Trace of funds for credit card payment

cmg2018

They have said my only option is the small claims court - i have now formally written to them to ask for the recipients details so that I can raise it through that route - I cant belive i did something so stupid

eskbanker

cmg2018 said:

They have said my only option is the small claims court - i have now formally written to them to ask for the recipients details so that I can raise it through that route - I cant belive i did something so stupid

As mentioned by a previous poster, they won't (or at least shouldn't) disclose the recipient's details to you as doing so would be in breach of the Data Protection Act.  You could take the card company to court to force disclosure, but it's not cheap or quick to do so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Pharmacal_order

However, if you've already raised a formal complaint with the card company and they're uncooperative (to the extent of issuing a final response) then you can and should escalate it to the Financial Ombudsman Service - they appear to be treating this issue in the same way as a misdirected payment to the wrong bank account, where the money actually reaches the recipient and so has to be retrieved with their consent.  If the card company are saying that your money has paid off someone else's credit card account, that's a different scenario that they (company) should be in control of, rather than asserting that they're at the mercy of one of their customers - I believe that they should be telling their customer that the credit was in error and reversing it.

Having said that, you'd previously posted that "They said they couldnt look for it as it had probably gone to a holding account because the first 4 digits i had as the reference number didnt correspond with either of their credit card ranges" so I don't understand how they could have allocated your payment to one of their cards if the reference number didn't correspond to the right ranges?

nyermen

eskbanker said:

Having said that, you'd previously posted that "They said they couldnt look for it as it had probably gone to a holding account because the first 4 digits i had as the reference number didnt correspond with either of their credit card ranges" so I don't understand how they could have allocated your payment to one of their cards if the reference number didn't correspond to the right ranges?

This could be key - if they've manually allocated it to another account , then I doubt you can be held liable for that.  I guess the grey area is if there is an automated process that went wrong as a result of the wrong reference number.
For the original mistake, sure, that's your mistake, but that should have resulted in the bank being able to return your money.

bradders1983

I really cant help but think that all the OP needs to do is to get through to someone on the phone with a modicum of common sense and it could probably be sorted within minutes.

jonesMUFCforever

cmg2018 said:

Hi - further update on this one. I have now had a letter to say that they cannot give me the money back as the money has been credited to someone elses credit card and they have to agree to return the money and the recipient has not responded to any correspondance and the only thing I can do is take it to the small claims court

Is this the result of their investigation or a formal complaint?
If it is not a complaint then start one NOW.
To be honest IMO this is a stupid response when they can see what has happened (unlike if the money had disappeared) - if they still won't transfer the money to the right card go to the Ombudsman in eight weeks.