Getting shorted by the bank on a withdrawal

JustAnotherSaver

What do you do in a case like this?



You're with First Direct. You call up to withdraw £5,000. They say go down to your local HSBC which you do.
You give the agreed password, you get the cash in an envelope. You're not wanting to stand there counting it so you take the envelope. You're given no receipt.

You get home, see they've only given you £4,980. One of the bundles had a rubber band on it when they weighed it that you saw so you don't know if this slight weight was the issue or something else entirely.


You call First Direct who tell you it's not their problem - call HSBC, they're the ones who dished it out.

You call HSBC who after a big runaround say it's not their problem - call First Direct, they're your bank & the ones you called to arrange withdrawing the money.



So here you are. Forget the "it's just £20" as that's really not the point.

born_again

Go back to the branch and complain. But you really do need to count it. Or make the cashier count it out for you..
Never known a branch not count cash when giving it to you at the counter.
Reciept. Just ask for one.

If you get no joy complain to FD for the sake of £20 the rep should give you it back.

Ben8282

Is this giving the password and having cash in an envelope handed over to you normal? Can't you just go into a branch and use the debit card to withdraw?
I also have never not known the cashier to count out the notes when withdrawing cash. But I have never had the cash handed over to me in the manner described either.
The responsible party is the branch. FD can do nothing. You will have to return to the branch and report it. They will then have to do the necessary reconciliations and determine if the money in the envelope was short or not, unless they can't be bothered for £20 and just hand it over as a goodwill gesture.
Next time open the envelope and count the cash at the counter. I would.

JustAnotherSaver

born_again wrote: »

Go back to the branch and complain. But you really do need to count it. Or make the cashier count it out for you..
Never known a branch not count cash when giving it to you at the counter.
Reciept. Just ask for one.

If you get no joy complain to FD for the sake of £20 the rep should give you it back.

Maybe the branch did count it. I'll have to ask (wasn't me who withdrew the money. Person is on the road as i type). Even if they did count it, maybe they counted it wrong. It's since been counted 4 times at home after the initial count to discover it was wrong so that's 5 in total and by 3 different people too.


Since the bank will be closed, will it not be too late? I've personally been wronged in a shop before and they counted it there and then and gave me my correct change.
But the next day, wont all tills/safes have been shut down making it harder to check 24 hours later?

Ben8282 wrote: »

Is this giving the password and having cash in an envelope handed over to you normal? Can't you just go into a branch and use the debit card to withdraw?
I also have never not known the cashier to count out the notes when withdrawing cash. But I have never had the cash handed over to me in the manner described either.
The responsible party is the branch. FD can do nothing. You will have to return to the branch and report it. They will then have to do the necessary reconciliations and determine if the money in the envelope was short or not, unless they can't be bothered for £20 and just hand it over as a goodwill gesture.
Next time open the envelope and count the cash at the counter. I would.

Which bank are you with that lets you withdraw £5,000 from a cash machine in one transaction?

Ben8282

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Which bank are you with that lets you withdraw £5,000 from a cash machine in one transaction?

I never suggested withdrawing it from an ATM. I obviously meant using a debit card to withdraw the funds OVER THE COUNTER from a cashier.

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Maybe the branch did count it. I'll have to ask (wasn't me who withdrew the money. Person is on the road as i type). Even if they did count it, maybe they counted it wrong.

Oh dear. So it was a third party who went to the bank and was handed the envelope which this person then brought to you. You say that maybe the cash was counted in the branch after all. If that is the case, then the envelope would have been handed over to the person collecting it unsealed. Unless the envelope was handed to you sealed with a branch stamp across the envelope in a manner which precludes any possibility of third party tampering, then we have a problem. Even though you might trust this person implicitly, the fact that the envelope was in their possession and the missing £20 was not discovered until after they had handed over to you adds an additional complication and the responsibility for this is no longer clear..

JustAnotherSaver

Ben8282 wrote: »

I never suggested withdrawing it from an ATM. I obviously meant using a debit card to withdraw the funds OVER THE COUNTER from a cashier.

Ok, my bad. Hands held up, i got that wrong.


Still, is this method unusual? I don't know.


What i thought unusual was you could take out a loan and get that loan in cash the same day. Other banks i've personally been with you have to give some kind of notice. Nationwide for example want 48 hours notice.

Oh dear. So it was a third party who went to the bank and was handed the envelope which this person then brought to you.

I wish!


Sadly they did not. Same as i never said they did.


I guess we pulled the rug from under each other on these posts So 1-1 then yeah? :rotfl:


The money is from their own loan with First Direct. They took it out for a car. If they didn't turn up today to buy the car it was going to someone else. So they went on to go get it. As they're on a very long drive i'm on here trying to be a help to them and get answers so that when they land back they can have a better idea of how to proceed.

You say that maybe the cash was counted in the branch after all. If that is the case, then the envelope would have been handed over to the person collecting it unsealed. Unless the envelope was handed to you sealed with a branch stamp across the envelope in a manner which precludes any possibility of third party tampering, then we have a problem. Even though you might trust this person implicitly, the fact that the envelope was in their possession and the missing £20 was not discovered until after they had handed over to you adds an additional complication and the responsibility for this is no longer clear..

We'll just snip this bit due to the above yeah?

Ben8282

OK. Lets start again.
I don't think the source of the funds is relevant. Once the money from the loan has been paid into the borrowers bank account, and yes some banks do pay it into the account immediately that they approve the loan, then the account holder is free to withdraw it.
The problem is that the person failed to notice the missing money until after they had left the bank. I don't really see that FD can be blamed in any way as they played no part in counting the money and putting it into the envelope. The person will have to return to the HSBC branch tomorrow and explain what has happened. With some luck they will be treated sympathetically and HSBC will suggest a solution. But obviously it will be difficult to prove anything one way or the other.

meer53

If the money has now been spent I can't see you getting anywhere with HSBC. Lesson learned.

JustAnotherSaver

Ben8282 wrote: »

OK. Lets start again.
I don't think the source of the funds is relevant. Once the money from the loan has been paid into the borrowers bank account, and yes some banks do pay it into the account immediately that they approve the loan, then the account holder is free to withdraw it.
The problem is that the person failed to notice the missing money until after they had left the bank. I don't really see that FD can be blamed in any way as they played no part in counting the money and putting it into the envelope. The person will have to return to the HSBC branch tomorrow and explain what has happened. With some luck they will be treated sympathetically and HSBC will suggest a solution. But obviously it will be difficult to prove anything one way or the other.

They're not blaming anyone. Well they sort of are, they're clearly blaming the person who gave them it or whoever sorted it out.


The issue is that they want to know who to take it up with because both banks are pointing fingers at each other.


I would've thought HSBC but then HSBC say it's First Direct.



Wouldn't be the first time i've known of a HSBC balls up. I personally have had £200 apology money from them for some mess they made.

meer53 wrote: »

If the money has now been spent I can't see you getting anywhere with HSBC. Lesson learned.

Money has been spent but the money is still in the envelope - because the person didn't know if the bank would wish to weigh it again or to check serial numbers or whatever.


They got a loan from a relative. They'll just pay this person back once this mess has been sorted. Don't ask me why this person keeps £5k cash in their house. It was news to me when i found out today as well. I knew they kept a bit but i thought it was only about £1k.

MovingForwards

If your friend has complained to the bank where the money was withdrawn, when they cashed up today they will see whether there is £20 more than accounted for, in theory if no one else has said they were short changed your mate should get his £20.

Regardless of the amount of money drawn out, over the counter, I've always had it recounted in front of me, if it's a large amount I tell the cashier to do it down by them so it's not seen, also say not to verbally count it, and do it slower than they normally would so I can visually count it, then it's put in the envelope and handed to me.

18cc

Agreed password? Cashier giving out the money in an envelope without asking for ID? Can i just check this is a UK branch of HSBC we are talking about, not Bolivia?