Standing order issues - advice please

eskbanker

sultan123 said:

Natwest have filled out some recovery form? Said they will give me reference number in 24 hours and it can take 24 working days to resolve. 

Could I go to obdusman?

There is a misdirected payments process that takes something like that length of time, but my understanding is that that's intended for situations where a payment has been made to the wrong account, rather than this scenario, so perhaps worth getting clarification from them as to exactly what process they're following?

You can escalate a complaint to the financial ombudsman if you've first gone through the bank's own complaints process but without adequate resolution, but that's all dependent on establishing that the bank didn't do something it should have done....

TheBanker

sultan123 said:

eskbanker said:

Which bank and what was the scheduling of payments, i.e. when were they due to be sent each month?

Natwest. Due to come out on 1st each month.

I'm pretty sure that when I've cancelled Natwest standing orders, it's warned me if I'm too late to cancel the next scheduled payment. I assume you don't recall seeing a warning like that?

TheBanker

eskbanker said:

sultan123 said:

Natwest have filled out some recovery form? Said they will give me reference number in 24 hours and it can take 24 working days to resolve. 

Could I go to obdusman?

There is a misdirected payments process that takes something like that length of time, but my understanding is that that's intended for situations where a payment has been made to the wrong account, rather than this scenario, so perhaps worth getting clarification from them as to exactly what process they're following?

You can escalate a complaint to the financial ombudsman if you've first gone through the bank's own complaints process but without adequate resolution, but that's all dependent on establishing that the bank didn't do something it should have done....

There's a process for attempting to recover payments made in error. Natwest will contact the other bank and ask them to return the payment. The other bank will seek permission from their customer and will only return the funds if their customer agrees. If the customer does not agree then the funds will not be returned. I thought this process was for bank errors rather than customer errors, though.

I think the FOS would regard this as Natwest taking reasonable steps to help the customer. The only grounds for a complaint might be if Natwest confirmed the SO was cancelled without indicating that one more payment might be made. Depending on the terms and conditions of the account, it could potentially be considered an unauthorised payment. 

boingy

I don't think you've got any hope of the FOS ruling in your favour because you were simply too late in cancelling the payment on the bank holiday. The problem lies with the company you sent the money to. You need to pursue their complaints procedure and hassle the heck out of their management/directors. If you are into social media many companies respond to complaints better via that medium because it is very public. Don't take no for an answer.

TBH it's a bit unusual for a company to take staged payments by standing order rather than by Direct Debit.

sheramber

https://www.natwest.com/support-centre/payments/general/how-do-i-cancel-a-standing-order.html

Please note: To cancel your standing order from within the mobile banking app you need to give us at least two working days' notice.

You can cancel a standing order online up to 6:00pm on the previous working day before it is due. However, if you do not want the payment to leave the account, this will need to be cancelled at least 48 working hours before this is scheduled to leave.

penners324

Is that Natwest's ludicrously antiquated systems not being able to cope on a bank holiday. Ridiculous in this day and age.

Hoenir

penners324 said:

Is that Natwest's ludicrously antiquated systems not being able to cope on a bank holiday. Ridiculous in this day and age.

Batch processing is remarkably efficient at the macro level. Inefficiencey is when everybody expects micro management. That's when hardly unsurprisingly the world of commerce grinds to a complete standstill. 

eskbanker

TheBanker said:

eskbanker said:

sultan123 said:

Natwest have filled out some recovery form? Said they will give me reference number in 24 hours and it can take 24 working days to resolve. 

Could I go to obdusman?

There is a misdirected payments process that takes something like that length of time, but my understanding is that that's intended for situations where a payment has been made to the wrong account, rather than this scenario, so perhaps worth getting clarification from them as to exactly what process they're following?

You can escalate a complaint to the financial ombudsman if you've first gone through the bank's own complaints process but without adequate resolution, but that's all dependent on establishing that the bank didn't do something it should have done....

There's a process for attempting to recover payments made in error. Natwest will contact the other bank and ask them to return the payment. The other bank will seek permission from their customer and will only return the funds if their customer agrees. If the customer does not agree then the funds will not be returned. I thought this process was for bank errors rather than customer errors, though.

That sounds like the misdirected payments process I was referring to, the contact with the receiving customer being necessary on the basis that they weren't the intended recipient - this is intended for correction of customer errors when the wrong payee has been specified, but wasn't aware that it could be used to recall a payment to the intended payee but sent 'in error' like this.

TheBanker

eskbanker said:

TheBanker said:

eskbanker said:

sultan123 said:

Natwest have filled out some recovery form? Said they will give me reference number in 24 hours and it can take 24 working days to resolve. 

Could I go to obdusman?

There is a misdirected payments process that takes something like that length of time, but my understanding is that that's intended for situations where a payment has been made to the wrong account, rather than this scenario, so perhaps worth getting clarification from them as to exactly what process they're following?

You can escalate a complaint to the financial ombudsman if you've first gone through the bank's own complaints process but without adequate resolution, but that's all dependent on establishing that the bank didn't do something it should have done....

There's a process for attempting to recover payments made in error. Natwest will contact the other bank and ask them to return the payment. The other bank will seek permission from their customer and will only return the funds if their customer agrees. If the customer does not agree then the funds will not be returned. I thought this process was for bank errors rather than customer errors, though.

That sounds like the misdirected payments process I was referring to, the contact with the receiving customer being necessary on the basis that they weren't the intended recipient - this is intended for correction of customer errors when the wrong payee has been specified, but wasn't aware that it could be used to recall a payment to the intended payee but sent 'in error' like this.

I am aware of it being used to recover other types of error e.g. when a payment has accidentally been sent twice. But anyway, I hope it works to get the OP's money back.