Unexpected overcharge on international transaction
I am living in Australia, and recently made a fairly large purchase online from a company based in the UK. When I made the purchase, it was during a promo period where the cost was 40% off the usual price (this promotion has since ended).
Basically the amount I was charged for this purchase on my credit card was well over what the website indicated I would be paying, and I have been trying for the past week to get them to correct the price with no luck. I now want to take it to a dispute resolution service, but am not sure which one I should approach.
Here's why:
When I made my purchase, the site offered three prices - one in GBP, one in USD and one in Euro. I selected the price in GBP, since after conversion to AUD it worked out the cheapest. Upon starting the transaction process, the price switched from pound to dollar (with no indication as to which dollar currency), with a note under the price stating that the price would update based on the purchasing location once billing details were confirmed.
After entering the billing details and confirming I was buying from Australia, there was no change in price. Once the transaction completed and payment was made, the next page showed that what I had just paid was in USD instead of AUD, meaning that I paid effectively around 00 AUD instead of approx 00 that was shown.
Now, since the price did not indicate that it was USD instead of AUD throughout the transaction process (until the very end, AFTER payment was made), and since the website led me to believe that I would be seeing local pricing, I have contacted the vendor and asked them to correct the charge to the price they led me to believe I was paying ie. 00 AUD.
So far their response has been that they are offering to give a full refund, but I don't think that's acceptable. I have the product already (it's software, delivered digitally) and it's something I wanted and am very happy with, but my feeling is that they have used misleading pricing on their website and that they should only charge what they have indicated I would be charged. I don't feel that a full refund is an acceptable solution here and I'd much rather have them correct the price to what was shown.
My questions are:
Who should I approach now for resolution, given I have already tried with the vendor?
Can they get away with misleading pricing?
Do I have the right to demand they correct the charge?
Thanks
Edit:
My main points of contention here are that:
- they used misleading pricing and;
- the website disallowed me to purchase in the currency of my choice (GBP) and forced me into using USD, even though the transaction took place in the UK.
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So far their response has been that they are offering to give a full refund, but I don't think that's acceptable.
If they are willing to give a full refund, to an extent this is fair.
Can they get away with misleading pricing?
Yes / No. As this is online retailer in other country, it would be difficult to pursue a resolution via mails / phone.
Who should I approach now for resolution, given I have already tried with the vendor?
You can try small claims court in UK. There is a non-profit organization Citizen Advicein UK that guides citizens.
I guess it boils down to; if you are happy with the product at AUD 1400 keep it. If you are not happy with the product for AUD 1400, return it.
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