Won 1800 GBP, at at least I thought I had!

Rexxy

yep, the cheque cleared & the money is in my account. Can they still withdraw the cheque?

merdoom

Just out of curiosity, was it a handwritten cheque or one of those printed ones?
I'd assume someone should have noticed when they made the cheque out to you, but either way I would fight to keep it.

As Paul above said, has the money def cleared? There used to be a scam involving uncleared cheques and threats where people paid back with a real cheque and the money had never cleared or something, can't remember a lot about it, its been years since I had a cheque book!
Edit: was writing as you posted, just seen above! Did a quick search and this came up https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/15258607#Comment_15258607 its a few years old but might have some relevant info xx

Rexxy

It was a printed cheque.

I have a subscription with Cosmo magazine which I've noticed is part of their group, perhaps this is how they got my details...you would have thought they would have a separate system for subscriber details.

mrschuck

have u tried ringing them, u got there no xx

vodkawitch1

I am no legal expert but I think they are on dodgy ground and the most they could force on you would be to accept small monthly payments but as others have said seek legal advice.

missk9

WOW this is an amazing story, i would def say to them you are contacting a solicitor and then you will contact them, even if you are not... im sure they can afford to let you keep the money - their mistake after all! KEep us posted!

dark_angel

i would ring citizens advice myself and certainly would not think they have a leg to stand on, it was there mistake? this is awful x

I_Should_Be_So_Lucky

I agree with calling their bluff. How dare they threaten legal proceedings when it's their error.

I would hold out and let them take you to court and in the meantime write them a letter telling them you enter lots of competions and thought you had won a prize.

Barnabysue

I'm sure I remember reading a thread about a similar scenario a while ago, but I can't find it now. It wasn't on the comp board but on one of the Finance boards, does anyone else recall it?

Good Luck with it!

GeorgeBee

I would think it probably is illegal to keep it especially seeing as they have requested it back (and they will have a paper trail of this), you are retaining money which you now is not yours. It looks like they've made an error, probably tried to cancel the cheque (but couldn't because you banked it) and therefore written to you requesting the money is returned.

I would suggest contacting them, leave an answer phone message, explain you are away and that you will remedy the situation when you return, and that you've only just received their letter. I'm sure they'll be understanding - it's thier fault after all!

I'm sure they will be happy to accept some sort of payment schedule for the money you've already spent.

I would warn anyone here, if you receive money that doesn't state what it's for (i.e. doesn't specifically say its a win), contact the company and query it before banking it, at least then if it is an error they can just cancel the cheque.

It's a bit annoying that the VAT rate is now 20% as it makes a lot of numbers nice, juicy, round figures so they look like a win, if it was still 17.5% it would have been £1,762.50 which I'm sure would have make you think about it!

Sorry for your lack of win and I hope you get it sorted soon! Prehaps they'll send you something to apologise!!!