Double trouble. Balance transfers

Kaminari_2

I wonder if any of you lovely people could help me with this one.

I have a Smile and Ulster Credit card. I emailed a request to Smile to transfer the total balance of my Ulster to my Smile credit card so i could cancel my Ulster credit card. When doing this i practiced good financial hygiene and destroyed my Ulster card. Smile were so efficient in my balance transfer that they did it twice. Thats right! Instead of my Ulster Credit card having a balance of 0 i’m now in credit of £2k. Even better my smile card now has £4k that i am paying interest on instead of £2k. Of course i let Smile know of their little mistake so they could fix their problem and recall the second payment. They finally got back to me and said that i should get Ulster to send the money back. I called Ulster who said that they can’t reverse the payment and Smile should recall the payment. I let Smile know and they said that they can’t and i need to balance transfer the money back. I called Ulster to balance transfer it back but they need the 3 digit number on the back of my card. You know? The destroyed one?

Well, quite frankly i’m fed up with it. Smile have made a mistake which i wouldn’t have a problem with if they could fix it however they are expecting me to run around using my time and resource to fix it for them. I bet they even expect me to pay the interest on the extra money on my card.

Their solution is that i ask Ulster for another credit card, wait for it to be sent out and then balance transfer. But i really question the length i have to go to for all this. Has anyone else had this problem? Should i just suck it up and order a replacement card from Ulster just so i can fix Smiles mistake?

HamiltonL

Smile should be able to recall it. They should be able to fax Ulster the details (albeit it could take a while) so the funds can be returned.

The other option is to get Ulster to transfer the 2k to your current account.

Ask Ulster to reissue the card so you can then complete security with them.

benf90

It may be the case that the frontline staff can't/won't recall the transfer, but there may be some other department which can.

Personally, I would request the replacement card from Ulster and continue to pursue this with Smile whilst you're waiting for the card to come through.

If you haven't done so already ask to raise an official complaint about this, to ensure you're not charged interest on the second transfer.

The latest e-mail sent out by this site contained a reminder about something which may help you get this resolved, or dealt with quicker.

It's a reminder that if a complaint goes to the ombudsman and is found in the customers favour then sometimes the ombudsman will award compensation for the time spent by the customer trying to resolve it, up to £10 per hour, when it's a problem which the company has caused.

See this thread for more details:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=846765

When making the complaint make it clear you want it dealt with by their complaints department, also make sure they note down that you're willing to take it to the ombudsman to ensure you don't get charged interest, and that if it does go that far you'll be seeking compensation for your time under the 'Distress & Inconvenience Guidelines' that the ombudsman has published.

It may just be worth asking them again to try to get it sorted from their end and then say something like you don't want to have to complain but if necessary you will.

Kaminari_2

It gets better. Ulster are charging 3% to send the money back to Smile. I called Smile again and they told me that i definitely have to transfer the money back. This is going to cost them a pretty penny.....

realaledrinker

Write to David Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Co-operative Financial Services, Miller Street, Manchester M60 0AL with details of your smile complaint.

HamiltonL

benf90 wrote: »

It may be the case that the frontline staff can't/won't recall the transfer, but there may be some other department which can.

No it's too complicated for frontline staff, it has to go to Head Office or the back office etc. Frontline staff will have procedures to pass it on. I am very surprised by the attitude of both banks on this.