Two readers who had money transferred from third parties into their PTSB accounts contacted us in recent days after the cash apparently disappeared without a trace.
First up was Aisling, who paid more than €5,000 to a company in early January to install floors in her new home.
Days later the company changed the installation date to one that proved impossible for Aisling, so she cancelled the order and the company agreed to a full refund.
A week or so later, the company called Aisling and took her card details and issued the refund, amounting to €5,200.
‘I am at a loss as to how €5,200 goes missing’: PTSB customers say refunds disappeared without a trace
Despite earning €100,000 a year, buying a one-bed apartment in Dublin still seems an impossible dream
Is there alcohol in alcohol-free beers, and should we be worried?
SSE Airtricity misread Anne’s meter, overcharged her by thousands and won’t refund her
A couple of days later, Worldpay (the payment platform) processed the refund and Visa subsequently confirmed it cleared to her bank – PTSB – on January 21st. She called PTSB but there was no record of the payment. Over the last month she has called PTSB almost every day.
“They cannot find the payment. I have now raised a formal complaint but I have not heard any update in a week from PTSB. I am so scared,” she says. “This is not money I can afford to lose. I am on unpaid maternity leave and I am at a loss as to how €5,200 goes missing.”
She wonders if it has anything to do with a new payments platform PTSB launched in January.
She stresses that the card number she gave to the flooring company was checked and rechecked and then rechecked again both by her and by the company.
She says Visa and Worldpay have both confirmed the payment was transferred and sent us confirmation emails from the companies to that effect.
She has been given no timeline on an escalation from PTSB and says there “has been no communication or escalation or any help at all”.
We also heard from Eoin Walsh, who is a season-ticket holder with Manchester United.
Pricewatch initially thought Eoin might be contacting us to see if we could get him a refund given the dire season the club and all its fans have been enduring but that wasn’t the case.
“Periodically during the season MUFC make refunds for ‘unused’ tickets for individual games,” he says. “Up to recently these were very straightforward transactions as the refunds were paid directly into my bank account.”
It is a PTSB account.
“However due to fraudulent activity in my current account in November 2024 I was advised to cancel my debit card immediately. PTSB issued me with a new debit card immediately.”
Eoin’s problem began in January 2025 when he was due to receive refunds of £96 on January 10th and 16th respectively.
“After a week or so the money hadn’t reached my account, and I contacted MUFC to confirm that the refunds had gone through bearing in mind that the relevant debit card had been cancelled,” he writes.
“I was assured by MUFC that repayments had been processed and should have reached the bank by now. ”
So he contacted PTSB by phone and explained the situation about the cancelled debit card and all the rest.
“The gentleman to whom I spoke said that this often happened but assured me that the refunds ‘will eventually’ reach my account. I again contacted MUFC. I was ‘assured’ that the refunds had been processed.”
Notwithstanding the helpful manner in which I was dealt with by both parties, I am left with nowhere to go
He was given two reference numbers by the club as proof of the transactions and said they checked their systems and were able to confirm that the transactions had gone through “because otherwise the transfers would show up as having been rejected. After a week or so I called to my bank branch.
The official was most helpful and immediately rang head office, who confirmed to him that no refunds had been received. In a subsequent interaction via text message with the bank it was confirmed that no refunds had been received.
Eoin says that “notwithstanding the helpful manner in which I was dealt with by both parties, I am left with nowhere to go. In the circumstances I really would appreciate any assistance in this matter, particularly bearing in mind that I may ‘receive’ further similar refunds this season.”
In response to Aisling’s long wait for her money, PTSB said: “We made a mistake in applying this payment when it was received. We recognise that this has been a poor experience and have apologised to the customer. We assured her that this was an isolated incident and her funds have now been transferred to her account.”
And as for the unfortunate Manchester United fan the bank said: “We have investigated this issue. PTSB has not received the payment from the merchant in question. We are engaging with the customer and pursuing the matter with Visa on their behalf.”
