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I asked my e-bank if I could pay in a US Dollar cheque and they said sure. Was for $3,000.
Sent it to the freepost address they gave me and could not get sent recorded delivery as this service is not possible to freepost addresses. Waited a fortnight. Then just happened to find a forum online detailing how my e-bank do not allow you to cash foreign cheques.
I contacted them. Told them this cash was relied upon for my rent. They apologised for the oversight, and I told them there was already going to be hell to pay because the unnecessary hold-up meant I was receiving unauthorised overdraft charges, and I was also paying through the nose for calls abroad to the USA company to find out if they could cancel the cheque and have them make a BACS transfer (they could not). My High Street bank would have allowed me to deposit the Dollar cheque, no problem. I only sent it to my e-bank based on their erroneous info. Told the e-bank to return the cheque ASAP. They messaged me to apologise once again, stating that they had told me a year ago they could not deposit foreign cheques, but still, they should not have recently advised me to send it to them. They suspiciously ended the message asking "can you prove you sent the cheque to us?"
Fast forward two months, As you can guess, they have denied ever receiving this. I have asked them what process they have in place for returning a foreign cheque they cannot cash, twice, and been ignored both times. They just made a payment of £50 for the inconvenience. I have had to call the US company and spent hours trying to get the money some other way. Now have had to cancel the cheque and have a new one sent, to my USA postal box address, to be forwarded expedited shipping to the UK. That took six weeks to cancel - their accounting department's standard timeline. Postal costs are about £50.
I also had to move out of my place because I could not pay the rent, and move in with a relative. The sheer inconvenience and moving costs are in the Hundreds of Pounds. The calls to the USA total £260.
What are my rights here? They are without a doubt lying to me, I think. re: not getting the cheque. I took a photo of the cheque, btw, before it was mailed to them.
I want to take legal action. The Financial Ombudsman is toothless. And the knock-on effects of all this on my life and general mental health are considerable.
Sent it to the freepost address they gave me and could not get sent recorded delivery as this service is not possible to freepost addresses. Waited a fortnight. Then just happened to find a forum online detailing how my e-bank do not allow you to cash foreign cheques.
I contacted them. Told them this cash was relied upon for my rent. They apologised for the oversight, and I told them there was already going to be hell to pay because the unnecessary hold-up meant I was receiving unauthorised overdraft charges, and I was also paying through the nose for calls abroad to the USA company to find out if they could cancel the cheque and have them make a BACS transfer (they could not). My High Street bank would have allowed me to deposit the Dollar cheque, no problem. I only sent it to my e-bank based on their erroneous info. Told the e-bank to return the cheque ASAP. They messaged me to apologise once again, stating that they had told me a year ago they could not deposit foreign cheques, but still, they should not have recently advised me to send it to them. They suspiciously ended the message asking "can you prove you sent the cheque to us?"
Fast forward two months, As you can guess, they have denied ever receiving this. I have asked them what process they have in place for returning a foreign cheque they cannot cash, twice, and been ignored both times. They just made a payment of £50 for the inconvenience. I have had to call the US company and spent hours trying to get the money some other way. Now have had to cancel the cheque and have a new one sent, to my USA postal box address, to be forwarded expedited shipping to the UK. That took six weeks to cancel - their accounting department's standard timeline. Postal costs are about £50.
I also had to move out of my place because I could not pay the rent, and move in with a relative. The sheer inconvenience and moving costs are in the Hundreds of Pounds. The calls to the USA total £260.
What are my rights here? They are without a doubt lying to me, I think. re: not getting the cheque. I took a photo of the cheque, btw, before it was mailed to them.
I want to take legal action. The Financial Ombudsman is toothless. And the knock-on effects of all this on my life and general mental health are considerable.
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