Nationwide - Lost £440 Payment

francisgc11

Hello I was wondering if anyone can advise me on what to do please,

I withdrew £440 from ‘Britain’s biggest bingo site’ (not sure if I’m allowed to name them T******) late at night on the 14th June 2025, and the next day when I woke up on my front screen notifications it said Nationwide ‘ £440 T****** ‘ approved ‘ .When I went on to my account nothing was in there (usually within 2 hours any other time) so I left it a few days and then contacted T***** who confirmed all was processed fine as was showing on my bingo account - I was told to contact the bank via a complaint with the Aquirer Reference Number and the bank told me to wait so many days as VISA credits can take up to 15 working days, I waited a few days over that and then contacted the bank back with another complaint logged to investigate it, I was told still nothing so I went into branch with the ARN number instead of dealing with a very rude abrupt team over the phone - the branch could not find anything with the ARN number they said wait until Monday and the Bank Manager will be in and they’ll get her to email to confirm nothing showing, pending or received, they also asked me to ask T****** for a ‘ Forward Trace ‘ therefore I done that, Didn’t receive no communication but yesterday received proof of forward trace from T****** via there bank so went to the bank in person again with the ARN, Forward Trace proof and emails from T****** confirming multiple times it’s been processed successfully and left there accounts and has not bounced back, T****** noted that if the payment was successful there would not be an ARN to provide which makes sense, the bank manager was present and rung through to a few departments including the VISA team and said they still can not find nothing with the information given, she provided me with a hand signed headed letter confirming nothing been received. 

I have sufficient evidence from T****** to confirm they have made the payment, and nothing from Nationwide.

For the sake of £50 court fee I am looking to take Nationwide to small claims court to recover this money, as I’ve logged 2 complaints, provided a lot of evidence, about 6 phone calls and 3 branch visits later I’m no further ahead.

Am I right in saying it’s Nationwide who I take to court and not T******, I’m aware the funds come from T****** but they’ve done everything they are meant to do under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, they have gone above and beyond to help me I’ve been dealing with the Fraud and Risk Ops Manager within there business. 

Would it be best to go to Small claims court or Financial Ombudsman service? This has gone on to long now and affecting my mental health, I am aware of the seriously long time it takes FOS to even acknowledge complaints never mind finalise them. 

Does anyone have any other recommendations as I’ve hit a brick wall now and dumbfounded. 

I did seek legal advice via a solicitor who said that if I have ARN, Forward trace letter and emails that’s strong evidence to win in court but wanted £210 to review them documents, which is nearly 50% of the money, times I pay that and court fees I will be left with £180 . Which is pointless I can afford to right of £180 but not £440. - will the court expect me to go to FOS first? I’ve filled the paperwork out and no mention of that but don’t want to go to court and hit another brick wall.

Sorry if Im a tad confusing .

masonic

You are getting ahead of yourself discussing court action. Raise a complaint with Nationwide (if you haven't already done so). If that gets to a position of deadlock, or takes more than 8 weeks, you can go to the FOS at no cost to yourself. It's not a requirement, so you could go directly to court, but it will be more difficult to win your case in court than with the FOS.

francisgc11

masonic said:

You are getting ahead of yourself discussing court action. Raise a complaint with Nationwide (if you haven't already done so). If that gets to a position of deadlock, or takes more than 8 weeks, you can go to the FOS at no cost to yourself. It's not a requirement, so you could go directly to court, but it will be more difficult to win your case in court than with the FOS.

I have logged 2 complaints with Nationwide and it’s got me no further ahead. 

You say I’m getting ahead of myself, it was the bingo site that recommended the action at this stage given the length of time it’s took and the investigations they have conducted seriously do prove the moneys been sent and received by nationwide, whilst I understand what your saying, it’s a long, long process with FOS. 

masonic

francisgc11 said:

masonic said:

You are getting ahead of yourself discussing court action. Raise a complaint with Nationwide (if you haven't already done so). If that gets to a position of deadlock, or takes more than 8 weeks, you can go to the FOS at no cost to yourself. It's not a requirement, so you could go directly to court, but it will be more difficult to win your case in court than with the FOS.

I have logged 2 complaints with Nationwide and it’s got me no further ahead. 

You say I’m getting ahead of myself, it was the bingo site that recommended the action at this stage given the length of time it’s took and the investigations they have conducted seriously do prove the moneys been sent and received by nationwide, whilst I understand what your saying, it’s a long, long process with FOS. 

On what date did you log your first complaint, and was it accepted as a complaint by Nationwide?

I don't think the bingo site should be advising you to commence legal proceedings in this situation. You certainly should not be paying hundreds of pounds to a solicitor for what on the face of it appears to be a straightforward moneyclaim, and for which you have access to free alternative dispute resolution. The FOS varies in speed, last time I used the service it took 3 weeks to initial review, about 4 days for the adjudication, and the complaint was settled the following week. Though before that I had one that dragged on for a couple of months apparently going nowhere before the firm finally capitulated and made an acceptable offer. How long did the bingo site advise you the court would take?

born_again

francisgc11 said:

Hello I was wondering if anyone can advise me on what to do please,

I withdrew £440 from ‘Britain’s biggest bingo site’ (not sure if I’m allowed to name them T******) late at night on the 14th June 2025, and the next day when I woke up on my front screen notifications it said Nationwide ‘ £440 T****** ‘ approved ‘ .When I went on to my account nothing was in there (usually within 2 hours any other time) so I left it a few days and then contacted T***** who confirmed all was processed fine as was showing on my bingo account - I was told to contact the bank via a complaint with the Aquirer Reference Number and the bank told me to wait so many days as VISA credits can take up to 15 working days, I waited a few days over that and then contacted the bank back with another complaint logged to investigate it, I was told still nothing so I went into branch with the ARN number instead of dealing with a very rude abrupt team over the phone - the branch could not find anything with the ARN number they said wait until Monday and the Bank Manager will be in and they’ll get her to email to confirm nothing showing, pending or received, they also asked me to ask T****** for a ‘ Forward Trace ‘ therefore I done that, Didn’t receive no communication but yesterday received proof of forward trace from T****** via there bank so went to the bank in person again with the ARN, Forward Trace proof and emails from T****** confirming multiple times it’s been processed successfully and left there accounts and has not bounced back, T****** noted that if the payment was successful there would not be an ARN to provide which makes sense, the bank manager was present and rung through to a few departments including the VISA team and said they still can not find nothing with the information given, she provided me with a hand signed headed letter confirming nothing been received. 

I have sufficient evidence from T****** to confirm they have made the payment, and nothing from Nationwide.

For the sake of £50 court fee I am looking to take Nationwide to small claims court to recover this money, as I’ve logged 2 complaints, provided a lot of evidence, about 6 phone calls and 3 branch visits later I’m no further ahead.

Am I right in saying it’s Nationwide who I take to court and not T******, I’m aware the funds come from T****** but they’ve done everything they are meant to do under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, they have gone above and beyond to help me I’ve been dealing with the Fraud and Risk Ops Manager within there business. 

Would it be best to go to Small claims court or Financial Ombudsman service? This has gone on to long now and affecting my mental health, I am aware of the seriously long time it takes FOS to even acknowledge complaints never mind finalise them. 

Does anyone have any other recommendations as I’ve hit a brick wall now and dumbfounded. 

I did seek legal advice via a solicitor who said that if I have ARN, Forward trace letter and emails that’s strong evidence to win in court but wanted £210 to review them documents, which is nearly 50% of the money, times I pay that and court fees I will be left with £180 . Which is pointless I can afford to right of £180 but not £440. - will the court expect me to go to FOS first? I’ve filled the paperwork out and no mention of that but don’t want to go to court and hit another brick wall.

Sorry if Im a tad confusing .

If ARN is not showing on Visa system, then the transaction has not been processed by the gambling company. Payments into bank accounts do not require approval, so that sounds like a message from gambling co.
 Which might explain why they are advising court action. In the hope the bank just stumps up.

TBH, & this may not apply to all banks. But access to Visa/Mastercard backend systems is strictly limited to staff that need it (costs per signon) So is usually limited to fraud & dispute teams who will need regular access.

SacredStephan

To the OP, when you bring a claim in the small claims track of the county court you add the court fee to your claim. If you win, you will get the fee back. So your claim would be £440 + £50. Going to court should be a last resort.

grumpy_codger

IMO, if it comes to a court action, it has to be against the bingo company, not Nationwide. Tell them to contact Nationwide directly to resolve the problem before you start court action.

ARN can help to trace the money, but doesn't prove that the withdrawal was processed correctly.

Olenna

Firstly, your title is wrong as you have zero evidence that Nationwide have lost anything yet. 

Does the gambling firm have a complaints procedure including 3rd party adjudication?

masonic

Olenna said:

Does the gambling firm have a complaints procedure including 3rd party adjudication?

Section 19: https://www.tombola.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

They use the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS)

But the complaint will be much stronger if Nationwide can be pushed into providing evidence or a written statement that the transaction was not received by them. So far, from what the OP says, they've not provided anything to counter the claim the transaction went through.

What the OP has is evidence that might convince a court that the payment was made correctly and should have been received. Whereas Nationwide could well be able to provide evidence that would successfully defend this claim. So a reasonable risk of losing whichever party the OP takes to court. Which is why it would be unwise to incur costs doing so at the current time.

It looks to me like the OP is best focusing on extracting information from Nationwide that could be used to make a better case against either party. FOS could be helpful for this, if Nationwide is not being very cooperative. If FOS ends up not upholding, it will be based on some compelling evidence that the transaction was not received.

grumpy_codger

masonic said:

Olenna said:

Does the gambling firm have a complaints procedure including 3rd party adjudication?

...

But the complaint will be much stronger if Nationwide can be pushed into providing evidence or a written statement that the transaction was not received by them. So far, from what the OP says, they've not provided anything to counter the claim the transaction went through...

The OP's bank statement plus "hand signed headed letter confirming nothing been received" is good enough evidence. The rest is between the bingo site and Nationwide to investigate together.

born_again

grumpy_codger said:

IMO, if it comes to a court action, it has to be against the bingo company, not Nationwide. Tell them to contact Nationwide directly to resolve the problem before you start court action.

ARN can help to trace the money, but doesn't prove that the withdrawal was processed correctly.

ARN proves that the payment was made by the company. No ARN, no payment.