Customer paid twice

silentkiller

Now I'm not sure if this would be in the right category but I guess they are a consumer since they bought from us..


Anywho over a year ago a Customer alleged that he has paid us twice for something.

I cannot see anywhere on our accounts that they have paid us and I can't check the bank until tomorrow when our book keeper brings the card reader thing for online banking.

He refuses to send me evidence of such a thing (even though this would speed things up much quicker than a manual search).


I had not picked this up, my book keeper did not pick this up and apparently neither did theirs until now.

If they can prove they paid us twice do we give it back even though we can't see that they have and it's been over a year?

OlliesDad

silentkiller wrote: »

Now I'm not sure if this would be in the right category but I guess they are a consumer since they bought from us..


Anywho over a year ago a Customer alleged that he has paid us twice for something.

I cannot see anywhere on our accounts that they have paid us and I can't check the bank until tomorrow when our book keeper brings the card reader thing for online banking.

He refuses to send me evidence of such a thing (even though this would speed things up much quicker than a manual search).


I had not picked this up, my book keeper did not pick this up and apparently neither did theirs until now.

If they can prove they paid us twice do we give it back even though we can't see that they have and it's been over a year?

If they can prove that they did indeed pay you twice, then you will need to work out where the money has gone - the bank will be able to help you I am sure. Once you have found it you will need to return it to the customer.

silentkiller

If they have two entries but we can prove it DIDN'T come into our bank, where do we stand then?

Because it could be they paid the same amount to someone else by mistake.

bod1467

But if you can't find any evidence of being paid twice, then you do not have to refund them unless and until they PROVE they have paid YOU twice. (Unless they're a valued, repeat customer whose custom you wish to retain. In which case you may decide to be more flexible).

InsideInsurance

If they can prove it then yes but to prove it they will have to submit evidence. If they were to go to court without having made reasonable attempts to resolve it before hand then you can apply for them to be liable for the court costs despite you being liable.

How are they claiming they paid you? Credit card? BACS? Cheque? Ask for a copy of the relevant statement or the cheques with an offer to reimburse the banks fee for this, with evidence of the charge, if it substantiates their claim of double payment.

shaun_from_Africa

If it was me, I wouldn't waste any time or effort looking back through records until the buyer provided some sort of proof to back up their claim.

If they have this proof then there is no reason why they shouldn't have to show it to you, and if they don't have it, it could be something as simple as a double entry in one of their account books.

browneyedbazzi

If they have proof that they paid twice then yes, you must refund the overpayment. I would think you're well within your rights to insist that he provide you with proof of the payments.

InsideInsurance

silentkiller wrote: »

If they have two entries but we can prove it DIDN'T come into our bank, where do we stand then?

Because it could be they paid the same amount to someone else by mistake.

If they paid it into the wrong account, then thats their fault and liability.

If they paid into the correct account and you or your bank have somehow lost it then you would most likely be found liable but may have redress from your bank

Hintza

If they can prove they paid twice and you only shipped once then of course you should refund. But I would be slightly worried that they weren't willing to give you what they have to help their case. Any CC statement can be scanned and personal info redacted before rescanning so shouldn't be too difficult for the to do.

bod1467

All the replies are essentially saying the same thing - it is for them to PROVE the double payment, NOT for you to DISprove it.

silentkiller

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If they can prove it then yes but to prove it they will have to submit evidence. If they were to go to court without having made reasonable attempts to resolve it before hand then you can apply for them to be liable for the court costs despite you being liable.

How are they claiming they paid you? Credit card? BACS? Cheque? Ask for a copy of the relevant statement or the cheques with an offer to reimburse the banks fee for this, with evidence of the charge, if it substantiates their claim of double payment.

Hi,

They were were very sketchy on the phone and when I asked for payment proof they would not give because of 'confidentiality'.

Thank you everyone for your answers - they pretty much confirmed what I thought.

We record all our calls so you can clearly hear my colleague asking for any payment proof.

Our book keeper is excellent and usually picks up things even I miss so I imagine she wouldn't have missed something like this.

My only other question is: we have two bank accounts (one we do not use anymore but which is still open) if they paid into this account DESPITE repeatedly being told to pay into a different account as the old one is for foreign transactions now, what would happen then?