Bill paid...or so I thought!

lhogg65

Hi, I paid a local mechanic by cheque in November and due to the order of transactions on the day the cheque was presented (30 Nov 2011), the cheque bounced, but was re-presented by the banking system and cleared my account on 5 December. I was shocked to hear from the payee yesterday (12 March!!!)who told me that on checking their statements, the cheque was returned unpaid a second time on the 5 December. I had sufficient funds in my bank account to cover the cheque, have never received the amount back into my account, nor heard from my bank-Santander-regarding this transaction. I phoned my bank who confirmed all the above points, but refused to check whether the amount is being held in a suspense account although I know this is a possibility having working in a branch network several years ago. Instead, they said that they could provide a copy of the cheque via the clearance system to confirm it had indeed cleared. They told me that the mechanic's bank (Co-Operative Bank) need to request a trace on the payment and if Santander do hold the funds (where else can they be?) the Co-op can recall these to my mechanic's account.

This is a really embarrassing and stressful position to be in as the mechanic is a local person and very decent, but obviously thinks I still owe the money. The copy of the cheque will take up to 10 working days to get to me and don't have the funds to pay the bill again and why should I-the money left my account on 5 December. Can anyone advise me how to proceed? I spent an hour on the phone to my bank trying to sort this out and the mechanic has agreed to ask his bank to trace the payment that they say was returned-his statement verifies this. I think it's unfair that my bank can do so little to help me. Any suggestions welcome.

Mikeyorks

I can't see that the copy of the cheque will tell you anything - other than that it was dishonoured and represented. And, on the reverse, the account it was attempted to be credited to. It will not tell you the ultimate fate.

You need to ask your Bank to formally trace the payment. Make it clear you'll take it to a formal complaint otherwise. Their offer to provide a copy of the cheque isn't in any way useful.

lhogg65

That's what I thought. I initially asked for the suspense accounts to be checked for the missing amount, but Santander told me that the payee's bank have to request this as they would be breaching data protection act if they gave the info to me. Also I asked for the contact details for the Chairman's office to allow me to complain but was told these are not available. Eventually a "manager" told me he would register my complaint that I was not being helped as their customer, but I know that Chairman's office complaints are dealt with promptly; the standard procedure is so long-winded as I am going to be chased for the money which i don't have.

Mikeyorks

lhogg65 wrote: »

they would be breaching data protection act if they gave the info to me.

Tends to be a handy hiding place for people who don't know what they're talking about.

You've had a cheque processed. The money has left your account - but the payee hasn't (allegedly) received it. There are tracing facilities available to your Bank to resolve the situation. Data protection doesn't come into the frame.

Just press that they trace it - and do it in writing. They don't have much of an option.

The copy cheque is useless .... as for most 're-presentations' the physical cheque is not reprocessed by the payee Bank. So the audit trail on the back will only show the original process and won't help resolution.

jonesMUFCforever

OP Have you checked your own bank statements?
This will show one way or another whether your cheque was paid or not.
If it has been debited to your account you need not do much more than show this to the mechanic and let him get on with his own bank.
If the cheque was returned again you owe him the money.

Mikeyorks

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

OP Have you checked your own bank statements?

Seems so ......

.....but was re-presented by the banking system and cleared my account on 5 December

.....have never received the amount back into my account

jonesMUFCforever

Then she should take the statement to the mechanic and show that the cheque was paid on 5th December.
Either the mechanic has made a mistake or his bank have.

Ben8282

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Then she should take the statement to the mechanic and show that the cheque was paid on 5th December.
Either the mechanic has made a mistake or his bank have.

I agree. Then get the mechanic to show you HIS statement to support what he is saying and check his statement yourself.

I think that it is up to the payee to ask his bank for an explanation, not you to ask yours.

Mikeyorks

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Either the mechanic has made a mistake or his bank have.

You are forgetting that the OP's Bank is Santander!

lhogg65

jonesMUFCforever, thanks for your suggestions. The first thing I did was to check my statements although I was sure that I hadn't had the funds returned to my account. I use online banking a lot as I am desperately trying to improve my financial situation so would have noticed this had it been returned-it hadn't and this was confirmed by both Santander employees I spoke to.
I have also spoken to the mechanic who is a reasonable person and they wanted to show me their bank statements to show the payment being returned, so this does seem to be a banking issue. The mechanic is chasing their bank (Co-operative) to put a trace on the payment which should tell their bank where the money ended up, then should be able to recall it. I feel wretched as my integrity has been questioned and while I may be stupid enough to get myself into a fiscal pit in years past, I have never been dishonest and expect to pay for work I have done-essential as I rely on my car to get son to school each day. I guess I've got to wait for both banks to let us know where the money is but so frustrating it takes so long.

Mikeyorks

lhogg65 wrote: »

I have also spoken to the mechanic who is a reasonable person and they wanted to show me their bank statements to show the payment being returned, so this does seem to be a banking issue.

The payment never was 'returned' .... as initially it was rejected by your Bank. So the entry on the mechanics account which resulted from him paying the cheque in was simply 'dishonoured' off. The physical cheque was then returned by Santander to his Bank. But was endorsed 'please represent' - which they did.

On that occasion the funds were taken from your account - but have not been credited at the far end. I would strongly suspect the problem lies with the Co-op. But it is your Bank who should be doing the tracing. As they have an audit trail on the 5th December debit from your account ..... which the Co-op cannot see.