Principality sent me £5,100 for no reason

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Last year I filled my ISA at the start of the tax year with Standard Life. Their rates dropped so come October I opened a Principality account and transferred the money in.

I was busy last week preparing for the new tax year so enquired with Principality why the 'move money in' option was greyed out online, I wanted to make sure I could move money in as soon as the new year started. They told me because I had never deposited money with my linked account I'd need to transfer a nominal amount to activate it.

I transferred £1 and the 'move money in' option became available. They sent me a cheque for the £1 back stating I had oversubscribed during the current financial year. I expected this, and I have given feedback it seems a little antiquated they sent a cheque for £1 why could they not give it back electronically (their reply is they are not a clearing bank).

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Or so I thought... until today a letter turns up with exactly the same wording as the letter used to return the £1, and a cheque for £5,100!

The cheque is in my name, I have not attempted to deposit this amount, I phoned the bank about 20 minutes ago as soon as I opened this letter but they said it was too close to 5pm and their savings team could not access all the systems they needed.

So now you all know as much as I do, I am waiting for a phone call tomorrow about this. To be clear, my overall ISA balance has not had this £5,100 deducted from it either. I have said this is all pretty concerning and I will want some answers tomorrow about it, I am certain this is a mistake and they will want the cheque back though.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

lisyloo

No, I haven't received any randon cheques in the post lately :-(

4$£&*(£$&*(!

I'm certain I won't be able to keep it I do reckon they ought to cough up a goodwill gesture though as this is a pretty fundamental mistake, I have invested pretty heavily with them too and I've warned them I'm thinking of moving my business elsewhere unless they give me a really solid reason. It's not as if Principality are the best ISA providers at the moment anyway.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

I received a bizarre phone call, they simply said it was a mistake and please either destroy the cheque or return it to them. No explanation what caused the problem or why, I have sent them a note saying £5,100 is a pretty fundamental mistake and I'd like to understand what caused it - if nothing else, to understand if I am dealing with an organisation I feel can keep my savings safe!

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Their final response was a letter of apology and a £30 cheque. That'll do nicely

glider3560

CitySlicker wrote: »

Their final response was a letter of apology and a £30 cheque. That'll do nicely

Make sure you don't cash the wrong cheque by mistake :rotfl:

realaledrinker

I would put the error down as a one-off - their customer service has always been excellent in my experience.

brewerdave

realaledrinker wrote: »

I would put the error down as a one-off - their customer service has always been excellent in my experience.

Have to agree - Principality branch staff are streets ahead of Halifax or Leeds BS - at least in my neck of the woods!!!:T

ctdctd

realaledrinker wrote: »

I would put the error down as a one-off - their customer service has always been excellent in my experience.

Yep, same here.

In fact, have a :T for Principality and another :T for Halifax.

I sent ISA transfer forms to the Halifax on the 4th to transfer out last years Principality ISA regular saver.
Got two replies today, the 9th - the Halifax confirming the transfer request dated the 5th and the Principality confirming funds had been sent dated the 7th :-)

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Thought this was all closed - they wrote to me today saying they will now be sending me a refund of £5,300 as I have attempted to put this money into my account. No I haven't!

One mistake - possible keying error. But two very similar mistakes?