Overpaid via bank transfer by mistake

fifi35

Hi, Yesterday, I had a gentleman turn up and ask if I wanted to trim my hedge.  Against my better judgement, we agreed on a price of £200 after I asked if I could pay by bank transfer as I had no cash.  This gentleman agreed.  Halfway through doing the hedge he knocked on my door and stated that could i get him cash because he didn't have his bank details.  I didn't have my debit card so couldn't and he got really angry and agitated.   Anyway, he managed to find his bank details so I transferred the money.  The guy was verbally kicking off whilst doing this.  A few hours later I checked my account and realised I had added another zero on by mistake and had actually paid £200o and not £200 hundred.  I immediately rang the guy as his number was on a leaflet he gave me after several attempts there was no answer so I rang Santander my bank.  They stated that the only thing they could do was attempt to recall it but they were not hopeful and it could take up to 20 days.  I have kept ringing the number of this man but there is no answer.
I absolutely feel sick.

Has anyone ever done anything similar and has any advice for me in getting my money back?

Thank you for listening to me.

soolin

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

grumpy_codger

Well, keep trying to contact the guy.

Alternatively it's either Santander or Small Claims Court. Keep your fingers crossed for the former. For the latter you'll need the guys name and the address.

fifi35

soolin said:

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

Thank you for your reply.  No, there was no address on the card he gave me.  All I have is the bank account details.  

soolin

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

Thank you for your reply.  No, there was no address on the card he gave me.  All I have is the bank account details.  

Then I suspect the bank is u fortunately your only hope unless the expose responds to you and gives you a geographic address.

However, can you confirm the bit please about whether you made the transfer with or without assistance from the cold caller? 

fifi35

soolin said:

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

Thank you for your reply.  No, there was no address on the card he gave me.  All I have is the bank account details.  

Then I suspect the bank is u fortunately your only hope unless the expose responds to you and gives you a geographic address.

However, can you confirm the bit please about whether you made the transfer with or without assistance from the cold caller? 

No, I made the mistake all be myself.  The guy rang me this morning from the bank and they have put the money back into my account.  I am truly humbled and gave him £50 for his trouble.  My faith in human beings has been restored.  Thank you for all your advice.  

DullGreyGuy

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

Thank you for your reply.  No, there was no address on the card he gave me.  All I have is the bank account details.  

Then I suspect the bank is u fortunately your only hope unless the expose responds to you and gives you a geographic address.

However, can you confirm the bit please about whether you made the transfer with or without assistance from the cold caller? 

No, I made the mistake all be myself.  The guy rang me this morning from the bank and they have put the money back into my account.  I am truly humbled and gave him £50 for his trouble.  My faith in human beings has been restored.  Thank you for all your advice.  

Glad to hear it!

I think people are generally fairly reasonable, and whilst there are some bad apples our judgement is often coloured by the constant bad press of scams and cons etc because a story like this "doesn't sell newspapers" (realise no one buys newspapers these days). 

Hopefully you were happy with the job they did too and will recommend them... £50 is nice but a couple of new customers from word of mouth recommendations is often more valuable. 

Jami74

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

No, I made the mistake all be myself.  The guy rang me this morning from the bank and they have put the money back into my account.  I am truly humbled and gave him £50 for his trouble.  My faith in human beings has been restored.  Thank you for all your advice.  

That sounds so much like you are saying a person from the bank rang you to say they've put the money back into your account and then you gave them £50. How?

Or do you mean the hedgecutter guy who charges £200 for a hedge trim went to a bank and called you from his mobile phone to say that £1800 would be returned and then you retransferred £50 to him.
Or you said "Nah, just send me £1750".
Or the bank credited you with £2000 and you retransferred £250 back to the hedge cutter?

Anyway, hope your account is now in credit to the amount you are expecting.

MABLE

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

fifi35 said:

soolin said:

Just to be clear, did you make the transfer yourself or did the person ‘assist’ you, pressing buttons or entering details etc? if you made the transfer yourself it is going to be s struggle to get it back as it is likely that the recipient would need to agree to the return. Keep on at the bank though and remind them how quickly you made your request, hopefully before the close of banking hours the same day. 

It sounds like you only have a phone number for the person but do you by any chance have an address for the person, if you did you could try a LBA aski g for the overpayment to be returned. 

I know you realise it now, but never deal with cold callers. Be firm, don’t enter into a conversation with them at all, I know we are all brought up to be polite, but I let them start to sell me something and then politely say no thank you and close the door firmly in their face. Never engage in conversation at all, just say no thank you. 

Thank you for your reply.  No, there was no address on the card he gave me.  All I have is the bank account details.  

Then I suspect the bank is u fortunately your only hope unless the expose responds to you and gives you a geographic address.

However, can you confirm the bit please about whether you made the transfer with or without assistance from the cold caller? 

No, I made the mistake all be myself.  The guy rang me this morning from the bank and they have put the money back into my account.  I am truly humbled and gave him £50 for his trouble.  My faith in human beings has been restored.  Thank you for all your advice.  

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😤😊😊

M25

That's an incredibly lucky ending.

Get CCTV and don't answer the door to strangers in future.

Rob5342

I'm glad it worked out but I wouldn't have given £50 to someone who got angry and was kicking off over payment, and who quite possibly wws liying about not having his bank details.

Why didn't you have your debit card? Where was it if it wasn't in your house, and why was he phoning you from the bank to instead of responding earlier?

In the future never ever engwge with cold calllers, always look things up yourself and read reviews before making contact with anyone.