Internet banking overpayment

growler834

I usually pay my credit card bill via their website. As I was going on holiday & wouldn't be back in time for the payment date I tried to pay on the day I was going away. Got all the way through to the end of the procedure to be told that a technical problem meant my payment couldn't be processed & to try again later. I tried to ring the company to see if there was a problem with their website & pay by phone but there was a 10 minute wait to get through (probably due to the problem with the website) & I was running short of time so I popped a cheque in the post & went on holiday.

A few days later, last Friday, my bank called my mobile (I was still on holiday) to say I was vastly overdrawn due to TWO PAYMENTS to my credit card company. So the website had processed my payment & I had also sent the cheque. I rang the CC company who said they would refund my bank account within 3 working days. Meanwhile my bank had to arrange an unplanned overdraft facility costing me a lot of money to ensure my DDs were paid - I was also left without access to cash for the rest of my holiday.

No refund had been received after 3 working days so I rang the CC company & was told it would be in my account by close of business the next day. Nothing happened & today I rang again to be told it wouldn't be in my account until tomorrow as it takes 3 working days FROM MY CHEQUE CLEARING which meant 5 days altogether.

As the overpayment was made because of a problem with the CC website & I then got incorrect information regarding the time it would take to process the refund, I intend to ask the CC company to pay the overdraft fees & compensate me for all the phone calls, disruption to my holiday & distress this has caused me. Is this unreasonable of me? Advice greatly appreciated.

chanz4

No compsensation is due, they may as a gesture refund the od charges

growler834

Ok thanks Chanz.

FireWyrm

Sorry, but I seriously doubt you will get anywhere. You sent the cheque, they merely presented it. You should have confirmed that the original web payment had cleared or not. It was not their problem that you were on holiday, nor that you had left it so late to pay them. All the rest stems from that action and it was mostly your own fault. You may perhaps get some trifling sum as a good will gesture, but I dont believe you will get anywhere near what you are anticipating.

Dobbibill

Hey Growler,

It is unfortunate what has happened, they may assist you with charges as a one off but I agree with others that they have only cashed a cheque you sent. Websites crashing and not giving conclusive information about whether or not payments have gone through successfully is annoying too.

To avoid this happening next time you go on holiday or something crops up have you thought about making the payment as a bill payment directly from your account, this will prevent you going overdrawn as it will leave on the chosen day, maybe a few days before payment is due. This is something your bank will be able to help you with either over the phone or on their internet banking (if you use this). It's so handy and payments can normally be set up 30 days in advance so would be ideal when going on holiday or other such events.

DB

DUTR

growler834 wrote: »

I usually pay my credit card bill via their website. As I was going on holiday & wouldn't be back in time for the payment date I tried to pay on the day I was going away. Got all the way through to the end of the procedure to be told that a technical problem meant my payment couldn't be processed & to try again later. I tried to ring the company to see if there was a problem with their website & pay by phone but there was a 10 minute wait to get through (probably due to the problem with the website) & I was running short of time so I popped a cheque in the post & went on holiday.

A few days later, last Friday, my bank called my mobile (I was still on holiday) to say I was vastly overdrawn due to TWO PAYMENTS to my credit card company. So the website had processed my payment & I had also sent the cheque. I rang the CC company who said they would refund my bank account within 3 working days. Meanwhile my bank had to arrange an unplanned overdraft facility costing me a lot of money to ensure my DDs were paid - I was also left without access to cash for the rest of my holiday.

No refund had been received after 3 working days so I rang the CC company & was told it would be in my account by close of business the next day. Nothing happened & today I rang again to be told it wouldn't be in my account until tomorrow as it takes 3 working days FROM MY CHEQUE CLEARING which meant 5 days altogether.

As the overpayment was made because of a problem with the CC website & I then got incorrect information regarding the time it would take to process the refund, I intend to ask the CC company to pay the overdraft fees & compensate me for all the phone calls, disruption to my holiday & distress this has caused me. Is this unreasonable of me? Advice greatly appreciated.

I had similar in the past (Barclays?) anyways, after a little to-ing and fro-ing between Barclays and Barclaycard, Barclays put a G gesture for the over payment on my account, Barclaycard refunded the amount about a week later, then about 6 weeks later Barclays reclaimed the GW gesture amount.

MABLE

growler834 wrote: »

I usually pay my credit card bill via their website. As I was going on holiday & wouldn't be back in time for the payment date I tried to pay on the day I was going away. Got all the way through to the end of the procedure to be told that a technical problem meant my payment couldn't be processed & to try again later. I tried to ring the company to see if there was a problem with their website & pay by phone but there was a 10 minute wait to get through (probably due to the problem with the website) & I was running short of time so I popped a cheque in the post & went on holiday.

A few days later, last Friday, my bank called my mobile (I was still on holiday) to say I was vastly overdrawn due to TWO PAYMENTS to my credit card company. So the website had processed my payment & I had also sent the cheque. I rang the CC company who said they would refund my bank account within 3 working days. Meanwhile my bank had to arrange an unplanned overdraft facility costing me a lot of money to ensure my DDs were paid - I was also left without access to cash for the rest of my holiday.

No refund had been received after 3 working days so I rang the CC company & was told it would be in my account by close of business the next day. Nothing happened & today I rang again to be told it wouldn't be in my account until tomorrow as it takes 3 working days FROM MY CHEQUE CLEARING which meant 5 days altogether.

As the overpayment was made because of a problem with the CC website & I then got incorrect information regarding the time it would take to process the refund, I intend to ask the CC company to pay the overdraft fees & compensate me for all the phone calls, disruption to my holiday & distress this has caused me. Is this unreasonable of me? Advice greatly appreciated.

No help now but it may be useful for the future to set up a dd for the min amount and at least you then do not have to worry.

With the credit cards I have provided I make manual payments in time its stops the dd being activated for that month.

chattychappy

I disagree with the other posters. I'm not one to jump on the compensation bandwagon. However, because of this:

growler834 wrote: »

to be told that a technical problem meant my payment couldn't be processed & to try again later.

It wasn't a timeout or some other miscellaneous problem. They specifically told you that the payment had failed when in fact the money was taken. You were entitled to rely on this. Moreover, it is an obligation imposed by the CC agreement that you make payments on time. So you did the reasonable thing: you made payment by another method.

There maybe an issue over evidence (I usually do a screen dump in situations such as this). But unless this is disputed, I believe the CC should make good your direct consequential costs (overdraft interest+fees).

MABLE

chattychappy wrote: »

I disagree with the other posters. I'm not one to jump on the compensation bandwagon. However, because of this:



It wasn't a timeout or some other miscellaneous problem. They specifically told you that the payment had failed when in fact the money was taken. You were entitled to rely on this. Moreover, it is an obligation imposed by the CC agreement that you make payments on time. So you did the reasonable thing: you made payment by another method.

There maybe an issue over evidence (I usually do a screen dump in situations such as this). But unless this is disputed, I believe the CC should make good your direct consequential costs (overdraft interest+fees).

Direct debit for min payment.

FireWyrm

MABLE wrote: »

Direct debit for min payment.

I do the same thing. I have a DD for the minimum and the day after that is presented, I make a manual payment for the remainder up to the total amount I want to pay.

growler834

FireWyrm wrote: »

Sorry, but I seriously doubt you will get anywhere. You sent the cheque, they merely presented it. You should have confirmed that the original web payment had cleared or not. It was not their problem that you were on holiday, nor that you had left it so late to pay them. All the rest stems from that action and it was mostly your own fault. You may perhaps get some trifling sum as a good will gesture, but I dont believe you will get anywhere near what you are anticipating.

I hadn't left it too late - statement emailed to me (as the norm) on 31st August, payment by due date 12th September. I paid on 1st Sept, an hour before I was due to leave for my holiday - I wasn't due home until 10th Sept & didn't want to pay so close to due date. In normal circs I would have hung on the phone to check if the payment had gone through but I was running short of time.

Thanks to those who have suggested DD payments - something I will look at in the future although I've never had the need to use it before.

Chattychappy - Thank you for your comment - that is exactly how I feel. I have paid via their website for 8 years & never had a problem before. I didn't think to do a screen dump but I hope they realise that no one is stupid enough to pay the full amount by Internet & then send a cheque for the same full amount. They have now refunded my account with the duplicate payment so I'm hoping they are as helpful with the OD fee.