The start of the year is one of the busiest times for refunds. You may be looking to get refund because you cancelled a hotel reservation. It could be that you got debited twice at the merchant shop due to network problems.

Whatever the reason is, it is important to have an idea of how long it takes for a refund to come back on purchases made using your debit card or credit card.

Timescale

The refund process is not as straightforward when returning something you bought with a debit or credit card, according to www.thinkmoney.co.uk

This is so because the retailer has to transfer the money to your bank before you can receive it in your bank account.

The length of time this will take really depends on the organisation that’s refunding you. A debit card refund can take as long as 10 working days to arrive. This means a refund request may take two weeks or more at times.

paid for a service that you didn’t receive,
bought faulty or counterfeit goods, or
didn’t receive your goods from a company that went bust.
Your payment card provider doesn’t legally have to offer chargeback. Instead, it’s a voluntary agreement between card providers and card issuers. This means there’s no guarantee that you’ll get your money back.

Tips for getting refunds on disputed card transactions (chargeback)

Sometimes you may want to dispute a card transaction if:

—The transaction was not authorised by you, or put through more than once.

—The supplier did not deliver the goods or services you paid for

—The goods were delivered to you but were faulty or not as described

You should contact the supplier first and ask for a refund. If the supplier will not refund your money and you paid using a credit or debit card, your bank may agree to reverse the transaction. This is called a chargeback.

In order to start a chargeback, you should contact your card provider (the bank or the card company who issued the card) immediately. Give them details of the transaction you are disputing and request that they follow it up with the supplier’s merchant, which is the bank that processes card transactions for the shop or company that debited your card.

According to www.ccpc.ie.com, there are numerous reasons why a sale can be charged back to the seller, and these are set out under the rules of the various credit and debit card schemes, such as Visa and MasterCard’s.

Each card scheme has its own set of rules for chargebacks which can vary from scheme to scheme. In order to issue these cards, your provider signs up to these rules and they must investigate any transaction you dispute.

Most schemes offer full chargeback rights to consumers. But with some debit cards schemes, you cannot use the chargeback facility if you do not receive the goods. For example, if you bought something online and the business did not send the goods, then you cannot chargeback what you paid if you used some unpopular cards to pay for it. If you are buying online, think about using Visa, Visa Debit or MasterCard as these schemes offer a chargeback facility if the goods are not delivered.

Dispute rules for each card scheme vary. This can be important if a retailer or service provider you have done business with goes out of business.

If there is a transaction on your bank account or credit card statement that you do not recognise, contact your bank or card issuer straight away.

If you request a chargeback and you are not happy with the response from your card provider, you can make a complaint.

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