Jerseygirl

I faxed a money wire transfer form to my bank clearly stating:

FOREIGN CURRENCY: Pounds Sterling

US DOLLARS AMOUNT TO BE TRANSFERRED: $XXXXXX

They obviously couldn't understand their own form because they had sent the $ amount in pounds i.e 100 pounds instead of $100. When I called them they replied 'well we didn't know whether to transfer pounds or dollars so we went with pounds'. I asked why they hadn't called me if there was a problem and just got silence. What makes matters worse I had called the bank about 1 hr after sending the fax and asked if they could confirm they had received the fax from me transferring $XXXXX amount of dollars into my UK account and they said yes and it had already been sent. No mention that they had been a little confused and sent almost double the amount I had requested.

My complaint was then passed on to the bank's investigations dept in NYC. They said that they would phone my bank in the UK and tell them that the money had been sent in error and ask for it to be returned. HA HA. Can you imagine a UK bank discussing an account with a third party let alone transferring money on the say so of a US bank? I was then told that I could possibly be out of pocket due to the fluctuating exchange rate and transfer charges. Needless to say my reply to them is unnprintable.

I cannot believe that a bank can be so unproffessional. Anyone else had problems with US banks?

Rompers

Which bank? I've never had any problems with Bank of America.

Jerseygirl

JP Morgan Chase and soon we will not be having anymore problems with them

BigDavyG

All banks are w*nkers, though not sure why you would be using them to tansfer such a small amount.
Surely by the time they charge you with fees, spread, etc you'll end up with about £20 in your UK account for $100.

frrussre

They once lost my wire transfer for 2 months. Best of all, they found it in someones desk draw. That was 10 years ago, hope they got better.
Reg. Frank R.

Jerseygirl

It was not a small amount that was just an example, sorry if I misled you. If it had only been a couple of hundred $$ I would not have been so livid. Its taken 2 weeks for me to calm down enough to post this.

BigDavyG

OK
In that case if you're dealing with larger amounts I strongly recommend xe.com.
I usually opt for the cash to be sent to the UK in draft form which costs nothing. If the spot rate is say £1:$1.74 by the time I send cash with xe I'll get 1:1.76 including any fees and charges.
Takes a few days to set up account (phone interview required), then you're flying.
Oh, and banks will rarely give you any compensation if they f**k up as that would be an admission of guilt which menas that you could potentially sue the pants of them.

Good luck

Bob

That's your problem, they have so many complaints and so many f@ck ups, it's not even funny.

Jerseygirl

They have admitted guilt to me over the phone. It was in black and white 'US DOLLARS $XXXXXXX" how they could have thought that I really meant pounds not dollars defies me. Also I have received a letter from the NAT WEST stating 'the remitting bank has advised that this amont was paid in error and they want to recall the amount'.

Any legal eagles out there?

TruBrit

shame this lot really don't know...so amateur....can you believe that branch banking only came into effect in the last 8 yrs or so in tx....a couple of yrs ago I tried to transfer sterling from barclays isle of man and the local well fargo branch hadn't a clue about GBP or any other currency except the US$...so very sad they completely fu**ed up my transfer however i insisted and got back the loss of money due to the exchange rate...and this in a city as big as houston..lol

Jerseygirl

Thanks. I have told them in no uncertain terms that I expect the full amount taken from my US account to be returned plus any fees etc. to which they have agreed.

elfman

I have a Bank of America visa card, and used it in December to pay the 2006 dues (£194/$330) for my UK Institution of Civil Engineers membership online. Then I saw on the next statement an additional $10 charge for "international transaction fee". I'd used the card to make UK purchases before and not had this so I called their customer service number. Bloke tells me I was sent a letter months ago (news to me) telling me that this is a charge now being applied to all international transactions. I told him I received no such letter and would they refund the charge. No can do, he says, so I suggest that I will consequently close my account and take my business elsewhere. Bloke immediately says he will have to transfer me to their "customer service department" (funny, I thought that's who I was speaking to). The next person I talk to tells me that the previous person had misinformed me - there was no letter, there is no standard charge for international transactions, and the $10 is applied by the merchant from whom I made the purchase at their discretion. She tells me that since the merchant made the charge there's absolutely nothing Bank of America can do about it. I suspect this is crap because I didn't see any mention of this on the subscription payment website, and the ICE has loads of members outside the UK. I again mentioned the possibility of closing my BoA account and miraculously she offers to refund the charge and promises that it won't happen again. When I pressed her on whay the previous bloke told me such a different story, or why she herself seemed to change her story, all I could get out of her was "I apologise for the misinformation you received previously, is there anything else I can help you with?".

I'll be interested to see what happens the next time I use my BoA card to purchase anything in Britain - which will probably not be until July when we're going home for two weeks.

dunroving

I have found that transferring money to the UK is a HUGE, COMPLICATED task at my bank. Seems I should be able to just go in an say "please send $500 to my account in the UK - here are all the details of the account, SWIFT #", etc.

But no, I always have to set aside at least an hour. And one time they told me they'd sent it, but a week later my brother told me it hadn't arrived. As stated previously, I could not get the person at the bank to admit she had screwed up.

Other than foreign transfers, however, my bank is pretty efficient and no hassle.

TruBrit

good for you

Jerseygirl

I have an arrangement with JP Morgan Chase to fax a completed wire transfer form to them as I regularly transfer money to the UK and to my student daughter in Toronto. It is much easier than going into the bank and dealing with someone who has no idea what they are doing. Unfortunately for me this time proved me wrong.