bank lost my money? help! waiting response online

[AnnieUK]

Hello All,

not sure if this is the right place to post, but thought accountant might have some knowledge and experience for it. please advise

I transferred £5500 from my online banking to my bank account in china for payment. i have done this many times before with no problem and money transferred within 3 working days, very quick.

However, this time the money not reached to my account in china but left out from my account here. this has been over 2weeks now. i didn't check it before until last night as every time there is no problem. i thought it should be there with no problem. i am 100% sure the account details and everything are correct, as checked again, and i didn't need to re-type the details in. for online banking, i have saved in my account, every time just click into it and pay. with no problem.

I am so worried now, as i cannot phone the bank until Monday when they open. i couldn't sleep last night. i just wonder where could my money be? how can it not reach my account if everything is correct and i have done the same as before ? does this mean i have lost my money? will i be able to get it back? can bank transfer to a wrong account (not the one i stated to transfer to) ? i just cannot think any reason if i got everything correct where the money could be and it has no problem before.

that means a lot of money to me, i cannot afford to lost it. if it is lost, will the bank pay me back as it is not my fault. i have printed out a copy of payment confirmation for this with correct details.

sorry to bother you all, but i really cannot wait another day till Monday.

Please advise if you have similar experience

I will wait all response online today

Many thanks

 

[johndon68]

The bank should be able to find out exactly where the money has gone - if there was a problem with the details of, for example, the account number then the money may well have been received by the bank in China but could be sat in a 'suspense' account.

You really need to speak to the bank first thing on Monday.

John

 

[E Storey]

don't worry.

It's a little known fact that banks lose money all the time! What they ARE good at is finding it again, and changing the date on your bank statement to make it look like it was there all along.

If you are looking at your online account, you should note that these are notorious for not being completely accurate until a few days after the event.

Be aware of recent issues in that part of the world which may have seriously disrupted the banking systems.

If your money has been "lost" it will be put in a suspense/holding account and all they need is the name/date/ammount to be queried by a worried customer and they can move it to where it should be.

I would suggest you ask your UK bank to chase it first thing on Monday.

 

[DeanCo]

Are you completely sure there was no error on the transfer. I have heard some transfers going into the wrong bank account because of 1 wrong digit in the account number. If something like this has gone wrong it would be a matter of contacting the receiving bank to sort it out.

If you have checked the original transfer information and are sure there was no error then I think you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you are dealing with a reputible bank it would be in their interests to remedy this for you if it is their error. If this is the case I am sure your money is completely safe. Your bank should sort it out.

 

[Vending Siting Services]

This has happened to us on two occassions, once when we deposited cash into an account, the bank confirmed receipt of our monies and we had a stamped receipt. This scenario took us over a year to get our money back as the bank took no responsibiity! Mad I know but they do not take responsibiity even though the audit trail indicated that the bank received the cash, receipt was issued and the receiving account did not get the money. After a year of letter writing my husband and I refused to leave the branch and sat on their floor causing a scene! Then they listened to us!!

The second time was many years ago when our bank transferred tens of thousands of pounds to a supplier, a transaction that they done for us on many occasions. This money went missing for nearly 2 months, they eventually found the monies which was deposited in the wrong account!!

I do hope you get things sorted out. We put a lot of trust into banks dealing with our money and when things go wrong they just leave you and say it is not their problem.

After those two experiences we changed our bank!

Barbara

 

[AnnieUK]

Thank you for all your reply. your replies make me feel better. I am sure that all the account detail are correct. i will ring the bank on Monday and will keep it post and let you know the solutions

 

[AnnieUK]

Barbara,

so did you get your back after 2 months of the transfer when they found out they banked to a wrong account. my concern is if they bank my money to a wrong account due to their fault, and the holder of the wrong account spend all my money, how can i get my money back?

This has happened to us on two occassions, once when we deposited cash into an account, the bank confirmed receipt of our monies and we had a stamped receipt. This scenario took us over a year to get our money back as the bank took no responsibiity! Mad I know but they do not take responsibiity even though the audit trail indicated that the bank received the cash, receipt was issued and the receiving account did not get the money. After a year of letter writing my husband and I refused to leave the branch and sat on their floor causing a scene! Then they listened to us!!

The second time was many years ago when our bank transferred tens of thousands of pounds to a supplier, a transaction that they done for us on many occasions. This money went missing for nearly 2 months, they eventually found the monies which was deposited in the wrong account!!

I do hope you get things sorted out. We put a lot of trust into banks dealing with our money and when things go wrong they just leave you and say it is not their problem.

After those two experiences we changed our bank!

Barbara

 

[tony84]

Ive not read all the responses but dont worry.

Banks cant just "lose" money.
They will put a trace on it. If its in someone else bank account you might have to wait 2-3 weeks as they have to send a letter to the other person. If its in a suspense account it will be a matter of days.

Any charges you get just let them know, the bank will refund them.

I used to work for RBS things like this happened. Just one of those things.

 

[AnnieUK]

Thank you Tony,

i have rang the bank this morning. they seems make me even worrying as they say nothing about it apart from they can only send out a request. but your post make me feel a bit relief. Thank YOU. My bank charged me 12 pounds on tracing it for me. and i have to wait untill they receive something back.

i have checked all the transferring bank details are correct with them. my concern is if they send it to a wrong account in china. like you said they will send a letter to the person. whatif the person has withdrawn all the money and cannot repay it? will that mean i have to lost my money or will bank pay me back my money as it is not my fault?

one thing i have heared is banks not take their responsibilities. in cases like this, uk bank will say it is china bank's fault, and china bank will say it is uk bank's fault. so what should i do in that case? i have printed a copy of my payment confirmtion at the time when i did the transfer so i can proof it is not my fault.

because i cannot think any reason how they can get this wrong i.e. to suspense account or other person's account, because i have enterred the correct bank details and i have done it many times before. so how can it go to a suspense account? due to a technical problem?

i am sorry i might think too much because i am really worried and this has never happened to me before. it means a lot of money to me which i use to pay my supplier for goods. now the supplier chasing up payment, i might have to draw my money from my saving account which i will lost all my interest and gather/borrow money from others as i don't have enough money in savings for the payment. it is so unfair.

Thank you all people's replies.

Ive not read all the responses but dont worry.

Banks cant just "lose" money.
They will put a trace on it. If its in someone else bank account you might have to wait 2-3 weeks as they have to send a letter to the other person. If its in a suspense account it will be a matter of days.

Any charges you get just let them know, the bank will refund them.

I used to work for RBS things like this happened. Just one of those things.

 

[tony84]

i never managed to find out whos fault it would be, however if you enetered the correct details it definately isnt yours.

Im surprised your bank are charging you to trace the money, presumably you get that back once it has beenresolved.

It doesnt matter whether the other person has withdrawn it, the bank send the other person a letter to say they will be debiting that figure from their bank account - if the person has withdrawn it it just means they will go overdrawn and they will incur charges for spending money that wasnt theirs (that isnt your issue though).

If your bank say it isnt their issue, say you would like to speak to the manager, if that doesnt work ask for a copy of their complaints procedure - the next step will most likely be in writing.

Everythign i have said WAS the procedure when i worked for a UK based bank about 5 years ago. It may well be different with foreign banks and rules and regulations could have changed but i really wouldnt worry aside from the inconvenience. Theyre multinational companies, they cant just lose money.