We bought a £1,400 Rangemaster cooker at Comet, paid for in-store on 25 October 2012 using a Visa debit card. We were worried about rumours of Comet going bust so, shortly after, we cancelled the order and were told the money would be returned to our account within a week. It wasn't. We went back to Comet but were told we wouldn't get the goods as Rangemaster was not dealing with Comet any more. Comet cannot give a refund, credit note or products of similar value and the administrators told us we need to register as an unsecured creditor. D&NT, Liverpool

If only you had paid by credit card. You would certainly have been able to claim your money back as buying with a credit card gives you unique protection if a company you bought through goes bust. Provided the value of the goods is over £100 you can claim the money back from your card issuer, citing section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which will then claim it from the retailer's bank.

Comet went into administration on 2 November. But, although you paid by debit card, all is not necessarily lost. There is a similar scheme to section 75 operated by Visa called chargeback. The big drawbacks with chargeback is that not all cards are covered under chargeback and it is not enshrined in law like section 75.

However, you should put in a request to your bank to claim and do so within 120 days of when you first became aware there was a problem. If your card provider rejects your chargeback claim, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Bachelor & Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number