Treathing call from Bank Manager

recharge

Hi im just looking for a small bit of advice here. Last week i get a call from the manager of my local bank saying there was a mistake and i need to pay them back money. Basically the jist of the story is i set up a direct debit from my bank account to pay the credit union on a MONTLY basis. The bank messed this up and sent a montly amount of money to the credin union on a weekly basis. Hope ye follow so far!
As you can imagine my bank account went into the red fairly fast and was over draughted by about 900euro. So this were the treathing calls from the manager comes in wanting his money back.
Problem is because the money was sent by direct debit to the credit union and drawn down off my loan i never got my hands on it or could even if i tried.
I got a copy of the forms from the direct debit clearly showing that it was a MONTLY sum to be taken out and even the montly box ticked. This shows it was clearly the banks fault for messing up.
Back on track now and my problem is the manager wants me to pay back the 900odd euro straight away so he can balance his books, This money will have to come out of my pocket, money i dont have to hand over like that.
So where do i stand on this one? I feel like im paying for the banks stupid mistake, 900euro for there mistake actually.
any advice please??

messrs

if you dont have the money to pay back straight away then they cant force you - all they can do is set up reasonable payment plan. it is their mistake not yours!
just one thing though, if you have money going into that account, (wages) then they wil automatically take of the €900 you are overdrawn by

recharge

thanks for the reply, yeah it is a cash flow account and my wages goes in there every week, The manager did briefly mention this at one stage. So can they just take my wages without batting a eye. how do i explain that to the gf the that bank has taken all my wages and there is nothing left to pay the bills of get the shoping? surely that cant be done. It wouldnt be right??

messrs

at the moment your current acc is €900 over drawn so as soon as your wages gets paid into the acc - it will automatically get paid of your overdraft and will clear down and unfortunatly they can do this (well as far as im aware)
could you set up new bank acc - diff bank - and get wages paid in there, that way you have your wages every month and you can set what to pay of the bank that made mistake! i know its hassle but mite be worth it??
coz as soon as your wages hit it will go straight of the overdraft - im assusming the acc your wages gets paid into is the same one as the dd was goign to your credit union or did you hve 2 accounts?

recharge

Yea messrs there the same account, I see what your getting at but i doubt ill have it done by then, wages are due to go through tomorrow.............................................unless i ask if they would give me a cheque this month, that will give me time to set up a alternative account. Could work.
Thanks again for your replys mesrs.
Imagine the same bank were all bailing out and thats what you get back off them. Not a ounce of understanding

jeckle

This is the bank's problem. They deducted amounts from your account without your authorisation. Yes, it was in error, but it was their error, not yours , so it's now their problem - not yours.

They have taken the easy way out by demanding that you sort it out for them, which IMO is very unprofessional.

You need to instruct them to rectify their mistake immediately & refund the money to your account, for the reason that you did not authorise them to deduct it. Explain to them that you do not have access to the money in the credit union loan account.

It's up to them to contact the credit union, explain their error & request a recall or refund of the money. The credit union might require your permission to deduct this money from your loan account, but you can inform the bank that you are prepared to co-operate with the credit union in this regard. They might not, but it's not as if you're going to complain if they do, so they might just write to you explaining what they have done & why.

Let the bank do the work.

Also, make sure that you are not charged any bank charges/fees as a result of your account being overdrawn. Keep a close eye on your account for this & if it happens make sure that it's refunded asap. This also applies for any interest that you may have accrued on it.

If the bank refuse to refund the money straight away, request that they put a fee-free overdraft on your account until such a time that they have sorted out their mess. I'd also inform them that you will be contacting the Financial Regulator regarding their irregular practices.

edit: I would also request a written apology from the bank!

Milk & Honey

Is your credit union balance not up the €900 which has been debited from you bank a/c. Why not just get the €900 back from your credit union and give it to the bank?

recharge

Yes the 900euro has come off my loan and technicaly is in my "credit"

But after explaining to the credit union what happened and there very ubderstanding and helpful in fairness to them, the 900 was drawn down off my load so they cant just hand it back. Same as you cant go to the bank and ask for this months mortage back because something came up.
So unfortunly thats not a option.

Tester46

You should have a read of this and then tell the bank to read it. If the banks actually followed the Consumer Protection Code as they are obliged to there wouldn't be half as many problems with them.

trekkypj

It seems to me that the bank can't force you into paying for their mistake.

Certainly you should not be compelled to repay it immediately in full. In your shoes, I would contact the manager informing him that you are of the view that it was their mistake and that you have documentary evidence of this and that it is unreasonable for them to demand immediate repayment, or to remove it from your account without express authorisation from you.

I would suggest that you offer to gradually repay the amount in stages on the condition that no interest is charged on the €900 as it was their mistake, and that the full amount isn't taken from your wages. If they don't agree, inform them you intend to make a complaint to the Financial Regulator unless the matter is resolved to your satisfaction. If that still doesn't sort it, go ahead and make the complaint.

My €0.02...

edit: and I agree, you should get a written apology from the bank!