Money incorrectly put into credit card - what to do?

My neighbours have had an amount incorrectly deposited into their credit card.

They received a phone call from the company who incorrectly put the money into the account and were told they did not have to do anything as the company would take care of it.

Two months later, the money was still sitting in their credit card.

They asked me to write on their behalf as they are not tech savy and I have contacted them by the Contact Us on their website. So far I have written to them 3 times over a period of 4 months. To date, they have not heard back from them except for the email which a job number saying someone would get back to them.

It has been 6 months now and the money is sitting in the credit card untouched.

We also also tried calling them but the wait times are 1 hour or more long.

What are their rights as they do not want to be caught out here when they have tried to contact them without any communication back.

Comments

  • You / They have made reasonable efforts to contact the financial institution to highlight the issue and seek a remedy.

    The fact that it remains unanswered is not your neighbour's fault.

    Just don't use that money or move it.

  • Just: https://www.afca.org.au/ complain.

  • It’s their responsibility. Not yours. You can give them advice but never act on their behalf.

    Contact them to have it transferred to a local bank account? I have done this twice in the past few months and only waited 10 mins max each time.

    • +2

      Contact them to have it transferred to a local bank account? I have done this twice in the past few months and only waited 10 mins max each time.

      Do not do this.

      The money should come out the same way it came in. The company in question should reverse the transaction otherwise OP's neighbour may send the money to a bank account and then the company reverses the transaction so they end up out of pocket.

    • -1

      Misread the question. If it’s someone else who wrongly transferred money into their account, leave it as it is and it is their responsibility.

      My reference was when I received a credit card refund, I would transfer it to a local bank account to get back the cash I initially paid for.

  • +1

    Have they tried calling their own bank and explaining what has happened?

  • +1

    How did this company have your neighbour's phone number?

    • +1

      They booked a holiday with them and the holiday was cancelled. Not only have they received their refund, they have received someone else's refund from this company.

  • +1

    Spend it.

  • +1

    how much we talking

    do no more, its not your job to remind someone every week you have their money, screw it, once is enough. leave the cash there, or take it out and close the card.

  • +2

    Be careful it's not a scam/fraud of some sort.

    • +1

      This, happened to me once.
      Gambling addict accounts payable employee overpays invoices then asks for excess funds to be redeposited back into "this account please".

  • +1

    Sounds like all reasonable efforts have been made.

    If it's been 6 months, I'd be claiming that money as mine now.

    The company will be out of pocket as they would refund to the correct customer.

    If they tried to fight it, well, too bad. Plenty of time has passed.

  • https://moneysmart.gov.au/banking/unauthorised-and-mistaken-…

    After 7 months, the company needs your permission to get the money back.

  • Thanks for all your help with this one, I am going to convey this to my neighbours now and leave in their hands. Done as much as I can for them.

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