Santander paid my mortgage payment to someone else, what shall I do?

maninman

It is the first time I post a thread here, not sure if it is the right place for this.

I have used A&L (now part of Santander) as my main bank since two years ago and had no major problems. But only yesterday when I checked my mortgage account (with another bank) and found that they did not receive payment in September. But from my Santander online statement, clearly the standing order payment has been made on 20th September. I have set up this standing order since two years ago so I was so surprised and wanted to know what happened. After phoning Santander telephone banking centre, only then they told me that due to their error the payment has been made to someone called Mr Wood. They said that they would recall the money and pay it back to my account as soon as they receive it (they said it would take a few days). And they also asked me to make a one-off payment to my mortgage provide once the money is back in my account. I ask them to give me the same amount credit now so that I can pay my mortgage but they refused. They said that they would refund any late payment fees and interests as a result of this error. They said that they would also help if this has affected my credit rating.

I am very upset and unhappy with what happened. I don't think what they have offered is good enough to correct an error like this. But what can I do now rather than wait for the money to be put back to my account? Can I ask for any compensation for what happened?

Any advice would be highly appreciated! Many thanks!

Empty_pockets

Seems fair enough to me.

They've admitted fault, will refund the money and will cover any charges or credit file issues.

Annoying but at least it's getting sorted.

bengal-stripe

maninman wrote: »

.......the payment has been made to someone called Mr Wood.

So, they told you the payment has been made to Mr Wood.
That's the point where I stop believing the story

maninman

Yes, they asked me do you know Mr Wood?

nzseries1

Empty_pockets wrote: »

They've admitted fault, will refund the money and will cover any charges or credit file issues.

Wait until you call them back and they deny all knowledge of the conversation and blame you - hey, it is Satan-der after all.

scott_lithgows

Welcome to the wacky crappy world of Santander!
I would start looking for a new bank before their next mistake.

Degenerate

Empty_pockets wrote: »

Seems fair enough to me.

They've admitted fault, will refund the money and will cover any charges or credit file issues.

Annoying but at least it's getting sorted.

It's not fair enough at all. Why on earth should someone have to wait for the money to be recovered from the wrongly credited account? What if they don't get it back? If Santander know it's their error, they should re-credit the account IMMEDIATELY.

AnonymousForObviousReason

Empty_pockets wrote: »

Seems fair enough to me.

They've admitted fault, will refund the money and will cover any charges or credit file issues.

Annoying but at least it's getting sorted.

The bank made a mistake so they should give credit right away for money they've lost (no guarantee they'll get it back after all this time, person may argue or not have it any more).

At the moment the person will have to pay out (again) which may put more black marks on the credit file, then have all the hassle of sorting out the resulting mess afterwards.

Raise the bar to get a resolution - best way is to annoy and embarrass them. You need to remain calm, keep civil and prepared to be the centre of attention at all times, used it in a couple of banks - my dad is top notch at this.

Go to bank just before a rush (11:55 is good) and repeat your request to the customer services near entrance. Then ask for a manager but don't go into an office when offered keep it public. Once you feel you're not getting any further and there are a few people around, ask (don't accuse) in a slightly louder voice than normal.
"Have your staff been redirecting funds from accounts for personal gain?"
<cue blank expression>
Raise voice to carry even further "Does a Mr Wood work for Santander? after all it was this name my funds were redirected to."
<no, don't know, not answering that, what?>
"So you can't comment on Mr Wood, who may or may not work for your bank? I don't suppose you can say if they've compromised your security and redirected the funds of other people as well?"
<please calm down / come to office / you can't say that>
"Are you unable to comment because of an ongoing police investigation?"

Now lean forward and quietly say, "Reconsider my request credit my account now and it'll just be a bad day for you."

"Have employees ever been caught stealing money and have you managed to stop this from happening again?"
"Are you saying that no ones money is safe in their accounts and you are powerless to refund that money when it goes missing?"
"So are people leaving for other banks because of all this missing money or because of the terrible customer service?"

Keep asking loaded questions of the "When did you stop beating your wife?" type. They won't wast a scene for to long and will soon pay you off to get rid. If the person is to dumb to see what you're doing keep eye contact with him and smile slightly to let him know you're enjoying it.

At worse you'll just have given them hassle and you'll feel good about having trounced their reputation in public.

:cool:

maninman

Will contact them and demand a credit back immediately!

onlypaddy

People, people - the bank would never tell him who the accidental credit was made to. Data protection and all that.

DNFTT

Degenerate

onlypaddy wrote: »

People, people - the bank would never tell him who the accidental credit was made to. Data protection and all that.

DNFTT

They shouldn't, that's perfectly true, but that doesn't make it unfeasible that a poorly trained CSA would let a name slip. "Mr Wood" is not enough to identify someone anyway.

Considering it's an A&L account and payments are going haywire with the Santander migration, the basic premise of the story is 100% believable.