Unfortunately, my banks have not been very helpful.
Instead, I requested all available information about my transactions and contacted the Acquirers directly. The results have been very positive.
All four Acquirers I have contacted have issued refunds — in some cases within 2 days and, at the latest, within one week.
Chargeback can work if your bank is willing to assist, but you generally only get one opportunity to pursue the chargeback and the applicable process is subject to a 120-day timeframe.
A direct complaint to the Acquirer is a different route. If you have the correct TRI and submit the complaint to the right Acquirer through the correct channel, the process can be much quicker. It may also be possible to complain even when the transaction is several years old, depending on the Acquirer's applicable regulatory framework and the type of complaint.
For example, the FCA generally allows complaints to be made within 6 years from the event, or, if later, 3 years from the date the consumer became aware that they had cause to complain.
In my experience, identifying the correct Acquirer and submitting a properly documented complaint is therefore extremely important.
In my cases, DECTA has been the only Acquirer that has taken a long time without any concrete result so far.
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