David Lock

My understanding is that if you use say, a Barclaycard, to buy something and the company goes **** up before you get the goods than you can make a claim on Barclaycard.

Does this only apply for UK companies and UK services?

I may need to spend around £700 on an air ticket to S America which could well be from a foreign airline and I think it's right to be cautious these days.

Or is there another route that offers protection? TIA.

dl

boxst

I believe that it is anything purchased with the Credit Card which is why if you are good at paying it off every month Credit Cards are a great way to pay for things.

(The insurance company for my car went bankrupt and the credit card company paid it back)

Steve

David Lock

Thank you Steve. That's what I wanted to hear d

Coffin Dodger

You are protected under the consumer credit act. In effect anything bought on a credit card is bought using a loan even if you pay it back when your statement arrives. Due to this fact and that you haven't just paid cash for it then if the company you purchased from fail to deliver then you don't have to pay them.

You should always buy high value items, i.e. £100+, with a credit card for this reason. That and the fact that mine refunds me 1% of everything I buy with it means I use it for pretty much everything

David Lock

Thanks CD - even I can understand that

In fact it's my daughter who wants to travel and was going to buy a ticket with a cheque I think, or possibly her debit card. I said hold on.

Her Barclaycard limit is £600 which is not enough. I suppose they might increase it but I phoned their West Bengal branch and asked if she paid in say £300 into her Barclaycard account which would mean a credit balance could she then use this plus the credit limit to buy goods.

I was told no because this would mean that she had exceeded her credit limit. I said they didn't understand my question and she wouldn't be going over the limit. Yes she would they said. aaaaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh

On the 5th go, and after a village meeting, they said it would be OK. dl

speedking

I see what you're saying there, but I don't see why the credit card company would guarantee a purchase made with cash that they have not lent to you

e.g. what if she wanted to buy a £20k car. Would they guarantee that purchase? Rather than making a non-guaranteed payment by cash, you route it through your credit card provider and you get free insurance

David Lock

Yeah - I wondered that too. I don't think I would rely on a conversation I couldn't possibly prove. I think it's best to try and get the credit limit raised. I might try a call to B/C UK but I suspect you are correct. dl

RussBoy

Reason being is because it's two transactions in effect. You buying a product or service from the credit card (in effect), and the credit card company buying from the ultimate provider. This is why when things go belly up, you have right for recall from the card company because your transaction was with them, not the store/supplier etc.

I know this because I was fleeced by a now defunct Subaru dealership company a few years ago and Trading Standards explained this to me.


R

Coffin Dodger

But they have lent it too you, even if you pay the balance you were still in debt to them for at least a few weeks and that is why it falls under the remit of the consumer credit act.

As for buying a £20k car, only the privileged few have credit limits of that size, and most car dealers wouldn't want to know as they pay a percentage transaction charge on credit cards so even it it were on 2% on 20k that's £400 they'd be losing. Hence most will only take a debit card, draft, cheque, cash etc. If you were to somehow pay by credit card you are only insured for the cost of the car if you can prove that what you were sold wasn't fit for purpose or that the dealer failed to deliver or became bankrupt before you managed to pick the car up.

hodgy0_2

thats 100% correct -- the credit card company purchases the goods or services from the merchant not you. For a merchant to sign upto accepting visa they have to agree to fairly onerous conditions from the credit card company

David Lock

With genuine concern now about major companies going to the wall the concept of such a guarantee for major purchases is interesting. CD if I was a car dealer I think I would bite the arm off a customer wanting to use a credit card to actually make a purchase!! I'm a "Merchant" and pay 1.3% so fees aren't high and anyway can be charged to the customer. In the car scenario I expect the dealer would say that he is being charged 3% but would be prepared to go halves on this!!

And I don't think your actual credit limit would matter if you had deposited enough credit into your account which, with whatever credit you had, would cover the purchase price. This is the big question though dl

PaulC72

DL do you have to pay a fee to run debit cards through the system too?

David Lock

Yes but a fixed fee, something like 30p per transaction so peanuts. dl

speedking

CD did you read the original post? The OP's daughter will deposit some of the required cash with the CC company before making the purchase. Therefore they are not lending that part of the transaction.

They wouldn't anyway because the total exceeds her credit limit. Otherwise there would be no point in a credit limit.

My car example is not specific to cars, but just intended to point out that high value transactions made in this way would gain free insurance through the CC company with no cost.

Therefore I doubt that the original transaction would be covered. HTH.