We asked Barclaycard for a refund but we get a lot of hot air
In June 2011 my wife booked a balloon trip with a firm called Go Ballooning to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. It was cancelled, as were the next eight rebooked attempts to fly, due to adverse weather.
After five occasions I asked Go Ballooning if they would refund us, but it referred us to its terms and conditions which stated that we might get a partial refund after 10 attempts, at their discretion. I understand that these attempts all had to be taken in the same year to qualify – not something that was practical for two people in full-time employment. In the autumn of 2012 the firm said it would be happy to extend our vouchers to include weekends, but when my wife tried to rebook in March we found it had gone into administration.
As she paid by Barclaycard, we asked it to refund us the £190 cost under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. However, it has refused, saying we were unable to offer written proof that Go Ballooning had offered to extend our contract.
I argued that repeated bookings and cancellations were evidence of this, but it refuses to accept this. There is nothing else I can provide Barclaycard with as further proof, but believe they are being pedantic when the facts are clear. Can you help? IH, Feltham, Hounslow
Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the credit card provider "jointly and severally liable" for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the company you are purchasing from. It means that as long as you paid for the goods or services (costing between £100 and £30,000) using your credit card, you can ask the card firm to reimburse you if you fail to get the goods or service you paid for.
This is why we keep banging on about using a credit card to pay for goods bought online – if they don't turn up, you can claim against the card provider. The trouble can be getting the card providers to honour these rules, as you and others have found.
In our view your claim had clear merit – Go Ballooning had gone bust and was in no position to honour the contract. We asked Barclaycard to re-examine your case and, having done so, it has agreed to repay you the £190 to your account as a gesture of goodwill.
Other readers take note. If you are buying anything where there is a possibility of the supplier going bust before they can supply the goods – a deposit on a used car is a good example – always use your credit card.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
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