Problem with china payment.

[dynamic08]

I have recently sent a payment to china for quite a few thousand pounds.

It was send in £ and they cannot get to the money because they have a $ account.

They can see it but cant access it but they will not send it back. They are asking us to change it into $ but our bank santander say it must be sent back first.

the chinese bank were waiting for instructions from our bank and our bank have requested the money back.

Anybody know what the score is here will I ever see any money?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

If your invoice was in $ and you paid by £, you have learnt that this is wrong the hardway! If it was in £, then it is the suppliers issue to resolve

There should be no reason why the suppliers bank cannot have it converted locally, however, if after conversion and costs, it does not equate to the invoice total, you will probably have to send the shortfall.

If they will not send it back, you are probably in a bit of a hole, at the mercy of the supplier!

 

[akhtarkasia]

Why not ask for quoatation for the cost to convert from £ to $. See if you can compromise. For them to return back in £ will cost money too, so only reason they are asking you to do is so that they dont have to pay any extra charges.....And getting into this international money transfer can get expensive.

 

[deepred]

I have recently sent a payment to china for quite a few thousand pounds.

It was send in £ and they cannot get to the money because they have a $ account.

They can see it but cant access it but they will not send it back. They are asking us to change it into $ but our bank santander say it must be sent back first.

the chinese bank were waiting for instructions from our bank and our bank have requested the money back.

Anybody know what the score is here will I ever see any money?

Depends on the invoice currency (or whatever you were using to pay) - if thats £ - the cinese have to handle it with your bank, if that's $ - not sure, possibly it's up to you. You know, these matters should stand first when making international transactions

 

[CSBob]

I've had this before with a payment to China but it was actually the reverse - Barclays, in their infinite wisdom, sent $ not £. As I had stipulated sterling on the paperwork it was their error and they somehow recalled the transfer and did it again properly. Both parties had to agree though (each through their own bank) and it sounds like that's the stickler for you in this case.

I can't see why the Chinese party would refuse to help you sort it out by agreeing to its return, so alarm bells are ringing here. I certainly wouldn't send any more, in any currency, until they agree to doing something.

It should be possible for them (if genuine & trustworthy, that is) to convert it to $ at their end and bill you for the difference in exchange rate + bank costs.

 

[pauldla]

I've had this happen before and it can be an absolute nightmare to get resolved. Is it a private account or a company account? Which bank are you dealing with in China? My private account has no problem receiving pounds sterling (or euros, or dollars, just in case there are any eccentric millionaires reading who want to send me a few bob), but in this case they should be able to send the money back to you. Mental note, though: next time you're sending money to China, check first to see if they can accept the currency you are sending (yes, I know this is bolting the stable door etc, but for future reference).

 

[Naughty Vend]

Sounds familiar, was the name of the account you sent it to something like JIN QICAI or was it HANGZHOU FANKUFORDADOSH Co Ltd.? These are examples...

If it was the first then that's a name and no doubt a personal account, Chinese domicile citizens can not receive payments in anything but local currency or US Dollars with serious consequence, tax, law etc. The recipient must confirm with the bank they are happy for the recall request to be actioned, you must issue the recall via your bank (Santander? Good luck with that bunch of muppets...) and the process could take weeks or the recipient may send it back to you if you offer to pay the sending charges, you could lose or gain a few quid due to the exchange rate fluctuation and beleive me even if they are an honest trader they will not spend the $35 on trust, you'll need to send it first by WU no doubt... it's a risk but you should probably take a punt. Do not send any more money until you receive the original payment back. If you don't get the money back employ one of your other associates in China to call them up for a small fee, honour and fear override arrogance in their society...

Best of luck, you should be ok as actually dishonesty in business in China is relatively rare for the time being.

 

[dynamic08]

good news they have sent it back. According to them anyhow will check bank next week.