Can your bank get your money back from a wedding supplier?

It can try, if you paid by card and you raise a dispute in time. Emirates NBD says that if you paid for services that did not arrive, you should first contact the merchant with proof of payment, and then report it to the bank if the merchant does not cooperate.¹ The supplier and its bank can answer with their own evidence.¹

How long do you have?

Each bank sets its own window.

Sources: Emirates NBD¹ and Mashreq.²

That reading comes from Emirates NBD’s wording for service complaints.¹ Mashreq counts from the transaction date, which for a deposit can be many months before the wedding.² Ask your bank which date it counts from before you pay a large deposit by card.

What should you send the bank?

• the invoice and contract, showing the service and the date it was due
• your card receipt or statement line
• your written request to the supplier and its reply, or proof it did not reply
• anything showing the service was not provided, such as messages cancelling it

The consumer law regulations require an invoice showing the date the service will be provided, which helps show when the service was due.³

What if the bank refuses?

Complain to the bank in writing first. Sanadak, the UAE’s independent complaints body for banks and insurers, takes a case if 15 calendar days have passed since your complaint to the bank without a written reply, or you are not satisfied with the reply, and the matter is not before a court.⁴

Work out the last date for each card payment with the card dispute deadline calculator and put it in your calendar.