This is an update. The back story is that I was sold a top-of-the-range laptop with a loose battery. The supplier acknowledged it was loose but would not repair it (looks like a design fault) or take the laptop back. I tried to get Visa to return my payment

That was two months ago. Following repeated phoning, I just heard from Visa that they can not help me. Have yet to see the letter.

Not sure what to do next. Should I try the supplier’s trade association resolution service or is there another dispute resolution service that would make more sense?

Thanks for your replies, with some useful points.

Looks like I will just have to sit it out for the moment.

I believe that you've already utilised the most appropriate and powerful options available to your particular case, in that you have approached the retailer who had a legal duty under the sale of goods act 1979 (as amended) to either replace, refund or repair the laptop. This retailer has refused and chosen for whatever reasons unbeknown not to honour their legal obligation to you.

The retailers inaction and refusal to resolve the situation places them in direct breach of contract with yourself and the card issuer under equal liability legislation.... as you have paid by credit card, therefore you have the equal entitlement to hold the card issuer equally responsible and expect a 'chargeback' from the credit card issuer under section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974.

My opinion is that you should follow through with whichever course you feel most likely to work in your favour. If you start the ISIS process, the retailer might ask Visa to wait for that process to be completed. You need to be aware that such trade bodies are not always independent when looking at such issues as they often need to rely on the retailers for funding.

I bought a Lenovo X201 laptop from an online retailer and found out that the battery was loose when it arrived. The looseness did not disconnect the battery but you could feel it drop every time you picked it up. There are a couple of references to this on the Web and it appears to be a design fault.

Within a week, the laptop went back to the supplier who agreed that the battery was loose but ‘deemed’ that this was not a fault and returned it to me. They declined to give me a refund (£1550 – it was a top of the range item).

I have raised a dispute with Visa and this will take from 3 weeks to ‘months’ to resolve.

The trade body ISIS (Internet Shopping Is Safe) to which the retailer belongs has a dispute resolution service. Would it be appropriate to start the ISIS dispute process now or wait until Visa gives me a reply?

Is there anything else I should be doing to move this along?