Any banking experts on here

[widepants]

Right this is the situation I find myself in and would appreciate some tips and advice.
Approx ten days ago I was given three different cheques from a customer to pay for a job that I had just completed for them.One was for payment of goods and two were for labour payments.
When I took them to the bank ,I was informed that the name on the cheques didnt match the exact name on my account ,and thefore the bank could not take them.They have taken them before ,but I agreed to take the cheques back to the customer.
The customer ripped up the cheques and then did direct bank payments for the payments.
All sorted ....not.
Yesterday I got a call from the customer ,saying that although he had the cheques back ,my bank had actually drawn them on his account.I checked my account and sure enough I had been paid twice.
I called the bank ,and they withdrew the cheque money from my account ,but said it was a computor error and that it was impossible for the money to be taken from my customers account without the cheques going through clearing.
What I am now left with is an irrate customer who is giving me grief for the return of his £2600 pound ,from the cheques that were cashed into my bank ,even though they were never paid into my account .
My bank is "looking" into it ....but his does not help my customer who now has lost his £2600 for xmas without having to cash investments .It makes me look really unprofessional ,and is costing me a fortune in phone bills and time.
Any help would be appreciated

[flymo]

get down to the bank and refuse to leave until its sorted, take with you the details of the customer and his bank branch so that they can call and confirm there and then.

[andrewsmith]

Originally Posted by flymo

get down to the bank and refuse to leave until its sorted, take with you the details of the customer and his bank branch so that they can call and confirm there and then.

This

They are at fault for not cancelling the cheque processing after rejecting it.
Ask your customer to the remains of the cheques (if he still has them) to prove they aren't in the system

[tigersaw]

Maybe take customer with you too

[Mr Speirs]

Hard, Fast and Agressive.....

Ooooooohhhhhh Banking!!

You're too soft on the bank...go in to your branch demand to speak to a manager of some sort, as the helmet's that paygrade don't satisfy your requirements cannot help and are reading from a script.

Payments can be made in hours, demand a CHAPS payment back to your customer immediately as you are likely to lose not only a relationship with this customer but possible future business and it is no-ones fault at this stage but theirs.

[Drew Carey]

I can't add more than what has been said already.

Plus, I would suggest Tigersaw's idea - take client with you, if you are both free......get it resolved - the customer seeing you act that way to me will show how professional you are and re-iterate 100% that you are sorting it.

To be fair I am suprised that the bank rejected the signature. It may alarm people - but some banks DO NOT have signature checks as a criteria when entered into the clearing system.

[Jayneflakes]

Serious complaint time to the bank, have a meeting with the manager and make your complaint fully. I would suggest advice from the Banking Ombudsman too.

What a horrible situation to be in, typical Bank response though, they hate to be helpful. Maybe looking at another bank to deal with would help too, going in to your current bank with details about offers from another could show them how serious you are.

As for taking your customer with you, I am not sure that such a move would be considered professional, however a serious complaint from him too in writing would be helpful.

[phil24_7]

Drew - Which ones? LOL

As mentioned, take the customer with you and go and see the manager. Kick off fo long enough and loud enough and they will sort things out for you.

How did the bank cash the cheques if they didn't actually have them? You say the ere ripped by your customer?

Unless a cheque goes through Clearing it can be banked.

Which Bank is this ?