Dispute a transaction

• please check your order details, delivery date and any dispatch notes/tracking links provided by the retailer
• have you received any updates notifying you of changes or delays to your delivery date? Sometimes these might be in your junk mail folder
• goods are often left with neighbours so it may be useful to check with them before raising a dispute

For example:

• hotel bookings often have refund restrictions
• travel tickets can be non-refundable
• some places offer vouchers or cheques rather than cash refunds
• have you allowed sufficient time for a refund to be processed and credited back to your card/account?

Check your email inbox. Retailers often send confirmation emails which may state why a refund has not been received. (Don't forget to check your junk email folder).

• could additional charges have been added to a recent transaction? For example - taxes, service fees and card surcharges can be added to some payments
• could exchange rates be a factor? Currency amounts can often differ from the transaction amount at point of purchase. e.g. retailers may have offered a currency conversion service at the point of payment
• have you made multiple purchases to the retailer for different amounts? Some merchants might bundle smaller payments into one larger transaction

Chargebacks

A chargeback is a way for HSBC to try and recover your money in the event something goes wrong.

There is some useful information below that might help you solve the problem quickly and indicates what information you will need to have ready when you contact us.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act

In some cases, you may have protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This will apply where the transaction was made wholly or in part on an HSBC credit card and your dispute relates to a purchase of over £100 and under £30,000.

Section 75 provides protection for either of the following:

• a breach of contract (eg non-receipt of goods/services or goods that don’t match the description of what you ordered)
• misrepresentation (eg the retailer made false promises to get you to purchase their goods or service)

Find out more about Section 75.

If your dispute is unsuccessful we will automatically review for a Section 75 claim and may be in contact again if we need any further information.

In most cases you'll need to try to solve the problem by contacting the retailer first. However, if you've not been able to do so and have raised a dispute with us, this is what happens next:

The retailer and their bank can respond with comments and evidence of their own. Once we raise your dispute with the retailer, their investigation can take up to 45 days. We may contact you at a later date and ask for more information to continue with your dispute. This could be:

• evidence of your attempts to cancel the transaction or return the goods
• a receipt or invoice
• the retailer's terms and conditions
• evidence of the retailer’s rejection of your dispute

Most disputes will be investigated within 3 months of the date we raise them with the retailer. We're getting a lot of queries at the moment, so your dispute may take longer to resolve, but we're working hard to try to keep within our normal timescales.

If flights, package holidays or events are cancelled it's important to refer to your contract and follow the supplier's refund/re-booking terms. You should do this before raising any dispute or Section 75 claim. This will help your claim if you choose to make one. 

You can raise a dispute for misrepresented goods or services in the following situations:

An online transaction where you purchased goods or digital goods for a trial period, introductory offer or one-off purchase, and were charged further amounts without warning. If you were not told that you would incur further costs, for example being entered into a subscription after your trial period, you can raise a dispute.

A transaction with a timeshare reseller or advertiser, or a transaction that recovers timeshare reseller fees.

The recovery, consolidation, reduction or amendment of existing financial products or services.

Technical services, technical support or computer software that was sold using inaccurate online advertisements, or that contains malicious software downloads.

Business opportunities in which the retailer suggests that an income will be generated, or recommends that the cardholder purchases additional items (such as better sales leads) to generate more income.

Investment products or services such as binary options or foreign exchange trading, where the retailer refused your requests to withdraw available balances.