Cardholder purchased tickets to an event that was cancelled by the organizers due to COVID.

Merchant sent an e-mail to the cardholder notifying them of the cancellation and that they could opt for either a credit for future purchases or receive a full cash refund.

The cash refund would be credited to their card within two to four weeks and no action would be required on the cardholder's part.

No credit was received within that timeframe.

The merchant tried to say there was a government directive limiting crowds and that's why the event was cancelled; however, this was not issued until over a week after the event had been cancelled.

The credit for future purchases does not seem to be a viable alternative due to the current environment, as the credit must be used before December 31st, and who knows how all of this is going to play out.

Is there any Visa chargeback option that we could pursue?

Did your cardholder opt for the refund? Does he/she have the email confirmation of the credit return? If so, you can file as credit not processed.

VISA released a best practices and FAQs - "Managing Disputes Through COVID 19" on March 27, 2020. It addresses dispute rights for cancelled services. It does depend on when the government issued the order prohibiting the event.