Co-Op bank and Postoffice problems with cheques

Hi,

My partner recently handed a cheque over the post office counter and received a receipt dated 3rd of October. The cheque was from the EYPS which is a course she is on run by the government.

Its now the 20th and still no signs of the money in the account, we have spoken to the post office and co-op bank.

The post office say that they can't track the cheque as its a violation of the data protection act and can't do anything for us, they tell us to talk to the bank.

We've spoken to the bank and they say they have received no sign of the cheque and we should talk to post office. I requested to talk to manager and the women on the phone said "He has just popped into a long meeting and will call you back in a couple of hours", I then requested to talk to another manager and she stated "they need to be free for other calls to be delt with!"..

we have been chasing this up for over a week now with little success and this money is pretty much my partners wage and we are getting into financial difficulties.

Can anyone please advice how to resolve this problem or who is responsible for this cheque... Because both organisations are shoving us off to the other organisation and I can't see any resolving the matter.

In my opinion this is completely outrageous as its our money and it doesn't seem like we are going to get it any time soon...

Customer led is the joke quote of the month from Co-op in my eyes...:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Who can we talk to or how can we resolve this problem?!?!?

Any help will be great! thank you in advance...
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Comments

  • You say you have spoken to the bank - which department or was it your branch?
    I would find the telephone number for customer concerns (complaints) and let them sort it out.
    It might be quicker for her to get a duplicate cheque (if original has been lost) and get reimbursed by Coop if this results in any charges.
  • M_Thomson
    M_Thomson Posts: 1,596
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    evercm wrote: »
    Hi,

    My partner recently handed a cheque over the post office counter and received a receipt dated 3rd of October. The cheque was from the EYPS which is a course she is on run by the government.

    Its now the 20th and still no signs of the money in the account, we have spoken to the post office and co-op bank.

    The post office say that they can't track the cheque as its a violation of the data protection act and can't do anything for us, they tell us to talk to the bank.

    We've spoken to the bank and they say they have received no sign of the cheque and we should talk to post office. I requested to talk to manager and the women on the phone said "He has just popped into a long meeting and will call you back in a couple of hours", I then requested to talk to another manager and she stated "they need to be free for other calls to be delt with!"..

    we have been chasing this up for over a week now with little success and this money is pretty much my partners wage and we are getting into financial difficulties.

    Can anyone please advice how to resolve this problem or who is responsible for this cheque... Because both organisations are shoving us off to the other organisation and I can't see any resolving the matter.

    In my opinion this is completely outrageous as its our money and it doesn't seem like we are going to get it any time soon...

    Customer led is the joke quote of the month from Co-op in my eyes...:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

    Who can we talk to or how can we resolve this problem?!?!?

    Any help will be great! thank you in advance...

    Did you hand this over in a Paying in envelope like they use for Smile? These are taken in by the post office, and then sent in a bag at the end of the day to Co-Op. It may be stuck somewhere due to the post strike.
  • Mikeyorks
    Mikeyorks Posts: 10,369
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    Normally the responsibility to trace the cheque would be that of Post Office. The reference to 'Data Protection' is an idiot's smokescreen, as the cheque belongs to your partner. And it's not 'Data', as defined by the act, whilst it's on a loose piece of paper somewhere.

    But if the cheque :-
    http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=19700174&mediaId=19600180
    ..... was handed over with an envelope, that clouds the issue. As Post Office don't process the cheques (thereby creating an audit trail into Clearing) - they simply send them on to Co-Op for processing. If Co-Op deny receiving it, then you can only go back to the start i.e the PO you paid in at, produce the receipt and see (unlikely) if they do any audit on the envelopes. If not, get EYPS to stop the cheque and issue a fresh one.

    Personally I'd never use a system where someone takes 'money' from me, but adds no value - as they simply send it on to someone else to process. Leaves you clutching at straws as to how to resolve any problems.
    If you want to test the depth of the water .........don't use both feet !
  • dzug
    dzug Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    Mikeyorks wrote: »
    Normally the responsibility to trace the cheque would be that of Post Office. The reference to 'Data Protection' is an idiot's smokescreen, as the cheque belongs to your partner. And it's not 'Data', as defined by the act, whilst it's on a loose piece of paper somewhere.

    But if the cheque :-
    http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=19700174&mediaId=19600180
    ..... was handed over with an envelope, that clouds the issue. As Post Office don't process the cheques (thereby creating an audit trail into Clearing) - they simply send them on to Co-Op for processing. If Co-Op deny receiving it, then you can only go back to the start i.e the PO you paid in at, produce the receipt and see (unlikely) if they do any audit on the envelopes. If not, get EYPS to stop the cheque and issue a fresh one.

    Personally I'd never use a system where someone takes 'money' from me, but adds no value - as they simply send it on to someone else to process. Leaves you clutching at straws as to how to resolve any problems.

    There IS an audit trail in the Post Office - though your local one is unlikely to be able to follow it themselves beyond the point it left them.

    At the end of the day the envelopes are counted, reconciled with the number the computer says they have taken in, and sent with a summary sheet in another envelope to a processing centre (not the Coop Bank). The envelope is signed for by the postie who collects it and sent with the special delivery mail.

    When it gets to the processing centre, the number of envelopes is reconciled with both the computer record and the summary slip - so if it got to the processing centre there will be a record of it. If not, it will be apparent where it went missing - in the post.

    The likelihood is it has been held up in the RM strike - though that ought to have unwound by now.

    The Post Office will investigate for you - but you will need to escalate it beyond your local office. They will have contact details. They won't track the cheque, but they should track the envelope (which as far as they are concerned could have contained anything...)
  • It all depends if the OP handed over a cheque on its own with a paying in slip or handed over a sealed cheque envelope. The Post Office wouldn't take a cheque on its own for a smile account and an envelope would be simply be handed over to the Co-Op (or whatever third party acts on its behalf for processing/collection). You're safer posting the damn things in a post box I think.
  • I am having similar problems with the Co-Op on my business account and have had problems with Smile (also co-op) on my personal account when paying in cheques via the post office and the paying in envelopes on several occasions. You are much better using the pre paid envelopes and posting the cheques to the bank itself as the Post Office are clearly incompetent. Co-op customer services not much help either as they say they cannot trace the cheques as they have not been processed or cashed and all you get `get duplicate cheques` rather than sorting out the root problem. The P.O where the envelopes are handed in says there is no audit trail once it leaves there premises and that the cheques are picked up by postie in special bag and taken to sorting office and from there they are supposed to be taken for processing seemingly by Alliance & Leicester or some such rather than Smile / Co-op. I have written to Co-op `feedback` but so far no response from them. Result = lost money as i do not have addresses for all the owners of the cheques.
  • thenudeone
    thenudeone Posts: 4,462
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    Kilsally wrote: »
    You are much better using the pre paid envelopes and posting the cheques to the bank itself as the Post Office are clearly incompetent.

    Smile no longer offer pre-paid envelopes for cheque deposits.
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  • I wasn`t aware of that - The FSB Co-Op account is still issuing pre paid envelopes as I received some last week. I can`t seem to get anybody to own up or take responsibility for losing cheques and it has happened several times now with both Smile and Co-Op although I believe the problem to be with the Post Office rather than the bank.
  • Just a note to add the Smile website gives a freepost address so you are only losing out on the free envelopes.: smile, FREEPOST NEA 14877, Northampton, NN4 7BR.
  • thenudeone
    thenudeone Posts: 4,462
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    I was a little dubious about posting cheques to an address given in an internet forum but it is genuine:
    http://www.smile.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Smile/Page/smView&c=Page&cid=1026382580261

    I prefer to support the Post Office in the nearby village rather than use the post. They've never lost a cheque yet. But useful to know.
    We need the earth for food, water, and shelter.
    The earth needs us for nothing.
    The earth does not belong to us.
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