In the UK, if your bank refuses a chargeback but you still feel wronged, you can escalate it to the financial ombudsman or even small claims. Is there no further escalation possible in the USA?
Yeah, we have small claims where this sort of matter is settled. It’s very inexpensive in most places to file a claim and you don’t need an attorney/solicitor.
The court case would be between you and the entity that owes you money - the payment method doesn't matter. In fact, this is the same reason that winning a card chargeback typically doesn't absolve you from contractual obligations towards the seller (though in most cases if they lose a card chargeback they have very little to stand on in court so they are unlikely to pursue it and even less likely to win it).
There is an ombudsman in the USA, but it's no use, I tried in a wronged cashback situation.
Small claims is a nightmare. I've litigated in small claims for over a decade. Most jurisdictions allow the other party to bring a courtroom full of lawyers and witnesses to destroy you. Judges seem to have small claims and side with the real lawyers. Obviously you can pay $25,000 for a real lawyer to fight for your $100 chargeback, but you're unlikely in the USA to get your legal fees back even if you win.
You can complain to the banking regulator that they didn’t follow the procedures, but that’s not really an appeal of the decision itself.
You’d have to argue that they either didn’t follow procedure or did a perfunctory job that did not really comply. However, these complaints go to a different team in the bank that may just decide to compensate you.
