I paid into wrong Barclaycard account

dorsetmoneysavingexpert

I pay my Barclaycard by Natwest online banking. Last week I paid as usual but the money didn't arrive at Barclaycard. It now seems that I accidentally paid into an old account last used by my son in 2007 but his account number has been changed since then. He is away in Africa so I can't contact him at present. Is it likely that his old account number has been given to someone else? In which case how do I complain? Thanks

19lottie82

I'm not sure why you would want to "complain" ? This isn't Barclaycards fault!

Is your sons account still active? Ie was it ever officially closed down? If so the payment may in limbo so to speak and should be returned within 3-4 days but you would need to speak to your bank.

I would say phone Barclaycard and your bank asap

dorsetmoneysavingexpert

Yes it was my fault entirely. Barclaycard say that the payment was applied to the number I asked for however they can't get the money back without the permission of the account holder (who they will not name of course). If the money has gone to my son then no problem but he has had no request for approval of a debit as far as I can tell (I open all of his mail whilst he is away) which makes me suspicious that the old account number has been reissued. I am looking at what redress I have in this situation (sum involved is about £760)

planteria

dorsetmoneysavingexpert wrote: »

..they can't get the money back without the permission of the account holder (who they will not name of course)..

doesn't sound quite right to me. if they know the payment wasn't intended for that account i would have thought they would be keen to retrieve it for you. speak to NatWest asap.

jonesMUFCforever

planteria wrote: »

doesn't sound quite right to me. if they know the payment wasn't intended for that account i would have thought they would be keen to retrieve it for you. speak to NatWest asap.

How do they know wasn't intended to that account?
The number was entered by OP and he would have had ample opportunity to check the number before submitting.
I'm with Barclaycard on this one.

planteria

fair enough, but if i had made the error, i would be trying to get my bank to help me

jonesMUFCforever

planteria wrote: »

fair enough, but if i had made the error, i would be trying to get my bank to help me

In what way?
Perhaps if you send them a toilet roll they will wipe your behind for you as well. Sorry to be harsh but the bank is not at fault at all.

Why do you think they put in place a second confirm button before you finally hit submit??

Sparx

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Why do you think they put in place a second confirm button before you finally hit submit??

That would still not of helped the OP's situation though would it? As the account number was right as far as she was concerned.

It sounds like the son's fault for not advising mum/dad he had a new account number.

planteria

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

In what way?
Perhaps if you send them a toilet roll they will wipe your behind for you as well. Sorry to be harsh but the bank is not at fault at all.

Why do you think they put in place a second confirm button before you finally hit submit??

you're not being harsh to me, i haven't made the mistake. and i am not arguing that the bank has made a mistake. but a payment has been sent to the wrong place. i would be trying to get it recovered and sent to the right place.

bigadaj

planteria wrote: »

you're not being harsh to me, i haven't made the mistake. and i am not arguing that the bank has made a mistake. but a payment has been sent to the wrong place. i would be trying to get it recovered and sent to the right place.

This is an issue that I think is being reviewed currently.

Whilst everyone should check where they are transferring sums the current convention is that a simple key stroke error an mean large sums being credited to another account. Retrieving that money requires agreement if the mistaken account holder and there's little that the banks can or will do in most cases.

planteria

imagine a call from your bank, informing you that someone has incorrectly sent £10k to your current account. "would you like us to send it back for you, or would you rather keep it?"