{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-15T06:14:36.501Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"wrong-refund-information","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-revolut-chatbot-said-loyalty-points-worth-1119-pounds-ombudsman-raised-compensation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In September 2025 Mr M got in touch with'; 'Revolut through its chatbot.'; 'It said it would refund £22.38 to his account'; 'and deduct the 1,119 loyalty points he’d earned using that feature.'; 'he was told then that 1,119 points equated to £22.38'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In September 2025 the customer contacted Revolut through its chatbot to ask for a refund of loyalty points earned through its spare change feature; Revolut said it would refund £22.38 and deduct the 1,119 points, which Revolut later described as the chatbot telling him the points equated to £22.38.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'The chatbot confirmed it could refund 1,119 points as a one-time goodwill gesture.'; 'It said this had a cash value of £1,119.'; 'chatbot confirmed it had done that.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Four days later the chatbot confirmed it could refund the 1,119 points as a one-time goodwill gesture, said they had a cash value of £1,119, and confirmed it had processed the refund.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision; the chatbot's own statements."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'A few hours later the chatbot said the'; 'information it had given was incorrect and the refund of £1,119 wasn’t being processed.'; 'Mr M then asked to speak to a ‘live agent’ who confirmed that the refund of £1,119 was'; 'It said it had'; 'issued a refund for £22.38.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Later that day the chatbot said its information was incorrect and the £1,119 refund was not being processed; a live agent then said it was being processed; the next day the chatbot said it had issued £22.38.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'There’s no doubt Revolut gave Mr M the wrong information.'; 'Revolut misled Mr M'; 'not once but on several occasions over the course of that day.'; 'Mr M was never entitled to £1,119'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The ombudsman found there was no doubt Revolut gave the customer wrong information, repeated later the same day, and that it misled him on several occasions over that day; the ombudsman held he was never entitled to £1,119.","causal_attribution":"The ombudsman's findings."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He says the financial pressure of'; 'losing the expected refund was substantial and destabilising.'; 'He also gave us a letter from his GP that'; 'confirmed his heightened anxiety, insomnia, headaches, and persistent overthinking.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The customer told the ombudsman the financial pressure of losing the expected refund was substantial and destabilising, and provided a GP letter that, according to the decision, confirmed heightened anxiety, insomnia, headaches and persistent overthinking.","causal_attribution":"The customer's account and his GP's letter as summarised by the ombudsman; the ombudsman also noted he was likely aware the higher figure was wrong."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'I uphold this complaint and direct Revolut Ltd to pay Mr M a further £50 on top of the £50 it’s'; 'already paid him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Revolut had paid £50; the ombudsman upheld the complaint and directed Revolut to pay a further £50.","causal_attribution":"The ombudsman's final decision."}],"effects":[{"label":"told by the chatbot that his points were worth £1,119 and the refund was processed, then reversed; described financial pressure and anxiety","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-6062372.pdf","kind":"ombudsman_decision","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-15 from the Financial Ombudsman Service PDF (full text, two pages). The decision names neither the customer (Mr M) nor the date it was issued; it asks for acceptance before 5 February 2026.","independence_group":"financial-ombudsman-service-drn-6062372"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The date the decision was issued (the text gives only the 5 February 2026 acceptance deadline).","Whether the customer accepted the decision.","The chatbot's technology and the chat transcript.","Where the customer lives."],"geography":{"basis":"The decision is by the Financial Ombudsman Service and amounts are in pounds, but it does not say where the customer lives or where the exchanges took place; no country is recorded from the ombudsman's remit or the currency.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience with a bank's chatbot: an ombudsman's final decision records the chatbot's statements that the customer's points were worth £1,119 and the refund was processed, finds that Revolut misled him on several occasions that day, and raises his compensation for the impact.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Financial Ombudsman Service's decision sets out what Revolut's chatbot told the customer: that 1,119 loyalty points had a cash value of £1,119, that it could refund them as a goodwill gesture and had processed the refund, and hours later that this was incorrect. A human live agent then also confirmed the £1,119 refund. The ombudsman found Revolut gave him wrong information on several occasions that day and awarded compensation for the impact. The decision calls the system a chatbot and does not describe its technology.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Ombudsman finds Revolut misled a customer after its chatbot said his loyalty points were worth £1,119 and confirmed a refund; compensation raised to £100","summary":"In September 2025 a Revolut customer asked the bank, through its chatbot, to cash in loyalty points he had earned through its spare change feature. According to the Financial Ombudsman Service's final decision (DRN-6062372), the chatbot first said the 1,119 points would be refunded as £22.38; four days later it told him the 1,119 points had a cash value of £1,119, offered that as a one-time goodwill gesture and confirmed it had processed the refund. A few hours later the chatbot said that information was wrong; a live agent then said the £1,119 refund was being processed, and the next day the chatbot said it had issued £22.38. Revolut upheld his complaint and paid £50. The ombudsman found that Revolut gave him the wrong information on several occasions that day, held that he was never entitled to £1,119, and directed Revolut to pay a further £50. The customer said the lost expected refund caused financial pressure, and gave a GP letter describing anxiety and insomnia.","incidentDate":"2025-09-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","aiSystem":"Revolut's customer chatbot, which answered a customer's requests to cash in loyalty points and stated the refund value and whether it had been processed","aiProduct":"Revolut chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, Revolut's chatbot told a customer his loyalty points were worth £1,119 and confirmed the refund, then reversed itself; the customer described substantial financial pressure and anxiety, and the ombudsman raised his compensation to £100.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the customer whose complaint the Financial Ombudsman Service decided (Mr M in decision DRN-6062372). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-6062372.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Financial Ombudsman Service final decision DRN-6062372 (Revolut Ltd), acceptance deadline 5 February 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-15T03:09:28.982046+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-15T03:09:28.982046+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["customer-service-chatbot","banking","wrong-refund-information","ombudsman-decision","loyalty-points"]}]}