Refunding Bank Transfer to wrong details

[Deleted User]

Hi there,

Thanks in advance to anyone reading. I'll try to keep it brief.

A friend of a friend is selling something, which I wanted to buy. I confirmed the details with her and she agreed to sell it to me and then sent me bank details for online payment. I immediately sent payment to the details she sent me and the money (£450) left my account the following day...

After 10 days of her not receiving the money I sent her proof of the transaction, which is when she realised she'd given me the wrong details by one digit...

I immediately contacted my bank (Santander) who were very supportive at the time saying "it happens all the time" and that I would definitely get the money back. After a week or so they sent me documentation of a payment trace they'd made and completely u-turned and are now refusing to help at all saying "Because it wasn't a mistake that we made at the bank then there's absolutely nothing we can do about it." I've spoken to a dozen people there who all say the same thing. They all advised me to contact her bank (Nationwide).

I contacted Nationwide who said they couldn't do anything for me and that my bank would have to contact them directly with something called a 'Best Endeavours Form'. I again contacted my bank and again they refused to help me and said they'd never heard of any such thing as this form and are refusing to help me at all now.

I'm expecting I'll hear much of the same here but I had to check to see if any of you experts had any possible solutions I could pursue. Otherwise a complete stranger has just received a £450 christmas present.

Thanks again for reading (sorry it's a bit long winded).

grumbler

I think not much you can do unless your bank shows a goodwill and helps you with returning the money (the same way as they do when it's their error).
Bank transfers are very dangerous as a small error can be very costly.
As it was your friend's error and she is with Nationwide she can try contacting them as only NW can contact the person that received the money and ask them to give it back.

A similar recent thread: Cash transferred into wrong account - not that there is much useful information in it.

rb10

If it was only one digit of the account number that was wrong, then it won't have gone into anyone else's account, and will be either in a holding account at Nationwide or a holding account at Santander.

You will need to pursue this through Santander - as they haven't helped so far, I would make a complaint outlining concisely what has happened and asking that they retrieve the money.

ChiefGrasscutter

There an FSA document online somewhere which basically says the sending bank (Santander) should help you get your money back - but also says they are entitled to charge you for doing this.

Sad to say we see a lot of these sorts of threads on MSE - and we are no nearer finding out a definitive answer as to what to do and what are the rights and wrongs when this occurs and how is is different when a bank cashier makes a mistake and when you make the mistake in entering up the account number.

Seen from the otherside we hear stories of sums appearing in accounts and then disappearing. While at the same time we hear on MSE of the mistaken end user account holder having to sign a form to release the funds back....yet no one on MSE has had this happen to them (been asked to sign a form) so far as I'm aware.

It is all very unsatisfactory.
Like the OP I always get account Nos in writing to ensure it is not my fault and when giving out mine to payees I add a comment to ensure the numbers are entered up correctly in their online banking system as payments which go elsewhere cannot be recalled.

YorkshireBoy

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

There an FSA document online somewhere which basically says the sending bank (Santander) should help you get your money back - but also says they are entitled to charge you for doing this.

Santander's T&Cs make mention of this...

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/StaticBS?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1223428158772&cachecontrol=immediate&ssbinary=true&maxage=3600 (condition 7.4, closing para)

...but don't mention a "fee" for their services, merely saying they will use "resonable efforts" to help recover the money.


OP, in the scenario outlined, I'd always send £1 first, then ask "have you got it?", before sending the balance. Something to bear in mind for future?

innovate

If neither the sending nor the receiving bank show willingness to resolve the matter reasonably swiftly (say, within 2 business days), I would write to both banks to inform them formally that I will take the case to the FoS if it is still unresolved 8 weeks from the date of my letter.

The FoS appear to be aware of the issues and have detailed information on their website what they will do with a complaint. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/wrong-account-payments.htm

Their sample case history files don't have anything that closely resembles the case in hand in this thread but they are clearly equipped to handle the issue.

Sadly, though, the leadtimes for FoS complaints are pretty horrendous - - starting with the 8 weeks wait from date of complaint before you can take your complaint further.

However, each bank has to pay the FoS several hundred pounds for each complaint raised with the FoS. This sometimes focusses the mind of a bank a little.

YorkshireBoy

innovate wrote: »

However, each bank has to pay the FoS several hundred pounds for each complaint raised with the FoS.

If the money is in a suspense account*, and it's just a question of getting A to talk to B for the customer's benefit, then I can't see this issue requiring the involvement of an adjudicator (the criteria which has to be met to levy the £500 case fee).

Only 1 in 6 complaints are passed up the FOS foodchain to an adjudicator, and I'd suggest this is one of the other 5 which could be dealt with by their frontline staff sending one simple letter to each organisation.


* If it's gone to a 'live' account held by an individual then that's a different matter, and I wouldn't think the FOS would want to get involved. They'd simply suggest that the receiving bank ask their customer to 'please give it back'!

molerat

Firstly go here http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/demos/bankvalidator.aspx and input the details you used. This will show if it is a valid account.

mulronie

It seems unfair that this is your problem at all, when the party at fault is the genius who gave you the wrong information. After all, you met your part of the bargain and paid to the details you had been given. By rights you should have whatever you bought in your hands, and the lady on the other end having the stress.

Hooloovoo

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

* If it's gone to a 'live' account held by an individual then that's a different matter, and I wouldn't think the FOS would want to get involved. They'd simply suggest that the receiving bank ask their customer to 'please give it back'!

There seems to be some confusion here.

If this were one of the many threads asking "Money has appeared in my account. Can I keep it?" they are told, in no uncertain terms, no you can not keep it and the bank can and will take it back.

Now the OP is being told that the customer who has received the money will have to be nice and give it back of their own free will.

So which is it?

mulronie wrote: »

It seems unfair that this is your problem at all, when the party at fault is the genius who gave you the wrong information. After all, you met your part of the bargain and paid to the details you had been given. By rights you should have whatever you bought in your hands, and the lady on the other end having the stress.

I 100% agree with this!

The OP should demand to be given the item that they have paid for. The seller should be the one having the hassle.

grumbler

Hooloovoo wrote: »

There seems to be some confusion here.

If this were one of the many threads asking "Money has appeared in my account. Can I keep it?" they are told, in no uncertain terms, no you can not keep it and the bank can and will take it back.

Now the OP is being told that the customer who has received the money will have to be nice and give it back of their own free will.

So which is it?

If it's a bank's mistake, they know this and often take money back even without asking, although it would be polite to ask.

If it's a customer's mistake, it's obvious that bank can't just take their word for it. Otherwise it would be far to easy for customers to reverse genuine transactions. If I owe you money, send it by a bank transfer and then ask the banks to reverse the transaction, how can they do this without your permission? If you don't give this permission it's a court matter between you and me, not the banks' business.

As simple as that.