buongustaio

Hi,
I know this Q could probably apply for the "most bizarre question of all time" contest, especially coming from a non british expat =) I hope you don't mind me asking, but I figured you might have some knowledge on the matter, since this situation may have already occured to some of you.

I recently ordered some rowing gear from a UK based store, actually it's not the first time I buy from them, and this time they sent me 1 item too many by mistake; I offered to buy it, and to do so they asked me not to submit any payment on their website, but to send them a simple cheque
This is 100% fine by me, but the matter is: would it work? And should I write the total in GBP or EUR?

I thought I would ask somebody else before answering to their email, just to know what to ask.
In few words: can they really bank an italian cheque (in EUR..?) in England?

I don't want to cause any problem between us, since we already had a good history of fine transactions, and I'm planning to buy again from them in future

Thanks for your time!

Sancho

I think it would probably be very difficult to cash an Italian cheque in England, although it might be possible, if they were prepared to go to the London branch of the Banca di Roma, say.

If I were you I'd do it via your bank in Italy. Ask them to transfer so much from your account to the store's account (causale "payment for an oar" or whatever), and send or email the store a copy of the receipt for the transfer. Explain that you thought a cheque would be difficult for them. I'm sure they'll be happy. I would be.

To do it that way, of course your bank will need the store's bank account details, but it should be easy to find them. They'll probably be on the documents that came with the order, or on the email they sent you, or maybe even on their website. If not, just ask.

Make the transfer in either EUR or GBP. No problem with either. If I knew the price in EUR but not in GBP, then I'd make the payment in EUR. If I knew it in GBP but not in EUR, I'd do it in GBP.

Pulaski

You can only write a cheque in the currency the account is drawn on, so presuming your a/c is a euro account, you can only write euro denominated cheques.

The check can certainly be negotiated at a bank, BUT it will only be accepted "for collection", meaning the funds will only clear when the cheque has been sent to the bank in Italy, probably through at least one intermediary bank, and the funds have been sent from Italy. This process may take several weeks, and with significant fees payable, I would guess around £30 (€30), plus 5% or more lost on the FX conversion.

Better alternatives would be payment by wire (if you have the payee's IBAN) or by debit/credit card, or Paypal, or if none of those work, ask your bank if they will sell you a £ draft. FX drafts are a service that banks commonly provide, but are little used these days. The £ draft can be negotiated in the UK like any other £ cheque and clear immediately or with a day or two with no excessive fees.

Pulaski

Probably impossible to "cash", but any bank will accept it for collection (see above), which is a slow and expensive process.

The foreign bank branches in London rarely have any facilities (no service desk, cashiers or branch service staff) for serving retail customers, so the is no chance that even Banca di Roma would cash it.

Garbatellamike

I would try to get a SWIFT or IBAN number from them and transfer the money directly. I do that from my Banco di Napoli Account. Better option than a cheque.

Pulaski

Only banks have SWIFT numbers, so you'd need the sort code and a/c number too. Asking for the IBAN would be preferred.

Garbatellamike

good point well presented colonnello

Pipistrelli

Technically SWIFT is an electronic international funds transfer service which can be used for 'most' worldwide sending of payments. The 'number' that relates to a swift payment is a BIC code (Bank Identifier Code)
IBAN is a code to identify a bank sort code and account number and used when sending payments to a member country of the EU.

You may probably need the SWIFT BIC as well as the IBAN of the persons bank account you are sending the money to. These payments incur a small charge to you the sender but much much better than sending a cheque in Euros.


Your other viable option would be to ask your bank for a foreign draft (cheque) in pound sterling.

Garbatellamike

yes it is 1 Euro normally with BdN

Pulaski

IBANs have already spread significantly beyond the EU, into the Middle East and Central Asia, and even across the Atlantic to the Dominican Republic.
Which is what I said earlier!

Pipistrelli

OoOooOooh, well, things have moved on since I last looked!

So you did, sorry 'FX' threw me and I didn't read the rest of your sentence.. well.. paragraph !

You also said Paypal... which I'd opt for every time where possible... Buongustaio can't you ask them if you can send it via Paypal?

buongustaio

wow I see I have a few options now!
First of all I'm thinking about asking for Paypal, sounds much easier after all, and perhaps he just forgot to mention it if he's sooo keen on accepting all those fees when banking a cheque there should be no problem with Paypal fees.
Bank cheque in Sterling sounds okay though, if they are not accepting any other solutions, such as bank money transfer... But I'll ask first
Thanks to you folks now I know exactly what to do!
Very kind of you all, gentlemen!

Pulaski

You're welcome!

6monthshere6monthsthere

Weird

Paypal, send it to their email... just do it! if they are not registered they will get a message saying accept the money, you can ring them tell them you sent to paypal and you are done, they can pull it free to their account.
Cheque fine
Online transfer easy

Pulaski

No, a cheque is slow, and expensive (for the recipient).
Not sure what you even mean by an "online transfer"? .... A wire, perhaps? ... Which is quick, but expensive (for the remitter).

One other possibility is to use an online remitter such as xe.com or xoom.com, but as for a traditional wire you need the recipient's bank and account details.