my online transfer error - halifax wont repay money

gandalftheking

hi all

got a text from my ex wife this morning saying that she needed some money... so being a soft touch (but having a hard month money-wise) i transferred £200 from my halifax current ac - online - to her halifax current ac, which i held the details for.

after i had done this and texted her the info she told me she doesnt use this account any more!! i assume she has a big unpaid/unauthorised overdraft. so i tried to persuade customer services twice to get my money back, but no go... im going to try another halifax number this morning, but does anyone have any advice as to what i should do? e.g. tell them the whole story, or just say i transferred the cash to the wrong account totally etc? what rights do i have?

i have a bad feeling about this, but thought i'd ask here before i give up on it.

UPDATE: this doesnt seem to be going anywhere, just meeting brick wall responses. i have emailed financial ombudsman, but would rather short circuit this and get to someone in the Halifax who can do the necessary...

advantix

I don't think you stand much chance of getting this back. If the halifax are anything like my bank, when you do an online transfer you have to confirm via password and pressing a "confrim" button. Each time you are asked to confirm, there is a sentence in BOLD RED that states that all the details are correct and the transfer cannot be reversed. I would of thought all banks have this sort of thing on there electronic tranfers.

Sorry it's probably not what you want to hear but i would guess that you need to just take it on the chin and learn for next time.

gandalftheking

advantix wrote: »

I don't think you stand much chance of getting this back. If the halifax are anything like my bank, when you do an online transfer you have to confirm via password and pressing a "confrim" button. Each time you are asked to confirm, there is a sentence in BOLD RED that states that all the details are correct and the transfer cannot be reversed. I would of thought all banks have this sort of thing on there electronic tranfers.

Sorry it's probably not what you want to hear but i would guess that you need to just take it on the chin and learn for next time.

yeah, i guess i know that... im still gonna try the financial ombudsman route though. btw, there is a click to confirm button re the transfer, but it doesnt re-state where the transfer is going after the initial selection... sigh.

gandalftheking

Al_Mac wrote: »

What the heck do you think the financial ombudsman will do? Nothing,

Halifax haven't done anything wrong!

Anyway, you have to go through the Halifax complaints system prior to progressing it further.

With Halifax you pick from your list.And on the next page it shows you the details. So that's two decisions you make prior to confirming the payment.

thanks for the support. you dont work for the halifax by any chance?...

Eydon

gandalftheking wrote: »

this doesnt seem to be going anywhere, just meeting brick wall responses

I think the title of the thread says it all - it was your mistake. You have provided the Halifax with an instruction to transfer some money, and they have carried it out.

Let's assume for a minute that it was me that you were paying money to instead of your ex. I would sincerely hope that legally the Halifax can't take the money back from my account without my permission.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but I can't see you getting anywhere with the ombudsman - you haven't even exhausted the official Halifax complaints procedure yet.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

if as you say there might be an ovedraft on the account, then it would look as if you were just reducing overdraft.

Sorry, if it had happened to me would have to accept it, don't think you have much hope, unless ex pays you back when she is flush, in a way she still got £200 from you, but not for spending.

You could always pay off the suspected overdraft, and gain brownie points. :rotfl:

gandalftheking

Al_Mac wrote: »

Don't worry, the we hate banks regardless brigade, will be along later:rolleyes:

please please go away, and harrass another thread.

Clive_Woody

Al_Mac wrote: »

You asked for advice. Been given it. And typically on this forum, those in the wrong wont accept it.

I wont post again, but you are an........

Feel free to report me.

He made a mistake, then asked if there was anything he could do, there's no need for you to start giving him a load of attitude, get a grip pal.

He's a bit naive to think the financial ombudsman can do anything, but we've all got to learn sometime and mouthing off is going to do nothing to further the good name of these message boards.

It's Friday afternoon, only hours away from the first cold beer of the weekend, time to be chilling out rather than being an unhelpful numpty.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

well, gandalftheking, maybe if you had asked ex where to put it, you would not be in this dilema now, (I'm talking about the cash transfer of course). :rotfl:

MarkyMarkD

You won't like me saying this, but there's nothing the Halifax will do about this.

If you transfer money to an incorrect account, they cannot assume that it's wrong. They cannot recall the money without the consent of the account holder whose account the money has gone to - in this case, your ex-wife. But your ex-wife can't/won't ask the bank to return the money, because it's gone into a black hole caused by her defaulting on that bank's debt.

Honestly, there's nothing Halifax, or the FOS, or anyone else are going to do here. Your wife has messed up - by asking you to give her money, without bothering to provide correct bank details. And it's her who's lost the money - not you.

In any case, she hasn't lost the money. It's reduced the amount she owes her old bank. The fact she was (presumably) intending never to pay it doesn't mean it isn't a debt.

maninthestreet

The problem is surely owned by your ex-wife. If she wanted the money transferred into a specific account, she should have told you that.