Santander security - payment to wrong account

abicat

I recently purchased a mobile home and my branch of Santander set up a CHAPS payment for 90% of the purchase price and a very fast payment for the 10% payable to the site owners. Santander security refused to allow the 10% payment to go through until I went into the branch in my new home town. The branch called security who asked me several questions and then said they would release the payment and it would go through in two hours. Sounded fine but Security then paid it into the vendors account, instead of into the site owners account.

I spent two hours with a bank officer in my new branch logging all the details and requesting the money be returned to me. I then spent a further hour with another officer yesterday as security have not resolved. I have been advised by branch that security should contact and resolve the issue within three days. That deadline has now passed with no contact and certainly no apology from security. I seem to be hitting my head against a brick wall as I rang complaints as advised by the branch, only to be told that as security are a separate entity from Santander, the only people I could complain to are security!! Does anyone have any idea as to how I can escalate the issue and have MY money returned. I'm sure if I owed the bank several thousand, they wouldn't wait around for me to pay it to them

jonesMUFCforever

Security did not pay anybody.
Whatever was keyed in at the branch where you did the CHAPS was where the money was eventually sent.

Did you check the details - did you sign to authorise?

If yes to these you are on tricky ground.

agrinnall

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Security did not pay anybody.
Whatever was keyed in at the branch where you did the CHAPS was where the money was eventually sent.

Did you check the details - did you sign to authorise?

If yes to these you are on tricky ground.

While I'd agree that it's whatever was entered, I don't think it's the CHAPS payment that has gone missing, the OP says it's the 10% which seems to have been sent by FPS. The question to be answered is who keyed that, the OP themself in online banking, the bank through telephone banking, or the branch over the counter? My guess is that it's the first of these and the OP got it wrong, but we really need to get clarification.

jonesMUFCforever

I know but my guess is that if it happened in branch he would have had a slip of paper put in front of him and asked to check the details then if all was ok he would have had to sign or enter his PIN to confirm.

If this is what happened then IMO he is stuffed and is reliant on the refund on a best endeavours policy.

sheramber

How would security know the vendor's bank details. Surely, they would only have the information given for the payment in the first place.

abicat

To answer your questions:
It was the 10% sent by very fast payment that went to the wrong account
It was keyed in by branch officer, checked as correct by me and shows as having been on its way to the correct sort code and account number on print out and on screen by bank officers at my new branch
Then shows as being Rejected by Security, released by security and then somehow was sent (presumably by security) to the account where the 90% went. Neither I nor my new branch keyed in a new sort or bank account or were asked to check any details.

abicat

Just to clarify: Both of the branch officers I've seen this week have confirmed that the error was not mine. How it was able to occur was not really the question I was raising. I was just hoping that someone more knowledgable about banking than me, would be able to suggest ways of getting the issue solved quickly as obviously the intended recipients of the 10% would like their money and It can't be paid until the money is returned to me.

jonesMUFCforever

abicat wrote: »

Just to clarify: Both of the branch officers I've seen this week have confirmed that the error was not mine. How it was able to occur was not really the question I was raising. I was just hoping that someone more knowledgable about banking than me, would be able to suggest ways of getting the issue solved quickly as obviously the intended recipients of the 10% would like their money and It can't be paid until the money is returned to me.

Surely that is the crux of the matter. I am very surprised that a branch faster payment would have gone through ''security'' anyway as checks would have been done in branch.
The process to get the money back is that Santander will ask the bank where the money was sent to to refund - they will need the permission of the beneficiary to do this. If they refuse you lose your money.
This is where who did what is very important. Keep your copies of the transaction. You may have to start a formal complaint if indeed Santander have messed up.

PeacefulWaters

abicat wrote: »

Just to clarify: Both of the branch officers I've seen this week have confirmed that the error was not mine. How it was able to occur was not really the question I was raising. I was just hoping that someone more knowledgable about banking than me, would be able to suggest ways of getting the issue solved quickly as obviously the intended recipients of the 10% would like their money and It can't be paid until the money is returned to me.

If Santander have indeed confirmed that they've entered and agreed one correct set of numbers with you and then managed to mess up and send it to a different combination then I'm pretty certain they have the ability to put you right immediately and ensure that pursuing their loss becomes their problem and nothing to do with you.

How they would make such a catastrophic error I have no idea.

abicat

Thanks for the replies.

abicat

I've been told that because it was Security that apparently messed up the transaction, they are not subject to the same procedures as the branches and are a law unto themselves. I've not had anything to do with them before so not sure how true this is. I don't think there is any problem with the money being returned, as the person who has power of attorney on the account was the person who raised the alarm in the first place. They didn't send it to a random unknown person but to the Vendor. Unfortunately the person with POA lives overseas and can't return the money as,according to the estate agents, he doesn't have access to a card machine. Unfortunately, it looks as if I will have to spend yet more time at the bank. Thank goodness my new branch are being as helpful as they can but their hands appear to be tied.