Azimo cancelled money transfer

Fermion

I would appreciate some advice regarding a recent cancelled overseas money transfer.
We recently arranged a Sri Lankan tour with a local Sri Lankan tour company (Starron) who sent me an invoice for 20% deposit payable in US$ - value $2239. They provided bank, Swift and IBAN details of their local bank (Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC)

We decided to use Azimo (recommended by MSE and FCA regulated)) to make the payment , the cost was £1732.06 with a fee of £11.99. I paid by Visa Debit Card from my Royal Bank of Scotland account. The money was taken from my account, Azimo confirmed receipt and stated that the money was sent and transaction completed.
On checking with the local tour company they had not received the money. They checked with their bank and it transpired that the money was initially received however 10 mins later they received a formal secure SWIFT message from Barclays Bank UK requesting cancellation of the transaction (FIN 192 Request for Cancellation) which the local bank complied with and initiated a return of monies. I was not aware of this as the Azimo online system was still saying the transaction was complete and money received by the recipient.
I contacted Azimo support who investigated and claimed that the transaction was rejected by the receiving back . I explained to Azimo that the transaction cancellation initiated in the UK by Azimo's intermediary (Barclays Bank UK) and I had obtained PDF copies of the 2 SWIFT transactions sent to the local Bank - however Azimo rejected this and claimed that they had spoken to their local Sri Lankan agent who claimed the transaction was rejected by the local bank probably due to incorrect bank or recipient details supplied by me. They refused to accept written evidence and refused to allow me to raise a formal Customer Complaint.
The Azimo agent said their only alternative was to refund the transaction, but I would be liable for any transfer or currency reconversion charges. I am still waiting for a refund.
I should add that it is impossible to contact Azimo by phone and they supply post contact details.
I tried phoning Barclays Bank to find out why they initiated a cancellation but they refused to deal with me as I am not their client.
A few questions:-
1. Do I have any recourse for obtaining a refund of charges, fees and currency conversion costs?
2. has anyone else had similar issues with using Azimo for overseas money transfers?

dj1471

I have experienced this with them, with an existing recipient that I'd sent to previously without issue, though I didn't dig into why the payment was cancelled (they said the receiving bank rejected it). In my experience you get a full refund.

You can contact your bank for a chargeback if the refund isn't forthcoming. There's a postal address hidden in their T&Cs which will be the best way to raise a formal complaint.

I usually use TransferWise now as their rates are better for my destination. Revolut may be another option for you if they support Sri Lanka.

moneysaverz83

It's been 2 days I've waited on an azimo cancelled transfer refund. Azimo said it depends on the bank processing time. My bank said6it depends on azimo.



They say 2-5 days.



How long have others had to wait? Was cancelled on Wednesday, its Saturday now