Bank Problems

[idun]

I tried to send money back to the UK last week and I had nothing but problems.

My conseillere worked her little socks off to help, no problem with her, but she could do nothing to get things sorted. The Manager was not in on Friday, although this had been going on since Thursday morning. I ended up calling the head office and the standardiste refused to do anything or let me speak to anyone else. THEY said that I had to write and complain and I would get a reply in 14 days, so after it had got there from here, that would be three weeks.

I am so annoyed that I feel like writing to the PDG of my bank, only simply calling him/her Le Chef Guignole. I might yet, unacceptable that I could not transfer our money from our account without approx 20 calls to France.

In the end my conseillere appears to have done it late on Friday. But if she has managed, then it will be unusual as it should have been too late, after the cut off time. Well if she succeeded it should be in our account on Monday, so we'll see.

Our bank was taken over a couple of years ago by the bank we left to go to them, it does not bode well for the future.

[fisherman]

I use a transfer intermediary. Only used them a couple of times so far but quite straight forward and you can do the transfer yourself on line. I think they also give better exchange rates than the bank.

(when we purchased the house the banks exchange rate meant we would have lost about £2000)

I don’t think I can give the name of the intermediary on here but pm me if you are interested.

[idun]

I do this every month, at first with forms and then on line. I've been doing this for over three years now. I do it either via an FX company or straight to my bank.

This time nothing happened at all. My conseillere insisted that I was doing something wrong, and to cancel my inital transfer and try again and in the end I  input the transfer into the system four times and then I had to cancel it four times. I have to admit she did try to help. However, her IT people were telling her n'importer quoi,  which is actually scandelous.  

We'll see tomorrow. IF their systems were down, then, all they had to do was say that and I would have sorted something out directly with my branch.

 

[fisherman]

I use an FX company as well. What could be simpler – a couple of mouse clicks and its done.

I seem to have so many interesting experiences ahead of me.

I hope it is sorted soon.

[idun]

A couple of mouse clicks, used to be that, but our french bank sent a little card machine and so we need to input a code from the machine to validate the transfer.

We will always transfer from France  to the UK, it is cheap, around 4€ per transfer, when done before the cut off time arrives the following lunch time. We send it in euros to an FX company in the UK or our UK bank.  

All very good, when it works.

 

Interesting experiences, yes, best way to look at it all really.

[Laurier]

Have pm'd you.

Laurier

[idun]

sorry I haven't received anything in my pm's.

[Wibblywobbly]

Did you get any luck with your transfer?

I sold a property that completed 6 June, I returned to the UK 4 April, having first paid a visit to my bank to confirm that there would be no problem with the transfer of the fund to the UK.

Then the nightmare started. There was no email address on the bank website, so I asked my immobiler to get one, and after a week I get an email from the bank. What did I want?

I told them that I wanted funds transferred to my UK bank via HIFX, thinking that this would be simple, I gave them all of the details.

I am then asked for:

A copy of my passport.

Utility bills.

Evidence of Employment.

Evidence of State Benefits.

Copies of payslips.

I also gave them the Immobilier and Notaire contact details.

I send all of this.

Two reminders for a reply and I am sent a form to sign confirming that I have no income???

This was signed, scanned and sent back, the original went in the post.

More reminders for a reply. No response.

I even asked a French speaking friend (an immobilier 200 yards from the branch) to give them a call and find out what the problem was. They refused to talk to her as they do not have an account with them?

I then send another email asking if the transfer can now go ahead, or do I need to drive down there and do this personally?

I get an email not answering the question, but telling me that the matter has been referred to the 'Executive Committee', who will make a decision on 12 July? It doesn't even tell me what they are going to decide...???

This is my worst nightmare. I have no idea how to transfer the money electronically on the website, I can't see anything that will allow me to do that, it's Caisse D'Epargne, so if it is possible and anyone knows how to do it, could they point me in the right direction, I would be eternally grateful.

Rob G

[Bob T]

Why not just write a French cheque and put it into your UK account?

[idun]

Firstly is this money in your french bank yet? My french neighbour's sister waited months to get her money from the sale of her house as the notaires hung on to it.  She had not told them that she wanted it immediately and they made it clear that they were entitled to hold it.

Our money from the sale of our house took a full week to get into our account which I was extremely unimpressed with, as I had been clear that we wanted it immediately.

Also I would doubt that you would be able to do it on the web anyway if it was over 3000€ which I have been told is now a web limit for transfers in many french banks.

So if the money is in your account what I would do is start again. I would fax the bank with a signed letter telling them that you want your money transferring. Make sure that you have  all the details on this letter.  HIFX's contract should have all the details on it. So, HIFX's bank's name and address, their SWIFT / IBAN to pay HIFX  and your customer account number with them. And the amount in words and figures, I always do that so that there is no confusion, even though on my transfer forms it does not request it.

The reason I say 'fax' is that my french bank does not like emails for transfers and like to see a signature. If you can wait a few days then send them a signed letter confirming the fax and a fax.

IF they refuse to let you have your money, then I would tell them that I was going to porte plainte against the bank, and I would, I would call the local gendarmerie if they had not acted within a couple of days.  

 

 

[bubbles]

I would agree with Idun.

We found that emails got no replies at all from either our notaire or our bank, whereas a fax worked magic.

[Wibblywobbly]

I am guessing that the exchange rate would be nothing like as good as HIFX offer, plus I have no idea whether there would be any other hidden fees.

The reason I haven't tried alternative routes is that they keep giving me the impression that if I respond to the latest request for information then the transfer will go ahead, but each time I satisfy their request, they ask another question. They won't even respond to simple questions such as 'what do I need to do to ensure that this transfer can proceed'.

There has to be a way out of this nightmare, but I haven't a clue what it is.

Rob G

[Wibblywobbly]

[quote user="idun"]

Firstly is this money in your french bank yet? My french neighbour's sister waited months to get her money from the sale of her house as the notaires hung on to it.  She had not told them that she wanted it immediately and they made it clear that they were entitled to hold it.

Our money from the sale of our house took a full week to get into our account which I was extremely unimpressed with, as I had been clear that we wanted it immediately.

Also I would doubt that you would be able to do it on the web anyway if it was over 3000€ which I have been told is now a web limit for transfers in many french banks.

So if the money is in your account what I would do is start again. I would fax the bank with a signed letter telling them that you want your money transferring. Make sure that you have  all the details on this letter.  HIFX's contract should have all the details on it. So, HIFX's bank's name and address, their SWIFT / IBAN to pay HIFX  and your customer account number with them. And the amount in words and figures, I always do that so that there is no confusion, even though on my transfer forms it does not request it.

The reason I say 'fax' is that my french bank does not like emails for transfers and like to see a signature. If you can wait a few days then send them a signed letter confirming the fax and a fax.

IF they refuse to let you have your money, then I would tell them that I was going to porte plainte against the bank, and I would, I would call the local gendarmerie if they had not acted within a couple of days.  

[/quote]

They have had all of these details from day 1, plus my scanned signature on documents, plus the originals sent in the post. The big problem is that they will not respond to my question of 'what do I need to do'. eg :

Pouvez vous confirmer :

Est-ce qu'il est maintenant possible de compléter(d'achever) le transfert à

HIFX ?

Ou,

Si je visite la banque(rive), puis-je compléter(achever) le transfert ?

Response:

Concernant votre demande de virement, la décision sera prise par

le comité de direction mardi 12 Juillet.

As to what this is all about is anyone's guess?

If they asked for a fax, I would happily send them one.

Rob G

[idun]

I have looked on the Caisse d'Ep's web site and found the following:

http://www.caisse-epargne.fr/cache/guide-prelevement-sepa_doc_20101026154310.pdf

 

http://www.caisse-epargne.fr/cache/particulier_2009_20110705130950.pdf

������VIREMENTS INTERNATIONAUX

Virements émis vers l’étranger(2)

Virements SEPA

• Frais par virement automatisable avec BIC/IBAN(3) 3,57 €

• Virement SEPA permanent 0,63 €/virement

Autres virements (en euros ou en devises)

• Commission de transfert(4) 0,10 % - mini 16,68 €

• + commission de change (si virement en devises)(4) 0,05 % - mini 15,00 €

• Frais de recherche sur virement international ou SEPA 25,50 €

 

 

Personally I would call them on Monday (if open)  or Tuesday and ask why they haven't transferred your money. I'd tell them that I'd be sending a fax with all the details on it and signed and want the transfer doing immediately. Then it is up to them to tell you why they cannot do this and for you to tell them that it is your money from the sale of your property and you want the transfer doing immediately.

That is what I would do. It looks like they wanted 14 days to set up a SEPA, why I have no idea, but that is what it looks like it says to me. From what you have said, then there is no excuse.

 

[Wibblywobbly]

Thanks for that info Idun, I have now sent them a signed fax, complete with all details, and will await their response. I will post the results on here.

Rob G

[idun]

Good luck and yes, let us know what is happening/happened.

[Patf]

If that doesn't work, I would think you should go back to France and into the bank personally.

We once wanted to send a fairly large amount back (there's a limit to what you can send electronically) and had to fill in a special form with the manager. This was Credit Agricole.

They seemed to make a very big deal out of it. Something to do with money laundering.

[idun]

If he sends a fax, it'll be classed as being done by hand. And there is no limit as long as the bank know the provenance of the money and they will in this case as the notaire will have paid it in.  We sent the money back from our house sale without any problems what so ever.

It was when I was wanting to send a lump back via our internet banking that we hit problems a while back, but once I sent a fax they did it immediately. Our bank  has a 3000€ limit on internet banking and told me that many french banks do too and I think that that is classed as 'electronically'.

[Wibblywobbly]

Well, the fax went Sunday, it is now Monday evening and no response.

I have sent an email containing th full dialogue and history of my dealings with Caisse D'Epargne to [email protected] and copied it to the Customer Services contact at the bank.

I will have to wait till tomorrow to see if this elicits anything at all.

Rob G

[idun]

Did you call them, I would have been on the phone immediately this morning.

I spent weeks trying to get something sorted earlier this year, but the one thing I did was always ring and hassle people. I got sorted in the end.

Another thought,  is your money in your account? Have you checked? I know that sometimes they move it without asking permission and if they have then it should be in a savings account of some sort. We have had this done to us in the past. Means that it wouldn't be there to transfer, so they'd probably just ignore your transfer request.

[Wibblywobbly]

The money has been there for over a month, I have the statements, plus the bank has confirmed it is there. They know that my spoken French is not good enough to undertake a telephone conversation, and refuse to take a call from a French speaking intermediary.

Rob G

[idun]

Good, I'm pleased it is there. Well you have done the right thing then to write and complain.

I have no idea as to why they are not transferring your money, but frankly I have had enough strange and unusual things happen to our account over the years to sadly, not be surprised at this happening to you.

I hope that your letters will make your bank spring into action.

[Wibblywobbly]

And the latest update is, the Bank mediation contact simply emailed back to say that they were not qualified to handle the case, and gave me a postal address to write to. Using this will take over a week, they did not give me an email address.

Despite saying that they would make a decision at a meeting Tuesday, they didn't. They simply emailed HIFX asking for a 'certificate', without stating what sort of certificate they wanted. They also emailed someone who is on maternity leave, so that has gone into a black hole.

I have all but given up any hope of ever being able to get my money, they have effectively allowed it to be paid into my account and refused to transfer it to HIFX, refused to accept an email request, refused to accept a fax, and refused to accept the original posted signed copy of the fax. They will not respond to any questions requesting their requirements in order to transfer the money. I am now completely at a dead end, with no way of doing anything about it.

Even if what they are doing is illegal, it will cost me a small fortune in legal fees to get the money, which means I may simply have to abandon the whole process, and forget it was ever mine. Such is life.

Rob G

[Patf]

You can't give up Rob - you should go down there and read the riot act, face to face [:@]

[idun]

I don't understand this at all. Have you not got an account with another bank where you could transfer it to who would do this for you.

 I think that your bank will want to know if HIFX is FSA registered. Mine certainly didn't ask for anything like that when I transferred our house sale money to the UK.

Here is a french fx company,  http://www.rationalfx.fr/votre-virement-international-moins-cher/529 and they mention the Banque de France and FSA.Never heard of this company, so I would be checking up on them if I was going to use them.

I think that I would be considering several things now.Contacting my Euro MP, the Banque de France, the Gendarmerie to do a porte plainte, the French Embassy in London;

I would be hassling all these people and the british press, but that is me.