Standing Order Returned..who is at fault?

bhzmac1

The standing orders set up from my Bank Santander to pay a set amount to my credit card Virgin MBNA have been returned for the last 3 months.

Before calling the Bank I triple checked that I had set up the SO correctly using the on line banking, triple checked everything sort code, acc number, and ref number everything is correct.

Called Santander yesterday who confirmed the details were correct and they would investigate.

Meanwhile phoned MBNA and asked the reason why they had returned the payment, they are telling me the Ref number is incorrect and missing the last digit and gave me the 3 dates of returned SO payments.

Been over my Bank statement with a fine tooth comb and I can see that the payments sent to MBNA have the correct Ref number, but when they are returned a day later the REF is missing the last digit??

Received a text from the bank saying the case is closed, called them and ended up going over the entire details again, they are still telling me the SO was sent correctly, when I pointed out the errors on the statement the could not give me a answer and will investigate the case and come back to me within 10 DAYS!!! Normal shocking service from Santander.

My question is has anyone experienced the same banking errors before and what was the outcome, and considering my Credit Card is short of over £400 worth of payments this completely mucks up my planned interest free periods, can I go after the bank for compensation if it turns out their system has made the errors??

YorkshireBoy

Is your Virgin card the 'Atlantic White' Amex? ie the one with only 15 digits as the ref/card number.

As to the way forward, you should raise formal complaints with both organisations. Then, if they haven't resolved the matter after 8 weeks, you can refer to the FOS (who will hopefully bang their heads together!).

IJP20

bhzmac1 wrote: »

My question is has anyone experienced the same banking errors before and what was the outcome, and considering my Credit Card is short of over £400 worth of payments this completely mucks up my planned interest free periods, can I go after the bank for compensation if it turns out their system has made the errors??

You can raise a formal complaint to Santander or MBNA, whichever it turns out have made the error, explaining what has happened and stating what you would like them to do to correct matters. Basically they should put you back into the same financial position you would have been in had their error not happened.

meer53

Standing orders are sent using the sort code and account number, not a reference number. If the sort code and account number are correct, then Santander are sending them correctly, the error appears to be with the reference number. If MBNA can't match the payment to an account that is when they will reject it. It's possible that if you set up the standing order online, you might have selected the wrong account type to send your payment to. As YorkshireBoy says, some cards have 15 digit reference numbers instead of 16. MBNA manage a lot of cards, it's easy to select the wrong account when making online payments.

Why didn't you notice this after the first returned payment ?

YorkshireBoy

meer53 wrote: »

Standing orders are sent using the sort code and account number, not a reference number.

I don't think that's correct, unless I've misunderstood you?

Are you saying you cannot send a SO to any account that has a collection account number and a unique reference number?

meer53

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I don't think that's correct, unless I've misunderstood you?

Are you saying you cannot send a SO to any account that has a collection account number and a unique reference number?

Yes, you can. What i was saying is that only the sort code and account number are needed to set up a standing order, not a reference number. The reference number just allows the beneficiary to apply it to the correct card. The OP's problem appears to be with the ref number, sounds as though MBNA are receiving the amount but are unable to identify which card it should go to.

YorkshireBoy

meer53 wrote: »

...snip...

I did misunderstand you.

matttye

meer53 wrote: »

Yes, you can. What i was saying is that only the sort code and account number are needed to set up a standing order, not a reference number. The reference number just allows the beneficiary to apply it to the correct card. The OP's problem appears to be with the ref number, sounds as though MBNA are receiving the amount but are unable to identify which card it should go to.

The OP is saying that the payments sent show up on his statement as having the correct ref number, but are returned a day later with the incorrect ref number. That to me appears to indicate the problem lies with MBNA rather than Santander or the OP.

Unless, for some bizarre reason, Santander is sending it with the incorrect ref number but putting the correct ref number on his statement.

The relevant part of the OP's post:

"Been over my Bank statement with a fine tooth comb and I can see that the payments sent to MBNA have the correct Ref number, but when they are returned a day later the REF is missing the last digit??"

bhzmac1

@Yorkshireboy - Nope its not a AMEX account its a Mastercard so 16 digit ref. Both are saying not at fault at the moment I am inclined to believe MBNA as they have clearly said they could not match the payment because the ref is wrong, Santander have not been able to tell me anything other than confirm its set up correctly, and its me who has pointed out the error on the statements.

@Meer53 Yes I am aware of how a SO is set up, as said everything was set up correctly as confirmed by both parties. MBNA received the payment but were unable to match it to my account despite being set up correctly. The issue is not really about when I noticed it.

@ both. Santander's SO online set up requires you to input the acc code and sort code and ref number, not select from a list of companies like other online bankers. But the error is not in the set up...

meer53

Why not set up a fixed amount direct debit once you have sorted this issue out ?

YorkshireBoy

Just a thought...if you or a partner/family member bank elsewhere, why not try an immediate* FP (say for £1) and see if that gets there?

Alternatively, you could send an immediate FP from Santander yourself, thus bypassing their SO system.

You'd find out then whether the fault lies with Santander or MBNA.


* For absolute certainty, it may be best for them to set up a SO and then cancel it after the first payment has been made.