Advice regarding customer's payment by internet banking

[Jankia]

Hi :), Wonder if anyone can offer any advise on how to handle tricky situation without upsetting customer? The customer claims they have already paid two invoices going back to September 2009 by internet banking. They have provided a copy of their bank statement showing the payment being debited from their account, and have told me the account details they used to send the payment (which are correct). Problem being, payment has never appeared in our account. I've contacted them roughly 10/12 times in total over the past four months; she originally said she had spoken to her bank and asked them to put a trace on it; I last spoke to her again a couple of weeks ago and she said she needed to speak to her accountant and would call me back in 20 minutes, but didn't :(. I asked our solicitor to send a letter requesting payment, but this really upset the customer because as far as they're concerned they've paid it.

What is a reasonable period of time for a payment sent by internet banking to be traced? I don't want to upset the customer but I'm not sure how to handle this. Solicitor is advising caution, but I'm not making any progress and the customer doesn't seem too bothered quite frankly.

Any ideas?:|

[lexdezignsltd]

HI there your bank should be able to check and tell you if the payment has been made i would of thought, thats not a good situation to be in though, bacs is a great idea when it works, good luck getting it sorted

[GRDCredit]

First thought - you are turning their problem into your problem!

Second thought - which bank do you both bank with?

[Tom McClelland]

First thought - you are turning their problem into your problem!

Second thought - which bank do you both bank with?

That was my thought exactly. It doesn't matter what they've told their bank to do. They haven't paid you, and it is their job to chase their bank if indeed they've instructed the payment. Until they make that happen they owe you the money. THis is not your problem. It is their problem.

There is absolutely no reason for them to get upset with you over the situation. If they want to get shirty they should take it out on their bank.

[legaltemplates.eu]

Internet banking payments take usually 3-5 working days, if it hasn't arrived its the senders bank that needs to trace it, her bank manager could easily contact yours to work this out. We've had this happen before and just got both bank managers in contact to resolve the issue.

All banks have a "suspense" account for payments that haven't been allocated for an account for whatever reason - this "could" have happened to this payment so it maybe worth actually asking your bank manager to have a look.

[Jankia]

Morning Guys:)
Thanks for the replies. I did originally contact our bank (Bank of America) but they said that the sender would have to initiate the search by asking their bank (HSBC) to trace it. It wasn't paid by BACS - it was a payment sent from an Internet banking business account which is why I've been a bit more lenient with them, as I don't have a great understanding of payments sent in this way and how they are traced.

I hadn't thought of asking the customer to get her bank to speak to our bank, didn't realise they would do this to be honest. I take on board the point about it being their problem not mine, but our solicitor has said that because they have provided evidence of the money leaving their account, they are likely to offer a defence and the cost of pursuing the claim through the courts is likely to be "substantial". Once defended, the solicitors would charge on an hourly basis :( and due to the size of the debt (£880) it would probably be allocated to the small claims court where the general rule is that each side must bear their own costs.

I strongly suspect it may well be sat in a suspense account at our bank, but without some help from the customer's bank this route is blocked. I think I'll ask the customer to get her bank to speak to ours and see if that gets me anywhere. She just doesn't seem to be bothered about it, and, aside from the actual debt sticking out like a sore thumb, that's what is really bugging me:mad: Thanks everyone.