Can someone help, credit card company have 'lost' £4000 of my money.

[tiredconfusedhungry]

Such a long story, I can give more detail where needed but I'm nearly in tears so apologies if this makes no sense.

So, long story short.

• paid off credit card in full (£4000) in August 2023.
• random direct debit taken by credit card company this month for £300. After nearly 3 hours of phone calls, we've now established that the payment made in August was flagged as fraud (not sure by who) so wasn't actually paid off of my account. This wasn't communicated to me in any way.
• more phone calls, credit card company are saying that the £4000 was returned to me in January 2024. But it wasn't. It doesn't show on my statement and I've even phoned my bank who say that it definitely has not been returned.
• credit card company are refusing to budge, won't refund me back the £300 which has left me with no money and I'm still being charged as though I owe £4000 on my credit card.

My last phone call today I asked to speak to a manager or someone higher, apparently early there is no one in until Friday.

Any suggestions?

CC company wont even accept me sending them a bank statement as proof I haven't received it.

This is outrageous.

What have they recorded as the purpose and the outcome of your last phone call? Do they record calls? Can you request it?

I think I would be staging a sit in at my local branch at this point.

@BananaSpanner I've no idea, I didn't think to ask. I did wonder about asking for transcripts of all of my calls. I have print outs of our 'live chats' which again, contradict what I've been told on the phone in the past.

I was just so frustrated having to explain the whole scenario again and then again to the second person, they then went away for 20 mins, came back and said they couldn't see any closed accounts under my name. Which isn't what I'd said, I'd said the money was in a suspended accounts, they assumed that the money had been paid into a closed account. I had to Google suspend accounts and read back the definition to them. They then passed me onto a manager who, if I'm honest had even less understanding.

I am making detailed notes to add to my complaint, but none of that helps me right now. It doesn't get me any closer to a resolution or getting any money back.

@tiredconfusedhungry I am so so cross for you.
Am I correct here in that not only have they not given you back your original money, they are also charging you interest on the credit card?
I think you need to email in to the complaints department - it should be clearly indicated how to complain on their website and to the CEO, Ring beforehand and ask for his email and also the name of his EA so she gets a copy.
Then I would also consider sending to a local journalist as well. I don't think you can take it to the ombudsman unless you've exhausted the bank's complaints process but maybe given the time limit you can. Might be worth a call?
They have shown total incompetence and also disregard for the hardship and upset this is causing you.
Insist that you need a complaint reference and for a person to be appointed to manage it plus their direct line. I had to do this when I had the issue I mentioned previously up thread. It really helped to have a single point of contact. (Im in NI and my issue was with Ulster Bank who have now exited this market so I'm speaking to how their process worked)

Please take this to the consumer rights journalists at Guardian Money. They are really good at sorting shit out and will hopefully get you some compensation too.

Good luck!

Thanks @Ahnobother so originally I thought it was an issue with Virgin, but they had returned the money. I have made a complaint to them because their communication about this was piss poor non existent, like nothing. We didn't know there was any issue until they started taking direct debits again on a supposedly cleared credit card. So they had technically done the right thing? In terms of procedures) just not told us.

I'm also putting in a complaint to HSBC. The money was returned to them in January and has sat in an unreconciled account for 3 months. It doesn't seem right that large sums of unallocated money can just be left to rot. And that no one seems to give a shit about what this is doing to us.

I will be trying to find all of those things tomorrow, I feel so beaten down by it all, I've got 2 young kids, I work full time. I'm fucking exhausted as it is, it shouldn't be down to me to put in all this work, just to rectify their problem.

@peppermintsforall I may look into it. I'm not one for this compo culture, but right now I've got 2 returned direct debit fees to cover, plus £30 of overdraft interest as well. The least they can do is cover that.

Anyone with any kind of knowledge in this area, do you think there is any value in going to a branch to try and sort it out? My nearest one is half an hour away and I can't really afford to waste diesel (and half a days annual leave) if I'm going to get there to be told they can't help.

No don't waste your effort going into the branch, they will only end up phoning the call centre anyways. I would email the CEO ,and contact the financial ombudsman service

Thanks @Qwerty21 I did wonder. I'll be back on the phone to them tomorrow then. I'm just sat here trying to find out if HSBC have a UK call centre. Today was painful, there was a serious lack of comprehension/understanding with the people I spoke to today, which really doesn't help.

It will be 10 working days, not just 10 days so discount weekends. I'd say by Friday you should have the money.

Definitely complain as soon as you can by any method you can, and get an acknowledgement. Banks will try to resolve a complaint within 3 days because otherwise they have to give a full written response. The full written response has to be within 8 weeks and crucially they should keep you updated in the mean time. Do not agree that the complaint is resolved if you aren’t happy, and definitely ask for compensation. It won’t be huge amounts but you should ask for all out of pocket expenses and an amount for distress on top - I would suggest £300 or so.

@christmascalypso I did wonder, but went with calling to check after 10 days total, they told me today that nothing had been actioned after my phone call 10 days ago. And even better, the people today couldn't even find the suspended account with the money in it, that the guy found the other week. So either the original one was lying (possible given he didn't even action a transfer) or the people today weren't looking in the right place.

Either way, 10 days (working or total) aren't going to make any difference.

Thanks @Chickenrunning the complaint already lodged with Virgin has an 8 week response time. I will see what HSBC's response time is when I log it tomorrow.

https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/DISP/1/

These might be useful. FCA complaint handling rules.

Have you logged a complaint? Ask to speak to the complaints team rather than the call centre agents, they should be more knowledgeable and experienced.

Definitely don't bother with a branch op. Or the ombudsman - they can't help until the bank have had 8 weeks to consider your complaint.

Raise a complaint right now, by email to the CEO. Complaints to the CEO will be prioritised and you'll receive a quicker response.

Lay heavy emphasis on the fact you're vulnerable and in extreme financial difficulty, which is now affecting your mental health.

@tiredconfusedhungry Any luck yet?

Definitely email the CEO. This worked for me after two months of utter frustration with the post office bank. They were beyond incompetent and I was tearing my hair out, like you. I got £250 compensation. Wasn't enough for all the stress their incompetence caused tbh.