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Thanks for the bump Reading up on here it seems the financial Ombudsman may not be the best route anyway so I am glad I started the thread and have been reading your forum. I have been looking up at the small claims court and price wise I should just about manage to afford it, Hopefully somebody can confirm a good route for me to go down or whether I would be wasting money with a case I can't win. If I do have a case and I am forced to go to the small claims court by Halifax I will be claiming for much more than the £120, the stress caused has been massive and within the time frames above my son has been with the crisis team again. Partly caused by worrying about this I feel. Banks are absolute animals they really are, talk to you like a child, try and trick you when talking on the phone, It has would me up so much I refuse to talk to the bank about anything regards this case and want any communications formal with written letters. Thanks again, Rosemary

Hi, Hopefully you can give advise on my next step regards my complaint. I am trying to be fair with my bank and only asking for my original payment of £120 to be reimbursed, I am not asking for payment for the time and effort I have put in to writing these letters and sending these recorded delivery, the 8% interest, and the added stress this has caused me as a pensioner and full time carer for my son who has severe mental health issues and trying to make sure he isn't sectioned again by making sure he is taking his medication. I really could do without all this on top. I feel if I don't get a satisfactory response this time I feel I will make a claim for the stress caused etc, the whole process has been shambolic from start to finish. Here is the time frame at the moment from start to finish and where I am currently at with my complaint :- 26/11/2014 - Item bought for £120 as a Christmas present for my grandson 5/01/2015 Item broken after just over a week, Emailed seller with no joy, so sent item off for repair, told it was unrepairable by a reputable company. 20/02/2015 (86 days after purchase) - sent letter recorded delivery to my bank asking to inititate a chargeback. 28/02/2015 (94 days after purchase) - Received letter from Fife office saying they needed proof that I had returned item, or at least tried all avenues to try and return item. 09/03/2015 (103 days after purchase) - After giving seller time to supply said information to return item and receiving no reply, I sent another letter recorded delivery with all information of trying to return item, I also sent photographic evidence of the damage to the item I got from the reputable company I sent the item to be repaired at. This letter was signed for at the Halifax office in Fife on the 10/03/2015. I received a text asking to ring the Fife office on the 16/03/2015 (110 days after purchase) I rang and they were unsure of why I was ringing, I explained the situation and the reference number of my complaint, They checked the system and were adamant that the letter I sent recorded delivery had never arrived I gave the tracking number and name of the person who signed for it. at the Fife office. They said it wasn't on the system so couldn't have been received, Not wanting to argue I said can I email all the information which I did on the 16/03/2015 (110 days after purchase) 07/04/2015 (132 days after purchase) I received a letter from head of debit card disputes saying I was now out of the time limits that Visa International set for disputing a debit card payment so therefore they would not be able to claim a chargeback for me and that is the end of the matter as far as they are concerned. I have sent a letter today giving them 14 days to rectify the situation, I keep all receipts and copies of information I send including tracking numbers which I have sent to her, which shows I was well inside the 120 day Visa International limit. I am unsure of my next step? Do I go to customer services, or go to the financial ombudsman? I am pretty certain Halifax debit card disputes will refuse to reimburse me as they can't now initiate a chargeback as it is over 120 days which Visa set, I just don't feel it is fair me being punished for shoddy administration practices which has happened in this case. They had the information well within the 120 day limit. Thanks, Rosemary