I have thought about legal options, but honestly, the time, effort (and possibly cost) is not worth it for the amount involved. I’ve kinda written off the refund, for me it’s not the end of the world. But I’m just really incensed that a business can act in this way and get away with it.
The problem is that Wotif say they have processed the refund, and neither I or my bank have any record of receiving it. I haven’t changed banks or updated my card since making the purchase. And in fact when they advised me of the refund, they quoted my name and last four digits from my card, and advised it may take 15 days to show up. Maybe, after 40 days waiting, I’m just being impatient!
I’ll see my bank again based on advice from Grahroll above, and wait a bit longer to see if it turns up.
Thanks for your advice and interest.
I presume you have the notice from Wotif about your refund, showing the details like date and account used, and can show that to your card issuer bank.
All the major card networks have chargeback codes that apply to a refund issued but not received. For instance MC 4853. Visa 85.
Clearly you and your issuer bank can see no such transaction has occured. And that refund transaction would be well inside the 120 day limit.
Apologies that I may have missed part of the plot. @gregr and @grahroll have made many good points and Wotif should have and be able to provide you with a transaction number of their refund processing for a trace, very different from what you alluded to that might be a ‘contact ticket number’ for your complaint/inquiry about the missing refund.
Have they, as it appears, refused to provide it or assist in tracing it and just stonewalled that ‘it has been processed, case closed’?
If you cannot make contact with a person at Wotif able and willing to engage and assist you could try to get assistance from Expedia Group Corporate
1111 Expedia Group Way W.
Seattle, WA 98119
+1-206-481-7200
There are many useful names at the end of the most recent annual report. Even an executive’s admin who screens incomings often can and will assist.
All, in the interests of closure, the matter regarding my refund from Wotif is now resolved. It turns out that the payment was processed in October by Wotif as they claimed, but for some reason, the banking system backdated the transaction to March when I made the original purchase. This meant that the transaction was not visible to me on internet banking (only goes back 90 days) nor was it visible to bank tellers in the normal system they have access to. There was a reference to the credit in a .pdf statement from October, but does not show up on any of the online transaction statements or records. I don’t usually check the .pdf statements in detail, my assumption being that they are the same as the online statements. It’s a confusing system to say the least.
I’ve spoken to my bank four times re this matter, and each time they assured me no refund was processed. It was only when I was transferred to a specialist bank operator that the matter was resolved.
So it turns out that Wotif were correct when claiming the refund was processed, it’s just that I could find no record of it.
Thanks to all for the advice given regarding this matter. It’s been an interesting process,
Rusti
Congratulations it has all been sorted.
I wonder if they did a transaction reversal of the original March transaction rather than doing a separate transaction for the refund. This may have backdated the refund reversal transaction to March.
That being how it was done it will result in a discrepancy in more recent statements where the closing and opening balances will have a discrepancy equal to the amount of the back dated credit? Assume your bank issues monthly or quarterly account statements by paper or pdf. It’s rare but I’ve previously been issued an amended statement to reflect corrections of bank errors. More typically the corrections appear in the most recent statement.
It’s a strange process. I don’t get paper bank statements any more. When I checked the .pdf statement (not something I normally do), there is a reference to the credit in my October statement, but dated March. There is still no reference to the credit in any of my online statements. So at some point, there must have been an adjustment to the balance, but it’s not obvious in any online statements where or when that occurred. Its also curious that other refunds I’ve received all appear online on the date of refund.
In future, if expecting a credit or refund, it pays to always check your paper and/or .pdf statements, and don’t rely on online statements. Also, if you contact your bank regarding unusual transactions, don’t assume the person you’re dealing with has access to all relevant information. There are systems within systems, and they may not have access to all your data.
Anyway, this is probably a very rare occurrence, and unlikely to affect many people. Case closed!
So what happened was not a refund as such. It was a reversal of a transaction.
I use a home accounting system that tracks all my income and expediture. I reconcile that with bank statements every month, and that would show up as an obvious discrepancy. Accounting balance different to bank account balance.
