At the end of May '23 I walked into my local WF branch with the instructions from WISE Bank on how to wire 72,000 euros to their Belgian branch. This was my first international transfer. The banker for some reason had me change the Beneficiary to my name, and to my lawyer's address and decided to send it in USD ($77,500) I signed the paperwork because the banker told me this is how it had to be done.
Of course the transfer is denied but not before it goes untraceable for almost 3 weeks. When returned to my account it's $2200 short & WF says they are not responsible for conversion losses. They've asked for no documentation from me ( the transfer instructions I gave them) and refuse to acknowledge that their rep changed the transfer details. Having done numerous transfers since then I now know the rules & regs - which makes it even more infuriating because this transfer order was wrong in so many ways. But, again I was doing what the banker told me had to be done.
Do banks have a "Mediation" dept? It's ridiculous that this would have to go to court when the law (UCC Article 4) is clear. The bank did not follow my instructions(4-A 302) and per 4-A 305 (iii) issuance of a payment order that does not comply with the terms of the payment order of the originator, the bank is liable to the originator for its expenses in the funds transfer and for incidental expenses and interest losses
Any other remedies besides calling my lawyer?
