euro cheque

finlander

Hi folks,

bit of advice please,

My uncle recently died in Ireland and after his estate was wound up we were sent a cheque for £7200 euro from the bank of ireland.

we paid it in at an rbs branch as we bank with think money/bank and that is were all cheques are paid in for our account. The lady at rbs said it would take 6 weeks max to clear. that seems silly in this day and age but we were ok with that.

Today think money rang up asking some very intrusive questions about where the money had come from, ok thats the money laundering bit, but also under the same pretext they demanded to know what we intended doing with it. My wife quite rightly said it is none of there buisness. They the stated the cheque woul;d clear in 3 MONTHS TIME!!!!

Now this sound completely outrageous. they stated it was that long because the originating bank could ask for the money back for a 90 day period!

My wife said that they had lied to her and that she wanted the cheque back and they said she couldnt have it unless we paid them a fee.

we have checked their terms and conditions and it doesnt say 3 months in there.

What can we do? We have asked to make a complaint and they said they will contact us in 9 days.

Is this right?

Geoff :mad:

BASFORDLAD

3 months for a euro cheque

Are you having a laugh?

Voyager2002

Your first mistake was using RBS without knowing what exchange rate they would use and what charges they would apply.

Anyway, I suggest a letter to the manager of your branch stating that the 90-day wait is not acceptable to you; that you paid in the cheque on the basis of a promise of the funds within six weeks; since they are unable to deliver the service that was promised you would like them to return the cheque to you and not make any charge.

Once you have got the cheque back, I suggest you come back here and ask about the best way to negotiate a Euro cheque.

finlander

i know...but what can we do?

finlander

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Your first mistake was using RBS without knowing what exchange rate they would use and what charges they would apply.

Anyway, I suggest a letter to the manager of your branch stating that the 90-day wait is not acceptable to you; that you paid in the cheque on the basis of a promise of the funds within six weeks; since they are unable to deliver the service that was promised you would like them to return the cheque to you and not make any charge.

Once you have got the cheque back, I suggest you come back here and ask about the best way to negotiate a Euro cheque.

No not realy,

my first mistake was being unfortunate in having my wife made redundant and only being able to get a basic bank account and no others and no other way therefore to pay a cheque in ... hey ho...never mind....

the second mistake was not making clear on here that I have already complained, they don't have branch managers and its going to take 9 days just to reply to my complaint...

I dont know why the sarky remark.. i only asked for some guidance...

jonesMUFCforever

OP - please read the terms and conditions of the form you signed when the cheque was paid in.
It will not make any mention of 6 weeks (or 3 months for that matter) - the cheque will have been collected and your account will be credited WHEN your bank receives the funds from the Irish bank.

You have made matters worse by being arsy with the bank - the 3 month period might be the time the bank will hold onto the funds until they think that it will not bounce -(foreign cheques are not subject to our clearing cycle). This might be because of the type of account you hold. Had you answered their questions you might have had your hands on the money by now.
By all means complain but I don't think you will get anywhere.

finlander

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

OP - please read the terms and conditions of the form you signed when the cheque was paid in.
It will not make any mention of 6 weeks (or 3 months for that matter) - the cheque will have been collected and your account will be credited WHEN your bank receives the funds from the Irish bank.

You have made matters worse by being arsy with the bank - the 3 month period might be the time the bank will hold onto the funds until they think that it will not bounce -(foreign cheques are not subject to our clearing cycle). This might be because of the type of account you hold. Had you answered their questions you might have had your hands on the money by now.
By all means complain but I don't think you will get anywhere.

ok..

firstly there wasnt any form to sign when we paid it in...just the paying in form from our paying in book
secondly...the lady at rbs..rbs apparently have something to do with think bank....said 6 weeks max
thirdly we did answer the questions as to where the money had come from but not the questions about how we were planning to spend it. Can you quote me where the law says they have the right to ask that question and why they would have that right.


I got 'arsey' because quite franckly I could walk to Ireland in less than 3 months and i dont see how in any way this is possible in todays world.

if you are saying that complaining about this is bad and that i should just lump it and if not expect them to mess me around then quite frankly this forum would seem pointless.

finlander

from the cheque clearing company


The euro cheque clearing process
The beneficiary pays the cheque into their bank account at their own bank which then passes it through the euro cheque clearing system to the drawer’s bank who, in turn, debits the funds from the drawer’s account. The 2-4-6 clearing timescales do not apply to euro cheques.

All euro cheques used in the British euro clearing must comply with the design, layout and print requirements of C&CCC Standard 3 - Automated Processing of Vouchers and must be printed by a CPAS accredited cheque printer.

Euro cheques are cleared in much the same way as sterling cheques, over a three-day period and they use the same processing equipment and the same exchange centres. However, as with bank giro credits, there is less automation – paper is exchanged, but digital files are not - and the volumes are very small, totalling fewer than a thousand per day.

The C&CCC is the Settlement Service Provider for the euro clearings and SWIFT messaging is used to transmit advice of the multilateral net settlement figures to members' treasury departments. An account at a commercial bank is used for the related settlement payments.


so it would appear that me getting 'arsey' has nothing to do with it and I am in fact being ripped off by think bank.... lovely..

thanks for the help...smug comments... bank defense league etc etc...

kiebee

That's for euro cheques drawn in the UK. Yours has to be collected from/negotiated with Ireland.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

finlander wrote: »

Can you quote me where the law says they have the right to ask that question and why they would have that right.

They have the right to ask you pretty much anything they like. Your inside leg measurement if they so desire. Likewise you have the right to decline an answer. The reason in this case was probably that they were trying to flog you a savings account.

jjlandlord

Bank transfer in euro from within EU to UK pound account clears in 24 hours.