Dear Claudienne,

I live in Florida. In mid-December 2018, I attempted to initiate five wire transactions from my Scotiabank account to my JMMB account. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, these wire transactions were not permitted. Four out of five of the transactions were returned successfully to my Scotiabank account but one was not returned.

I made contact with a Scotiabank representative and was informed that my transactions surpassed the US$1,000 per transaction limit. Each of my transactions was for J$128,000, which, with the exchange rate at the time, exceeded the US$1,000 limit .

For the last three years, I have made numerous attempts to retrieve my funds via e-mail and phone. I have contacted the Scotiabank Premium relationship manager, seeking help but he said that he was unable to assist, as the transactions were not in his department.

On one of my trips to Jamaica for a funeral, I visited the Scotiabank branch in person to attempt to resolve the problem. I spoke with a senior executive at the branch and completed and submitted several complaint/dispute forms. The senior branch executive assured me that he would resolve the problem. However, for one full calendar year after submitting the complaint. I made attempts to contact him to no avail. He provided no response and no resolution to my situation.

Subsequently, I shared my story with an old friend, who was a former manager at Scotiabank, and he promised to look into the matter, but sadly, he passed shortly thereafter.

It is now approaching three years, since I have been trying to have my problem resolved but after making two in-person bank visits, countless overseas phone calls and countless e-mails to the bank there has been still no resolution to this matter to this date (November 2, 2021) when I am sending you my complaint.

I would appreciate your help to have this issue resolved.

CC

Dear CC

After Tell Claudienne outlined your concerns to Scotiabank, the column received the following e-mail from the bank on November 10,2021:

Thank you for reaching out on behalf of our valued customer, CC.

Since receiving the complaint, we have worked with the other financial institution involved and have identified that the issue was caused by an error made when the receiving account number was inputted on our Scotia Online platform. The funds have now been returned to CC’s account and he has been advised.

We sincerely apologise for the delay in resolving the matter and for any inconvenience caused.

We also wish to point out that incorrect banking information is a common error that we have noted and take this opportunity to encourage all our customers to verify all account details for receiving parties before making transfers. These details may include the account number, branch and the correct name and spelling on the beneficiary account.”

You have informed us that Scotiabank initially tried to only return the J$128,000 to your USD account but that after some discussion, they increased the amount to recognise the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar that has taken place in the last three years.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or cell # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.