Hello all, A quick update for you. After complaining to the CEO of Barclays they tried to identify where the funds went but were not able to. They sent a letter to me to forward on to Samsung advising they undertake a locate trace on the funds. Lo and behold suddenly the refund appeared in my bank account after a week later of the letter being emailed to Samsung. Thanks to all for your help and assistance.

Just a quick update for those who are interested. As per dx100uk's advice a SAR has been sent to Barclays. The FOS have been informed and due to the workload a caseworker cannot be assigned until late March / early April however they will take on my complaint. In the meantime I've written a letter of complaint to the CEO Executive office. Someone from the Executive office emailed me back stating that they received my complaint and a person from the Executive team will contact me to discuss. That was over 6 days ago. I'm basically collating evidence against Barclays as Samsung is saying that they have paid the money and as per the check that they undertook on the 4th January 2024 the money on the Chargeback wasn't returned and therefore the onus is on Barclays to prove otherwise. Once I get all the information to hand I will take legal action against them. Once I get a moment I'll draft a letter of claim and post it up here. It's been manic at work and home so haven't really had a spare moment but will endeavour to get it written up.

Fair enough BankFodder thank you for the clarification. Will draft one up soon and post it here

Thanks BankFodder I will do when I have a moment

Hello all, Just an update for you. Samsung have got back to me. The ARN number they have given me is correct and that they stated that the money was refunded on the cancelled chargeback. Despite me telling them countless times that the money was returned to them, they've considered that the money has been sent and the matter is now closed. It's like I'm going round in circles. I think I should concentrate my efforts on the bank as BankFodder stated. They're the ones that game me false information re the Chargeback and now I'm in this mess. Can anyone give me pointers as to what I should do next with regards to obtaining money from the bank please? Thank you

No I understand thank you for your advice. It's really quite stressful I'm going to wait for Samsung to respond to my email. I've already filed a complaint with the FOS as it has been more than 8 weeks and I have a final letter. I'm under no illusion that this is an uphill battle and it won't be solved right away.

Thanks BankFodder I will have a sit down and think about this. I may even contact a Civil Litigation Solicitor to sort this mess out for me. It will eat into the refund but at least it takes the headache away.

Thanks all for the constructive feedback For the record I have followed protocol. When Samsung initially gave me the run around I contacted Citizens Advice Bureau almost immediately. They told me that I have to jump through certain hoops prior to attempting a claim via small claims court. I have followed that procedure and followed it up with official letters of complaint which were sent to Samsung followed 14 days later by a final notice letter informing Samsung that I will be taking them to court if I didn't hear from them in 14 days. This seemed to have done the trick as I got an email from a chap in the Presidential Escalation dept who has been liaising with the Payments Team. He has been passing me information from them and I have been the go between Samsung and Barclays. I am aware that card schemes don't allow a second chargeback to be issued. I have a final response letter from Barclays and it has been more than 8 weeks since the complaint I am not rushing and I have taken measured steps and followed advice from the CAB however they did not advise me to send a letter of claim to the debtor. I was instructed to send an official letter of complaint within that letter set out what has happened, ask if Samsung are willing to undertake a form of independent mediation and then ask why they're refusing to refund me. Then if I haven't heard from them I was told to follow that letter up with a final notice of intention of taking them to court and give them another 14 days prior to starting the small claims procedure which I have adhered to. Will read the letter of claim sticky thread but I'm somewhat miffed as to why this wasn't mentioned by the CAB. @BankFodder in my defence I contacted Samsung several times during which the refund was to be issued but they continued to give me the run around. It wasn't until the 6th November when it was the last day for the refund to be processed that I got fed up and contacted the CEO team to get this sorted out. I waited until the 8th November and explained the situation to the bank and they suggested that I commence a chargeback. If in the meantime Samsung try to refund me I can always cancel the Chargeback. Samsung contacted me on the 8th and stated that the Payments Team will not issue me a refund unless I cancel the chargeback it is then I called Barclays and after discussing it with advisor who gave me the incorrect information I cancelled the Chargeback. I informed Samsung that I had cancelled the chargeback and despite knowing this they continued with the chargeback process allowing for the funds to be transferred to the VISA online system and due to the chargeback being cancelled a dispute reversal was initiated and the money was sent back to Samsung. In hindsight I shouldn't have cancelled the Chargeback but when you have someone from Samsung advising me to cancel the chargeback I shouldn't have listened. As far as Samsung are concerned they made the refund through a cancelled Chargeback and that in my opinion is very sneaky. They can say that they have sent the money via the Chargeback but it was returned to them which they're disputing. I agree it's all very messy. I need to sit down and digest this information there's a lot to sift through. However in summary you are saying I have a better chance to sue Barclays in a small claims court than I do with Samsung. Although I can prove through bank statements and various communications that Samsung have been negligible, whereas with Barclays all I have is a complaint letter accepting that they gave me the wrong advice with regards to the chargeback. I agree with you that Samsung will dig its heels in only to cause more issues they have clearly done so with providing me the incorrect ARN and deciding to allow for the refund to go into a defunct chargeback knowing full well that it will be returned which in my option is very underhanded. This is all too much for me, I'm under a great deal of stress and want to give up but out of principle I'm not letting this go. Apologies to all if I've come across as some maniacal person who's doing things at a drop of a hat but I've been following the advice of the CAB and I thought I was doing the right thing by taking Samsung to small claims court.

Sorry no offence to anyone who has contributed to this thread, I'm so confused. Should I take Samsung to Small Claims Court or take action against Barclays? I still haven't had a response from Samsung regarding the ANR number, however I don't know how to push Barclays in carrying out checks as I was clearly told Barclays don't do such searches! So I'm currently filling out the Small Claims Court pro forma and also the Financial Ombudsman complaint.

I've heard of something similar happening to another person. I'm awaiting on Samsung's response and asking for proof. Will see what they come up with. Thanks for the heads up!

Fair enough thanks for explaining that to me

Request a subject access request from the Bank of Samsung? Pardon my ignorance but what will that achieve?

I wanted it in writing that the ARN was incorrect so I could supply it to Samsung. Dotting the i's and crossing the T's so to speak Nevertheless the bank were less than helpful and stated that they do not write personalised letters and also they will be unable to trace the refund on the Chargeback as their systems do not allow it. Was told to make an official complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and contact Samsung informing them they will need to conduct an investigation with their bank to ascertain where the money has gone!!

OK @BankFodder I will contact them asking for a correct ARN number and not start the small claims court action against them. I will await with interest your rationale as and when you're able to post it. Thanks in advance

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. Will go back to Samsung now. Will keep everyone updated.