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Thread ID: 113068	2010-10-04 06:01:00	Frustrating Buyer on Trade Me - Can banks screw up transfers?	Agent_24 (57)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1141531	2010-10-04 06:01:00	'Sold' an ink cartridge just over 2 weeks ago . They claim to have paid on the 18th of September - money should have shown in my account by the 21st but nothing came through then and nothing has since then . They claim to have used the correct account number, but when I tried asking them more direct questions eg: "Have you actually called your bank and verified that you used the correct number?" They stopped replying to my emails . The number I gave them is the one on the automatic "payment instructions" email and is 100% correct with no previous issues with any other buyers . However they had no problem replying to TradeMe when I asked for a success fee refund (1 hour ago), telling TradeMe that they had paid . I asked them to call in at their bank and to get proof of the transaction, that was 2 days ago, nothing was sent in reply since then . I did of course give them an alternate email address in case emails were getting lost somehow . Would call them up but don't have their phone number, they're not in the phonebook and while I do have their address it's too far away, the cost of getting there would be nearly the cost of the item . When I called my bank they said if the money didn't go through then it means the person never paid or didn't use the right number . This person does have a fairly good feedback record, and has been buying things since their purchase from me, so they may indeed have actually paid . I am wondering if it's possible for an internet banking transfer to fail somehow? Of course without proof from their bank I cannot get my bank to look into this possibility, and that isn't happening since they refuse to talk to me! :mad::mad::mad:	Agent_24 (57)
1141532	2010-10-04 06:05:00	Normally you would get their email addy somewhere along the line? LL Oops, I guess that is how you have been in touch with them............	lakewoodlady (103)
1141533	2010-10-04 06:11:00	Everything has the possibility of failure....	Metla (12)
1141534	2010-10-04 06:13:00	An internet banking transaction won't fail without leaving a record of the failure. If it appears on their statement, they have proof of what happened and can get the bank to fix it (although a failed transaction is *very* unlikely). If it doesn't appear on their statement, then the transaction never took place, and should be retried. At the end of the day, if they paid you (and the account they paid was actually yours, rather than someone else's), it will show up on both their bank records and yours, and the money will be in your account and missing from theirs. Anything else, and it's almost guaranteed they're taking you for a ride.	Erayd (23)
1141535	2010-10-04 06:14:00	Everything has the possibility of failure.... Surely banking systems are designed to withstand weird glitches, power outages, system crashes etc... You'd think reliability would be very high. But I guess you're right, that doesn't make failure impossible, just very improbable. An internet banking transaction won't fail without leaving a record of the failure. If it appears on their statement, they have proof of what happened and can get the bank to fix it (although a failed transaction is *very* unlikely). If it doesn't appear on their statement, then the transaction never took place, and should be retried. At the end of the day, if they paid you (and the account they paid was actually yours, rather than someone else's), it will show up on both their bank records and yours, and the money will be in your account and missing from theirs. Anything else, and it's almost guaranteed they're taking you for a ride. They said "well the money did go out and i did use the correct bank account number so im not sure what has happened here" What I am trying to find out is if that's just the conclusion they came to from looking at their internet banking, or if that's what their bank told them. But we don't know because they won't even tell me if they have contacted their bank at all. :waughh:	Agent_24 (57)
1141536	2010-10-04 06:17:00	The point of transactional systems is to prevent such failures from occurring. Things like money transfers should be atomic; either the entire transaction will succeed, or none of it will. You shouldn't ever end up in a situation where a transaction has been half-completed - the whole point of a transactional architecture is to make such events impossible.	Erayd (23)
1141537	2010-10-04 06:21:00	The point of transactional systems is to prevent such failures from occurring. Things like money transfers should be atomic; either the entire transaction will succeed, or none of it will. You shouldn't ever end up in a situation where a transaction has been half-completed - the whole point of a transactional architecture is to make such events impossible. So assuming the banking system is perfect, they've either buggered up the account number or never paid?	Agent_24 (57)
1141538	2010-10-04 06:23:00	So assuming the banking system is perfect, they've either buggered up the account number or never paid? Yep. Unless they are able to offer you some very convincing and extraordinary proof that shows otherwise, it's safe to assume that the bank transfer system is infallible.	Erayd (23)
1141539	2010-10-04 06:25:00	Pity the fool who thinks any system is infallible. (not that Bletch is a fool of course)	Metla (12)
1141540	2010-10-04 07:03:00	' They stopped replying to my emails . When I called my bank they said if the money didn't go through then it means the person never paid or didn't use the right number . This person does have a fairly good feedback record That means nothing . What you do now, is give them bad feedback and relist your item . If they really did pay they'll get their act together abut I doubt they did . Probably changed their minds and are too pathetic to confess .	pctek (84)
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