Request to block lost card lands man in trouble

Abu Dhabi: An Indian man says his request to block his lost credit card cancelled his journey home.

Mohammad Paruvananth said: "I lost my credit card on May 30 and requested the bank to block the card the same day. But I had clearly asked them to protect the purchase of an air ticket the previous day."

He got a message from the airline on June 18 that his ticket to travel on June 20 had been cancelled.

He said he booked the air ticket online using the credit card of Standard Chartered Bank. The account statement issued by the bank to the customer on June 19 shows Dh791, the price of the air ticket, had been debited to airline on May 30, he said.

Paruvananth complained that he did not get a reimbursement for the ticket.

The airline in a statement issued to Gulf News said: "We cancelled the ticket following the intimation from the acquirer bank ... that the credit card transaction had been 'charged back'. Since we did not receive the money on this transaction, we had the right to cancel the ticket."

Transaction details

The Standard Chartered Bank in a statement issued to Gulf News said they had requested the merchant bank for a copy of the transaction details after finding the status of the customer's credit card as 'blocked'.

"The transaction was settled by the airline and posted on our customer's statement on May 31. As the credit card was on the 'block' status on the same day, we requested the merchant bank for a copy of the transaction details to investigate the transaction."

The statement added that their merchant bank in India asked the airline for the transaction details but it was not provided on time.

"Therefore [the Indian bank] as per their internal procedures debited the 'Airline Merchant Account' for the transaction value. The airline after realising the debit note, cancelled our customer's ticket."