Buyer wants to pay via bank transfer

[DillyDallyDayDream]

Title says it all.
Is this allowed/safe?

[mrscrimbobash]

Just say no. If they transfer funds into your bank they can then withdraw via indemnity claim.

Stick with paypal!

[shellyf]

No.My friend's son lost £800 last week on ebay,he was asked to pay by bank transfer and sadly did.Ebay wont help as they don't support this method of payment.

[fergoose]

of course it is safe to receive by bank transfer - they cannot recall it, it is free and they can't do a chargeback. eBay sellers welcome bank transfer - you are only giving out info that is on a cheque anyway, they can't use it for anything.

Shelly has your friend gone to the police?

[mrscrimbobash]

fergoose I worked in financial services for YEARS. you can recall a bacs or chaps transfer.

[fergoose]

well there you are Shelly - tell your friend to recall the transfer

[Havingkitties]

I've accepted bacs 3 times for pickup items that the buyer arranged a courier for and its been fine, plus no PayPal fees.
I'm not sure about the reversal part. I rang my bank about it when I was unsure and they said once its paid, its done and the money can't go back to the person who sent it (that was natwest). I know that if you accidentally bacs the wrong person some money, then you can rarely get it back, unless the recipient sends it back and the banks can't do much to help.
But in saying that once my work overpaid me and recalled the payment on the same day.

[fergoose]

maybe it depends who you bank with? I know sellers on the ebay community boards all welcome bank transfer with open arms.

[shellyf]

Yes the police are involved.The "seller"is saying someone hijacked their account and put an item for sale for sale that didn't exist.The police are investigating the account money was transfered to.Hopefully they will be able to help sort it out.They said this kind of fraud is on the increase.
Ebay wont help as he should not have agreed to transfer instead of paypal.

[shellyf]

Yes the police are involved.The "seller"is saying someone hijacked their account and put an item for sale for sale that didn't exist.The police are investigating the account money was transfered to.Hopefully they will be able to help sort it out.They said this kind of fraud is on the increase.
Ebay wont help as he should not have agreed to transfer instead of paypal.

[shellyf]

Sorry double post.Bank wont help but not sure which one.

[fergoose]

Mrscrimbobash - why can't Shellyf's friend recall her bank transfer payment then?

sadly an item worth £800 and bank transfer is huge red flag - I doubt your friend will get their money back Shellyf. I don't suppose house insurance covers this sort of thing?

[mrscrimbobash]

Any bank can recall a bacs payment on the same working day that it was sent.
Outside of that it's up to the bank to contact the 3rd party bank to establish whether the funds are there correctly or not.
The 3rd party bank then has to verify with the 3rd party client that the funds aren't due to them, and then it can be refunded back to your bank.

Banks don't like doing it though as obviously it's quite time consuming and if the 3rd party opens a dispute arguing that the money is theirs it can get quite complicated.

But yes. Banks can do it, but certain ones won't do it unless you kick up enough of a fuss and have a valid enough reason to want to do it.

(FYI: FirstDirect- have always been A* for assisting with complicated banking queries. Bloody glad I'm with them.)

[shellyf]

Thanks for information.I will suggest she tries to see if house insurance covers anything like this.
They didn't try to recall on same day,it was when goods didn't arrive.

[fergoose]

maybe get her to kick up fuss at the bank, threaten ombudsman maybe?

[mrscrimbobash]

Ombudsman won't listen unless you have raised a formal complaint with bank and given them reasonable time to resolve matter. After that you can refer it to them.

If the goods didn't arrive and she sent payment it could also be referred to the banking fraud dept as well.

[shellyf]

Thanks.I will send her the link to this thread.