Seller claims to not have received bank transfer funds (Santander to Lloyds)

Terrum

So I saw this bargain going on eBay for an item that I had wanted for a while, unfortunately the buyer wrote in the description that they only accepted bank transfer. They had over 500 positive feedback and seemed to be a reasonable seller, so I put my trust in them to use bank transfer - lesson learned I should have stuck with PayPal.

I sent the money to their account on the 16th (my bank is Santander, and their bank is Lloyds). My statement showed the payment immediately as a 'faster payment' and should have cleared at the end of the next working day. The seller claims that they have not received it, I sent them screenshots of the statement and made sure the account details I sent it to were correct. So I went into my local Santander branch to try get it traced, and they said I had to talk to Lloyds. So I did - but they couldn't help either because I wasn't the account holder and they could only look into the account as per request by the holder. I've asked them to call Lloyds and I'm hoping I get a positive response in the morning.

So now I'm stuck with talking to someone who I don't even know is going to be honest or even call Lloyds to tell me whether the payment has gone through or not.

Is it possible that a transfer can take almost up to a week? Would I be able to take this to trading standards to try get a legal follow-up on whether the payee has really received the funds or not? Hope someone can shed some light for me! Many thanks

PeacefulWaters

It's up to your bank to find the money.

But you may have been scammed. If so, the bank isn't liable.

There's no need to commence a sentence with the word "so".

Terrum

Thanks for your response, PeacefulWaters. Even though you didn't really answer my questions. Pretty sure my grammar isn't relevant in this matter either.

Either way, I understand the bank isn't liable. But I should at least have the right to know whether the funds are actually showing in their bank or not, don't you think?

agrinnall

Terrum wrote: »

But I should at least have the right to know whether the funds are actually showing in their bank or not, don't you think?

Who do you think should grant you that right? Data protection would prevent Lloyds telling you anything at all about the seller's account. So (sorry Peaceful but that seems to be correct usage in this situation :cool:) the only way you could find out would be for the seller to prove to you that it never arrived, and the only way you could be sure of that would be if you sat with him while he logged on to the account.

Of course, the real issue is that Santander are talking out of their backsides, they know that Lloyds will be unable to talk to you so the first thing you should do is go back to them - I'd do it by phone rather than in branch as the branch staff are unlikely to be able to do this - and say that you want the payment traced to confirm the account that it has arrived at.

Once you know it's in the right account then ultimately your route is the small claims court, but unless you have the seller's name and address that won't be easy. Maybe an Ebay complaint would be your best first step.

grumbler

Terrum wrote: »

...But I should at least have the right to know whether the funds are actually showing in their bank or not, don't you think?

Ask the seller to show you a screenshot proving that the funds aren't showing.

AFAIK, a normal procedure of tracing bank transfers is that your bank gives you some reference number that you pass to the recipient. Then he contacts their bank with this number. If he wants to deceive you, this hardly can help. Requesting a payment by a bank transfer on ebay is a con with 99% confidence. Even if your bank could give you the proof that the money had been credited to the recipient, what would you do with this proof?

Terrum

grumbler wrote: »

Even if your bank could give you the proof that the money had been credited to the recipient, what would you do with this proof?

With enough proof I can take it to small claims / trading standards.

However currently I am on the phone trying to get the 'Faster Payment ID' from Santander and I am going to get this sent onto the seller to get them to call.

Is there a way that, with the seller's permission, to make the call they are having with their Lloyd's representative transferred to me?

Archi_Bald

Terrum wrote: »

Is there a way that, with the seller's permission, to make the call they are having with their Lloyd's representative transferred to me?

How would that transfer that technically work?

How would you know you are actually talking to Lloyds?

Why do you think the seller would give you permission to talk to their bank about their account?

How much money are we talking about, btw?

Terrum

Archi_Bald wrote: »

How would that transfer that technically work?

How would you know you are actually talking to Lloyds?

Why do you think the seller would give you permission to talk to their bank about their account?

How much money are we talking about, btw?

I don't know, it was merely a thought along with all the other suggestions I have been receiving from this thread. I thought in this day and age bank transfers would have more legal protection to help stop scams but I'll just have to try get as much information from them and eBay as possible. If the banks can't help, my last resort would be trading standards.

EDIT: It was £180

Paul_1977

The only thing you can do if you don't get anywhere with the banks is leave bad feedback, and report the user to Ebay.

I thought Ebay no longer allowed sales unless you included Paypal as a payment.

mozzy10

Terrum wrote: »

So I saw this bargain going on eBay for an item that I had wanted for a while, unfortunately the buyer wrote in the description that they only accepted bank transfer. They had over 500 positive feedback and seemed to be a reasonable seller, so I put my trust in them to use bank transfer - lesson learned I should have stuck with PayPal.

There is always the possibility that the ebay account has been highjacked and you are not dealing with the real account holder.

Lloyds_Bank

Terrum wrote: »

So I saw this bargain going on eBay for an item that I had wanted for a while, unfortunately the buyer wrote in the description that they only accepted bank transfer. They had over 500 positive feedback and seemed to be a reasonable seller, so I put my trust in them to use bank transfer - lesson learned I should have stuck with PayPal.

I sent the money to their account on the 16th (my bank is Santander, and their bank is Lloyds). My statement showed the payment immediately as a 'faster payment' and should have cleared at the end of the next working day. The seller claims that they have not received it, I sent them screenshots of the statement and made sure the account details I sent it to were correct. So I went into my local Santander branch to try get it traced, and they said I had to talk to Lloyds. So I did - but they couldn't help either because I wasn't the account holder and they could only look into the account as per request by the holder. I've asked them to call Lloyds and I'm hoping I get a positive response in the morning.

So now I'm stuck with talking to someone who I don't even know is going to be honest or even call Lloyds to tell me whether the payment has gone through or not.

Is it possible that a transfer can take almost up to a week? Would I be able to take this to trading standards to try get a legal follow-up on whether the payee has really received the funds or not? Hope someone can shed some light for me! Many thanks

Hi Terrum

As a few others on the post have noted, in a scenario such as this, the remitting bank (in this case Santander) should be able to assist you further. While we'd be unable to discuss a customer account with you directly, if another bank contacts us regard a potential missing payment, we'll be able to confirm to them that the money was (or was not) received successfully to the account details you provided.

Thanks,

Graeme