Transferring Euros to UK bank account, Bank Charges??

adindas

Rtype said:

grumbler said:

Rtype said:

....after speaking to Natiownide, it turns out that they ... have one of the best exchange rates.

And how do you know this? Because they told you?

After getting all this information, I instructed my solicitor (in spain) to transfer the Euros as Euros as Nationwide would change them for me.

The solicitor has not done this but instead converted them into punds using their own preferred company (without my permission), this has subsequently lost me around £6000 and i'm livid.

If it's about 3% you didn't lose much compared to Nationwide.

Yes they did, they told me what the rate would have been and that there would also have been no charges, I have this in writing.

The difference, due to the exchange rate, works out to around £6000, which I most certainly wouldn't class as not losing much.

The case like this has come up many times in MSEs. The quotes Exchange rate is less relevant. What is more important here is that the total cost after all of the fees are accounted for and the sum you received on the other end. What could happen is that the receiving bank might also take their cut for the money received in foreign currency. Also the quoted rate is often a spot rate that only valid for a short duration of time.

A few people in this forum have done that multiple times and the particular method used in this case has not been spotted. It is always good to learn a better way of doing something.

If you have it in writing, and you are pretty sure you have checked all of the possibility and come to the conclusion are on the right side causing you a loss of £6,000 then I do not think there is nothing else better than to take the case to the FOS. £6,000 is a lot of money, so worthy to spend time to go through the hassles if the chance of winning it is great. And please share your experience and the outcome from your case.

grumbler

adindas said:

Rtype said:

grumbler said:

Rtype said:

....after speaking to Natiownide, it turns out that they ... have one of the best exchange rates.

And how do you know this? Because they told you?

After getting all this information, I instructed my solicitor (in spain) to transfer the Euros as Euros as Nationwide would change them for me.

The solicitor has not done this but instead converted them into punds using their own preferred company (without my permission), this has subsequently lost me around £6000 and i'm livid.

If it's about 3% you didn't lose much compared to Nationwide.

Yes they did, they told me what the rate would have been and that there would also have been no charges, I have this in writing.

The difference, due to the exchange rate, works out to around £6000, which I most certainly wouldn't class as not losing much.

The case like this has come up many times in MSEs. The quotes Exchange rate is less relevant. What is more important here is that the total cost after all of the fees are accounted for and the sum you received on the other end. What could happen is that the receiving bank might also take their cut for the money received in foreign currency. 

No fees at Nationwide as stated above. And no cuts. Only those built in their exchange rate.

If you have it in writing, and you are pretty sure you have checked all of the possibility and come to the conclusion are on the right side causing you a loss of £6,000 then I do not think there is nothing else better than to take the case to the FOS. £6,000 is a lot of money, so worthy to spend time to go through the hassles if the chance of winning it is great. And please share your experience and the outcome from your case.

Case with a Spanish solicitor to UK FOS??

adindas

grumbler said:

adindas said:

Rtype said:

grumbler said:

Rtype said:

....after speaking to Natiownide, it turns out that they ... have one of the best exchange rates.

And how do you know this? Because they told you?

After getting all this information, I instructed my solicitor (in spain) to transfer the Euros as Euros as Nationwide would change them for me.

The solicitor has not done this but instead converted them into punds using their own preferred company (without my permission), this has subsequently lost me around £6000 and i'm livid.

If it's about 3% you didn't lose much compared to Nationwide.

Yes they did, they told me what the rate would have been and that there would also have been no charges, I have this in writing.

The difference, due to the exchange rate, works out to around £6000, which I most certainly wouldn't class as not losing much.

The case like this has come up many times in MSEs. The quotes Exchange rate is less relevant. What is more important here is that the total cost after all of the fees are accounted for and the sum you received on the other end. What could happen is that the receiving bank might also take their cut for the money received in foreign currency. 

No fees at Nationwide as stated above. And no cuts. Only those built in their exchange rate.

If you have it in writing, and you are pretty sure you have checked all of the possibility and come to the conclusion are on the right side causing you a loss of £6,000 then I do not think there is nothing else better than to take the case to the FOS. £6,000 is a lot of money, so worthy to spend time to go through the hassles if the chance of winning it is great. And please share your experience and the outcome from your case.

Case with a Spanish solicitor to UK FOS??

Yes they did, they told me what the rate would have been and that there would also have been no charges, I have this in writing.
If you get quotation it is typically a spot rate which is time restricted. A built exchange rate will not mean you will get a better end result. If Nationwide is so good why it has never been on the league table, has not been spotted by the eagle eyes of MSEr?
If there is a new method of getting a better result, why not people could learn it. It might be that people have found a holy grail of transferring Euro from the EU to the UK.

UK FOS equivalent in Spain: "Defensor del Cliente de Servicios Bancarios,"
It is not clear who is at fault that the op is getting £6,000 less than anticipated. 

grumbler

I don't see how any bank can be at fault here. If anybody is, it's the solicitor then.  Don't know about Spain, but AFAIK in UK FOS doesn't regulate solicitors.

BTW, it's worth noting that we still have no idea of the amount and in May you can see £ exchange rate rasing about 2% within 3 days.

adindas said:

If Nationwide is so good why it has never been on the league table, has not been spotted by the eagle eyes of MSEr?

Are you asking me or the OP? From the very start I said that the rate is likely to be about the same as with most of other banks. It was the OP who believed that the rate is better.  With regard to the fees, some banks do charge a flat fee, some don't.  However, the fee is flat and hardly noticeable for big transfers where the exchange rate is much more important.

The conversion was made in Spain. The transfer was in £. So, regardless of what NW told or wrote to the OP,  the alleged loss cannot be their fault.