Advice please *germany bank fees* from an international bank

[nhal039]

Hi
I had a wee bit of a problem (actually it was a nightmare and the results from it aren't very good for either the seller or I)after making an international bank transfer from my bank in NZ to germany.
Basically what has happened is I paid the money to the seller (72.16 euro) plus covered the only fee for the transfer which was $20nz (its our standard charge to make a international transfer). 72.16 euro showed in her account but her total amount recieved was 41.66 euro.. these are the details
07.08.12    AUSLANDS­UEBERWEI­SUNG
KTO12301­10985144­00/MISS NAN CY HALSE
/RFB/NAN­CYNZPONI­ES /ERST AS
BBNZ2A /GEB SHA/REF 03MT1
20807110­803/ORG 72,16EUR­/AD
(I have just removed my address from this line)
EB 12,50EUR
   41,66 EUR

Her bank said that I did not cover my fees and have charged her 18 euro for a remit
They also charged her 12.50 euro in fees.
Now I understand the fees but not the remit as my bank claims that they can not take money from her account once it has entered her account as they do not have authority too also they wouldn't need to get a fee as I already paid the fee from my end. URGHH
Anyhow I told the seller this so she went into her bank branch to get details of this remit only for her bank to tell her she has to go to another branch on the otherside of the country??? This sounds very odd to me I and I think the bank has taking the money incorrectly.
 I trust the seller 100 % she is a very nice person so I was hoping to get some advice on banks in germany about international transfers.

Many thanks if you can provide some help
xx

**edit... the bank also sad they have charged her no fees but cant explain the 12.50 euro??? What is going on? Its such a nightmare for both of us

[Marlin]

Holy cow... what a disaster. Hope this gets sorted out for both ends 

[Ringlets]

  something sounds very off with your sellers bank! I know there is a fee for the bank transfer but what happened to your seller doesnt seem right
. I remember doing a bank trasnfer to someone in Germany but it was some years ago, and because I was from the UK I got charged a hefty fee, but as far as I know my seller didnt get charged. Now I havent paid using this method for a while , and I'm not sure if anything had changed... but its a common method of payment in Germany and across Europe so I'm sure one of our German or other mainland european members can shed some light on what might have gone wrong

[nhal039]

thanks, I am asking cause it does sound way off, I just don't believe the bank is doing it to be honset! my bank does not charge fees either to receive money from a international transfer but yes it does charge a bit in fees sending one...

Ahh I would have never in a millions years imagined this.

[ponylady]

I'm in the US but something sounds terribly off.

Is there anyway you can contact her branch?  I am sure they will not give out any personal information on the transaction in question but maybe you could ask about charges for remit's and what not.

I am sorry I can not be of more help.  Like Ringlets said hopefully another memeber will be able to shed more light on the situation who have either gone through this or have had something similiar happen.

[Naraya]

Unfortunately in Germany it's quite normal with an international bank transfer that both seller and customer have to pay fees at each of the 2 banks. Here you have to pay for sending and for receiving money from/to outside Europe, only within Europe there are no fees.

Did you use the IBAN/BIC for the money transfer? If you don't use that around here there can be extra fines. It's not enough to use the account and bank number.

Hope that helps a bit.

[nhal039]

Unfortunately in Germany it's quite normal with an international bank transfer that both seller and customer have to pay fees at each of the 2 banks. Here you have to pay for sending and for receiving money from/to outside Europe, only within Europe there are no fees.

Did you use the IBAN/BIC for the money transfer? If you don't use that around here there can be extra fines. It's not enough to use the account and bank number.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks, I used an IBAN for sure, I dont know if I used a BIC, I used a swift code too. The only other details I used was the sellers name and address.

Does 30 euro sound to high? or is it a normal fee for German banks?
It seems odd that the bank can not explain to the seller where the money has gone only that 18 euro was for a remit. Originally the bank said 12.50 euro was for bank fees but then said she was not charged bank fees so the missing 12.50 euro is unexplained by the bank?

[Sebby6]

BIC and SWIFT is the same thing.
It is right that there will be a fee for receiving the money into her account, but I have never heard that it should be 30 euros. More like 10.

Her bank doesn't soind like they know what they are doing, but sadly that's quite common if she lives in a rural area for example.