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BACS - Refunds

Rob zombie

Rob zombie

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Does anybody have experience of trying to get a refund for a BACS purchase to a registered business that didn't deliver? This is early days for me as it won't be a week until Friday, plus we've had the bank holiday, but I'm getting a bit twitchy about a £1250 transfer followed by complete radio silence.

Has anybody been in the situation where they needed to refund a BACS transfer from a registered business? If so, how did it go?
 
forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Bacs refund

Hi all, On the 4th of Jan 22 I paid Omega Swatch over £1000 via Bacs for a watch service and repair and I still haven’t had the watch returned to me, after being given the run around by this company I threatened that If I don’t get the situation resolved today (18th of Jan) I’ll contact my bank...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com forums.moneysavingexpert.com

You need to pay via credit card for any kind of charge back normally.

You would normally need to go to small claims court if this turned sour. What did you buy? A week doesn't sound long.
 
A normal BACS payment would take approx 3 days to clear, a system called faster payments could be used as long as both banks use this system, if so, payment should clear in a couple of hours.
 
Banzaipinabll said:
A normal BACS payment would take approx 3 days to clear, a system called faster payments could be used as long as both banks use this system, if so, payment should clear in a couple of hours.
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Generally when I've paid or been paid by BACS it's been near instantaneous.
 
s000m said:
forums.moneysavingexpert.com

Bacs refund

Hi all, On the 4th of Jan 22 I paid Omega Swatch over £1000 via Bacs for a watch service and repair and I still haven’t had the watch returned to me, after being given the run around by this company I threatened that If I don’t get the situation resolved today (18th of Jan) I’ll contact my bank...
forums.moneysavingexpert.com forums.moneysavingexpert.com

You need to pay via credit card for any kind of charge back normally.

You would normally need to go to small claims court if this turned sour. What did you buy? A week doesn't sound long.
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I don't really want to say what the item is at the moment as it will practically name the business. I'm hoping the guy is just a bit forgetful/busy. Unfortunately due to the nature of the item, whilst completely legal, Trustpilot won't list them so it makes things much more difficult as a buyer to know what to expect...and even if it's a scam or not.
 
Rob zombie said:
Generally when I've paid or been paid by BACS it's been near instantaneous.
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bacs is not instantaneous it’s a 3 day service. faster payments usually is instantaneous or at least by end of day.

but either way if the money has been sent, you are at the mercy of the company to now deliver.
 
Unfortunately the bank is highly unlikely to refund as they have done exactly what you asked them to do. Trying to reverse payment would require the business to agree to send the money back.

Credit card linked payments are different as essentially you are using their money which is why you are covered by the Consumer Credit Act so can go to your card provider for help.

On a more positive note if it is a small firm then Friday to Wednesday is not a long time frame especially with two bank holidays involved. It might simply be a case of them being away for a week’s holiday.

Fingers crossed.
 
Yes, hopefully! I'm reasonably confident it will arrive. But having had a lot of communication which then immediately ceased on sending payment it's certainly made me wish I'd paid by a different method. I refuse to have any credit cards and haven't had one for probably 20 years now.
 
russdx1 said:
Credit cards are only evil if you don’t pay them off, having a few sat around doing nothing is never a bad thing.
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Agree 💯. If you don't have at least 1 credit card and only make purchases via debit your credit score will likely be low and as a result it's harder to apply for loans, even mortgage options are affected by your credit score. I purchase everything through a credit card, the statement is fully cleared each month. Not only is it providing a line of protection on my transactions, it's also building my credit score and providing me with rewards in form of points I can use to buy free flights.

Credit cards aren't 'evil'. If you misuse them and treat them like free money then that's your issue, not the cards.
 
By our age people generally know if they are good at budgeting. Some people simply aren’t and credit cards can get you into a lot of debt very quickly if you don’t clear the balance automatically each month or if your personal circumstances change dramatically.

Personally I use them for literally every purchase from my travel in the morning onwards through to going out in the evening. Others like to use cash to keep to a budget. There’s no right or wrong way it’s whatever works for you.

As part of my course I teach personal finance to sixth form students. I always suggest it’s good to have a card for emergencies as they will be offered one when they go to uni but it has to be set up to pay the full balance off. We also have a big problem with families then leaning on the girls to get them to use their cards to try and dig them out of financial trouble. There is a real need for younger people to have a more informed and unbiased view of finances. I wish I’d known more about pensions etc when I was younger.

One of the other big problems at the moment appears to be with people approaching retirement trying to claim they were missold “interest only” mortgages. What the hell did they think that term meant?

Sorry for dragging the thread further off topic.
 
I don't think credit cards are evil, I just choose not to have them. When I was younger I was getting cards thrown at me left right and centre. I'm pretty bad with money and didn't even open a single bank statement for about 10-20yrs. Luckily when I did eventually force myself to look at my bank balance it was a lot healthier than I was expecting. Never had any problems getting a mortgage or car finance either despite having no credit cards.
 
I dont think just holding a credit card does much for your credit score does it, I thought you needed to use it for it to count.
 
Or pay via paypal using a credit card as your funding source. This works very well. You have CC company backing and PayPal.

I once ordered something during covid on a debit card (that was actually a visa card) and they got the money back for me, but it took a couple of weeks of me reporting it.

I also think with the bank holidays, lack of post etc @Rob zombie - you may be panicing a little early.

How have the company dealt with you before? Phone? email?

I would send a nice email words to the effect..... "I know it has been bank holiday, and you are busy but I am concerned I have paid for this in full and not received any tracking numbers or return to my calls. Is it possible you can call me before the weekend on......."

Failing that - I would get in my car and go see them.
 
I sent an email chasing it up last night and got a reply this morning saying that it was due to be delivered by Parcelforce Secure today. It never turned up. We'll see if it turns up tomorrow. I'm deliberately trying not to send a bunch of emails as it's early days really....but in my head I'm obviously having a lot of doubts about it. Thinking about it I've come to the conclusion that I could stand to be scammed for say £300 and write that off, but £1250 would really **** me off to the point where you could probably turn it into a movie.
 
Pick Holder said:
Or pay via paypal using a credit card as your funding source. This works very well. You have CC company backing and PayPal.

I once ordered something during covid on a debit card (that was actually a visa card) and they got the money back for me, but it took a couple of weeks of me reporting it.

I also think with the bank holidays, lack of post etc @Rob zombie - you may be panicing a little early.

How have the company dealt with you before? Phone? email?

I would send a nice email words to the effect..... "I know it has been bank holiday, and you are busy but I am concerned I have paid for this in full and not received any tracking numbers or return to my calls. Is it possible you can call me before the weekend on......."

Failing that - I would get in my car and go see them.
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I dont think you get any credit card protection when you use PayPal as the payment method. At least you didn't use to.

You're not eligible to use the section 75 protection if youre not paying the retailer directly.
 
Fantazia2 said:
I dont think you get any credit card protection when you use PayPal as the payment method. At least you didn't use to.

You're not eligible to use the section 75 protection if youre not paying the retailer directly.
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PayPal always side with the buyer though
 
Have you looked up the business on companies house?

Might give you a bit of info on how legit the company looks, eg assets and tax statements, can see how long they have been traiding, also look up directors to see if they have a string of failed companies.
 
kev a said:
Have you looked up the business on companies house?

Might give you a bit of info on how legit the company looks, eg assets and tax statements, can see how long they have been traiding, also look up directors to see if they have a string of failed companies.
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Very good point! I do this a lot so I'm surprised it hasn't occurred to me!
 
kev a said:
Have you looked up the business on companies house?

Might give you a bit of info on how legit the company looks, eg assets and tax statements, can see how long they have been traiding, also look up directors to see if they have a string of failed companies.
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Looked it up. Seems legit. Incorporated in 2017 although YouTube etc suggests it's more than 10 years old. £100k+ in assets. Pretty sure it will turn up now.
 
Rob zombie said:
Looked it up. Seems legit. Incorporated in 2017 although YouTube etc suggests it's more than 10 years old. £100k+ in assets. Pretty sure it will turn up now.
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Sounds legit then, worst case scenario theres assets and a proper company to go after, would be more worriying if they only establised recently.
 
BACS or Faster Payments are not reversible. However, if scamming and this is detected by banks then they may manage to freeze the funds on the far end and work them back to you - a lot depends on what bank you made the transfer to. For a first time purchase of something 'untrusted' never send a bank transfer - that's really a last resort because you may as well have given them cash and hope they deliver (I know too late for you, but hopefully something others will remember)

Is the account you made the transfer to of a major UK bank? Did the account name validate when you made the payment?

Being a 'valid' company doesn't mean it is all OK. You may not have been dealing with the company, tons of ways impersonation happens. Having a phone number you can call doesn't mean they are genuine (because that phone can be answered anywhere in the world). Most banks these days have a set of questions which, from what you've said, should have triggered their 'take 5' process when making the transfer to delay it to give you time to think.

I'm not trying to worry/scare you directly, and a week isn't necessarily a long time for delivery (look at how long people have 'paid' for pins before they turn up!), but "Parcelforce Secure" is not a service type - ask for tracking info and chase them up and if you're worried talk to your bank now - the sooner they investigate the better.
 
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