct debit where it the consumer who has the protection.

 

Dave

Do the credit card guarantees apply for service bought over the internet ?

yes - you still pay for it with the card

Originally posted by Ajay

yes - you still pay for it with the card

 

I just thought that contacting the site may prove difficult (for you or trading standards etc.), especially if it's a rogue/dodgy site.

I had a thought - checked with Trading Standards http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk and apparently this even applies to goods and services bought from foreign countries - as long as your credit card company is UK.

 

So if you had work carried out abroad or bought something from (say) Japan over the internet and it goes wrong due to Breach of Contract, you can get your money back from the credit card co.

 

The point about the credit card and the dodgy company being equally and severally liable is that if dodgyco does a runner leaving you hundreds of squids down, the credit card company must reimburse you.

 

Cheers - Gio

Same old story, the only ones to benefit will be solicitors!!!

If I had a £1 for everytime a solicitor told one of my client's they had a solid case I'd be a rich man and wouldn't bother @ £2,500.

Story normally starts like that, then Oh we need £1k up front to pay for the fees which will be in the region of £2k, then months later, a) perhaps you'd better settle out of court (with naff all) or b) you lost the case, invoice for £4k + £4k of other parties fees!!!!

Perhaps put this one down to a bad experience??

Be positive - at leat me an the car have still got each other.....

Alex:)