How can I get my £1000 back?

Alex1

Hello,

I was hoping for some advice. I recently left my company and as part of the checklist they asked me to ensure that I had paid off my corporate amex. So I went onto the Amex site and made a debit payment for the amount due (approx £3.5k). Now instead of this being the end of the story, Amex went ahead and took the direct debit for the same amount out of my account. This lead to various things bouncing, about £120 of fees at the bank, has resulted in my credit limit being dropped by £2,600 on a card where I had previously had flawless payment history etc.

On a side note - claiming an indemnity against Amex via the bank only returned the original payment, all the other resulting fees and consequences don't actually seem to be covered by this mechanism...


So, now the trouble begins, I went down to Natwest with £1000 in £50s to put enough money in to put me back in credit. i put my card in at the till, got a statement, saw that it was amex that had caused me to go overdrawn, asked what could be done about it, then handed over the money. The cashier and I joked about them all being £50s and about them being freshly printed. I then paid in some cheques into our business account and left the bank.


It was only a week later when I saw my account was still overdrawn I knew something was wrong. To cut a long story short: Natwest has no record of the money, they are not over on their daily count, it hasn't gone into the wrong account, They've checked the CCTV footage and it's apparently 'inconclusive' since it focuses on people's faces, not what actions people are taking at the counter.

The original branch manager was understanding and was investigating properly (he even offered to show me the cctv footage afterhours) but without warning he left the branch and has now been replaced by a young acting manager who seems keen to tell me that policy has been followed rather than being keen on getting to the heart of the matter.

I know it was my fault for not paying attention and getting a confirmation slip but in my defence this was at a time when I was changing jobs, setting up a brand new business, moving flats and helping my mother move so I was a little preoccupied. I also wrongly assumed that the cashier would do her job properly.

I have been told that since they can't prove the money was ever handed over that I won't be getting reimbursed so I was wondering what do I do now? Should I call in the police? Just kiss the money goodbye?


I know one thing, I'll be changing my accounts away from Natwest as soon as possible but I have yet to find a reliable bank. I used to think it was Natwest but I know I'm not the only one who has been having major problems with them recently. Any recommendations?


Sorry for the incredibly long rant.

Alex