Trying to retrieve money lost in bank transactions
Thread poster: Liliana Rogers
Liliana Rogers
Liliana Rogers  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:49
Member (2007)
English to Romanian
+ ...
Oct 2, 2014

I am trying to figure out if I have just lost a pretty large amount of money or I still have a chance to see some of it.

A couple of months ago I took a job from someone in Spain. Normally from international clients I accept only Paypal payments, but last month, when he was supposed to pay, he said he will pay via bank transfer. My mistake was that I agreed and gave him the details for my US bank. 3 weeks later money came back to him, minus about 150 USD lost in fees - the bank cla
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I am trying to figure out if I have just lost a pretty large amount of money or I still have a chance to see some of it.

A couple of months ago I took a job from someone in Spain. Normally from international clients I accept only Paypal payments, but last month, when he was supposed to pay, he said he will pay via bank transfer. My mistake was that I agreed and gave him the details for my US bank. 3 weeks later money came back to him, minus about 150 USD lost in fees - the bank claims he entered the details incorrectly, he claims he used the exact details I provided. Since I had also given the details of my Israeli account as a second option (I still didn't think to ask him to Paypal it, have no idea why), he sent it there. Finally today, one month past due, the money arrived - all together I lost 400 USD in these transactions! I asked him to cover part of the loss, but his position is basically, sorry, your loss. Is there anything I can do to retrieve part of the losses? My previous experience with large payments was that the fees are split between sender and me. I know I should have discussed this subject when I sent the invoice, not now, but I was ready the absorb the loss. However, I was ready to absorb a loss of up to 200 USD, not double! Is there an universally accepted policy, or it is each on its own?

Thank you!
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:49
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Do you believe this client? Oct 2, 2014

Liliana Rogers wrote:
I agreed and gave him the details for my US bank. 3 weeks later money came back to him, minus about 150 USD lost in fees - the bank claims he entered the details incorrectly, he claims he used the exact details I provided.

The bank charged that for failing to transfer the money? I've never experienced that, though I haven't had the problem with a US bank. Clients have had problems once or twice transferring money, but I've never paid anything. Do you have proof of all this? You need proof that
a) he submitted a transfer,
b) he used the correct details,
c) the bank did actually charge him $150.

Anyway, why are you covering HIS bank charges? It's enough that you have to cover your own! I know it is possible for a sender to request that all fees be paid by the receiver, but it isn't normal practice in business: each party should pay their own fees unless they've agreed to a different arrangement. What did you agree to do?

If you're paying for his fees for the second transfer you'll need proof of those ones too. Clients should normally be expected to pay what's on the invoice. The amount taken from you post-receipt is a business expense (and able to be set against tax in many countries), but money not sent by the client is quite simply a loss.


 


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Trying to retrieve money lost in bank transactions







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