Bank Lost My Payment

chasm

Hi Guys , was wondering if anyone here has experienced this problem before?

On jan 15th i paid a bill over the counter in my local bank. The teller/Clerk date stamped my statement and payment stub and took the payment from me.
Problem is, the company have not received the payment.

Went to my bank today and after alot of faffing around they said they will have to look for the payment stub and then get back to me. They also said that i should contact the company and tell them that they might be looking in the wrong place for the payment and to try another code-for which they gave me a 6 digit number, as the teller who served me on the 15/01 may have wrote that number on the stub.
This 6 digit number happens to be the sort code for my local branch, so what's that all about?

I am really annoyed with the bank as the company in question applied interest to my a/c as they did not receive payment before the 28/01 and it is also my first time using the company and i would assume it doesnt do my credit rating much good by "missing a payment"

I have to send a copy of the date stamped statement to the company tomorrow which may hopefully let them see that im not trying to pull a fast one, but how long can i expect to be waiting for the bank to locate the payment stub or for the payment to go through?

Pythia

Not much use exactly, but anyway...

Credit ratings in Ireland aren't calculated using any kind of utility bill info, like missed payments, etc. It may affect the company itself wanting to do business with you in future, but not getting a loan, etc.

If you're in the UK, different story altogether.

chasm

Sorry, should have mentioned that the company is a home shopping company though, so that would affect my rating wouldnt it as they are offering credit as such arent they?

LouOB

if you have stub of payment - brill
dont leave branch until branch manager has sorted you out - no messing

if you dont have stub - good luck
you basically cant prove that you made payment and pray you find sympathic ear in branch

seamus

Your credit history cannot be affected by utility bills. Your credit history deals purely with your payments to credit accounts - so any kind of loan or credit card. Companies who allow you to purchase "on credit" aren't moneylenders and aren't credit accounts, so they won't appear on your credit history.

Any company doing a check on you will not see a failed payment on a bill. In fact, it would be a breach of the DPA for any company to reveal to a third party that you missed a payment, unless you expressly said, "Yes you can tell people whether or not I pay".

Did you pay cash or did you transfer directly from your account? Maybe doublecheck the account number that you sent the money to, to make sure that it went to the right place!

chasm

I paid in cash. The company send you a statement and the payment slip is printed on the bottom, the a/c number etc is already printed on it. All i had to write on it was the amount that i was paying. So i know I didnt send it to the wrong a/c - pity i cant be so certain that the bank didnt though!
The bank kept the lower payment stub and handed me back the top half that contained my statement(which they date stamped).

The company have given me their a/c number and bank sort code so ive to go into town now and see if they are any further forward than yesterday.

LouOB

Did bank find payment? Or company find credit in their account

kaiser sauze

Your bank's stamp is proof of payment, and the date of same.

Your future rating with that company will not be affected, however, you may have to sit on your bank and get them to issue a letter acknowledging their mistake in not forwarding the payment in a timely manner.

As someone else in this thread said, 'sit on 'em, until they sort you out'. It's your bank's fault, not yours.

If the company has misappropriated the payment from the bank, then it is the same story, except you sit on the company!

chasm

Hi Guys
Well ive been in the bank more times last week than i have in the past 2 years!
Firstly payment was finally located: was told payment sent on 15/01 but returned the next day as there was no reference number on it. A bank draft was then sent on 23/01 to the companys bank. My bank told me to phone the company and tell them they were looking in the wrong place for their money!! When i queried as to how this occurred they said that there was no reference/account number on payment slip, I told them that in fact there was, they then said that there are so many numbers on these types of payment slips that they probably couldnt find it! No apologies, no accepting responsibility, nothing, just "this is why we recommend that you pay these sort of bills by direct debit"(about 5 times i think!)

Looked up T&C's on company website and it says they may give records of missed payments to credit rating companies(or something like that)

So out of pure principal i think i may well be in to see the bank manager.

chasm

Just when i thought it was all sorted, the company rang me today to say that they have checked their a/c and the bank draft that the bank sent them is still not showing up.They have received the copy of the date stamped statement that i sent them, but when they phoned my bank to query the situation the bank refused to answer their queries, saying they would have to contact me and get me to enquire on their behalf!

So i rang the bank, and yes, if the company wants to ask any questions they should write to me and i should then go to the bank to get them answered, As they will only deal with their customers!WTF
I told her that a had a few questions ready but oh no i have to go to the bank in person if i wanted them answered.

So off i stomp into town(thought it better to walk than drive as it would give me time to cool down!) and thankfully got served by a different person than i had last week. She could not understand why the payment was returned, i showed her my new statement with payment slip on it and the company's details were clearly visible.
I must say she was very helpful and friendly, and at least she didnt talk to me like i was some fool who had the audacity to interrupt her day; in fact she even offered to ring the company to explain the situation, which i gladly took her up on as it a uk number.

I am now waiting on a phone call from the bank while they try to find out the a/c number
that the draft was paid in to.

chasm

Another update!
The bank phoned me last thursday afternoon to say they have located the draft but that it had not been paid into the destination a/c, so they would need me to come to the bank and cancel it, so that they you issue a new payment.
Went down friday morning signed the form and now got to wait to see if the company get this payment.
I cannot understand why i had to cancel it though as it was the bank that issued the draft-i knew nothing about it. I did ask in the bank but didnt get much response. Decided
not to push it as i will be demanding an answer to this and a few other questions from the manager when i make an appointment.