Thanks for the feedback huckster.

you are right. I initially contacted Barclays to reverse the payment, but for reasons that were and still are beyond me, they couldn't. But thats a good idea i didn't think about - to have barclays support the reclaim protocol.

I just spoke to Santander cost services this morning - call centre in bangladesh with no authority - and they say the money was authorised for payment on 1st of may, but will now take 21 days to be returned (by cheque) - the infuriating thing is simply the fact that there is no one that can tell you a single reason or tangible piece of data. no contact addresses. the lady i just spoke to wanted me to believe that there is not a single email address throughout the entire global organisation - she actually wanted me to believe the the CEO is sending smoke signals - and i despise this level of dismissal aimed at any customer. I fully appreciate the ML laws - and the actual amount i sent by the way was 9,900, which i must admit looks suspicious, as from recollection when exchanging foreign currency there is was automatic check at around 10K, so it appears as though you are trying to avoid a threshold - and as infuriated as i was at the original 20 days, in the end it was my mistake. but now another 21? the mind boggles.

anyway, rant over, Ill try your suggestion tomorrow after the bank holiday. thanks for coming back.

Rob.

See whether Barclays can help you. If you have transferred money using your online account, they may be able to contact Santander on your behalf to resolve this.

It is true that there are rules regarding sums over a certain amount. Money laundering. It may be that somebody at the Burtons (Santander) end, has reported the transaction as something to look into. This is why it may be better if Barclays looked into this and tried to resolve for you.

Hello All,

Im new to the forum and desperately seeking some advice for what is turing into a life destroying nightmare!!

On the 19.03.2012, I was making my usual monthly rounds of internet banking payments through my Barclays online banking account. By complete accident, i (rather stupidly) sent a massive overpayment to my burton store card (which i believe is underwritten my Santander / GE money??). I have a credit limit of £150 only - I never use it - and there was no outstanding balance that needed to be paid. Never the less, i sent them a payment of £9,900 by way of a stupid mistake caused by a momentary lapse in concentration.

"I contacted immediately Burton cards customer services, only to be connected to a call centre in India where i was told (on numerous occasions) one or a combination of the following:

My 10K accidental overpayment could would have to be held by the card issuer (burton / Santander) for a minimum of 20 days, by order of a regulatory body (who they could not name) in order to observe fraud prevention protocol.

The money would then take a further 5 business days to return after the 20 days had elapsed (despite the fact that i sent this payment at 9 am in the morning, and when i realised what id done, i called burton customer services at 10:00am, and they had already received the money / could see it on my account!)

I could not be transferred to a more senior member of the customer service team because, apparently, there are none.

I cannot cancel my card and close my account because of the £9,900 credit!!"

I have tried calling several times, and I have this morning found the necessary contact details for the various consumer watchdog organisations so that i can escalate the matter - but it has now been 50 days (33 working days) and still they have not returned the money! my bank account is a complete disaster with missed payments and charges due to lack of funds, my credit rating in less than two months has also been destroyed, i have defaulted on my mortgage and the only thing i have received from Burton is a letter saying they'll investigate my complaints! this is a huge sum of money and i cannot believe they can do this!!!

Can anyone offer any advice, legal or otherwise, as this is extremely close to running my life! I am aware of the steps for raising the issue with the ombudsman and consumer direct and am per suing those, but they are also bound by lengthy complaint resolution procedures. would really welcome some advice!

Rob.