Tough one here.

Customer initiated a transaction from his account here to his account at another bank. He clicked the submit button too many times and scheduled 2 transfers. He called us to let us know that he was having issues with the service, so we flagged the account.

One of the transfers received a confirmation number, so we allowed it to go through. The other transfer did not, so we initiated a reversal through the ACH system. However, the funds were transmitted to the other bank but were not debited from the customer's account here. Instead, his account shows the 1 debit, our suspense account is out of balance for the amount of 1 of the transfers, and the other bank received 2 credits. We are sending a letter to see if they will return the funds to us, but we aren't too hopeful at this point.

The customer is yelling at us and telling us that if we debit his account here that he will sue us for violating Reg E. Is this true? We KNOW that he received double credit at the other institution, so wouldn't this be an issue of unjust enrichment? Or would Reg E kick in here? I guess I thought only ACH rules applied...?

I am confused and scared that we might take a big loss. What can I do if the other bank doesn't return the money? Do we just eat the loss here and then sue our customer for unjust enrichment? Or can we debit his account for the additional funds if the other bank doesn't honor our request?

I would debit his account - he is the one that screwed up and clicked twice, the transfers were not unauthorized and this is not a Regulation E issue. If he wants the money back into your bank, tell him to transfer it back. You attempted to fix his screw up - it was too late - so sad - too bad.

Once the dust settles I would also notify him that you are closing his account.

So Reg E also defines an error as an incorrect electronic fund transfer to or from the customer's account.

If there is such an error like this, under Reg E, are we not liable for the error?

Reg E does define an incorrect transfer as an error...but you didn't make an incorrect transfer, your customer made an incorrect click and you followed his instructions to the letter. I agree with Randy, Reg E does not apply. You customer has received funds to which he is not entitled, and you can recover your funds from his account.

"Bank error in your favor collect $200" works in Monopoly, but in real life, the bank wants its $200 back.

Debit the customer account, he has use of 2 credits and only 1 debit, undue enrichment. He is not entitled to the funds because of a mistake he made and your attempt to correct it.

And the customer is screaming at your staff? Once I have my funds, I'm with Randy on this one, have him come in and give him a cashier's check for his remaining balance and tell him to take his business elsewhere (just make sure he has no government deposits, that reqires 30 day notice). And tell him you look forward to the lawsuit, because you will countersue for legal fees...

Sound like he it tring to pull a fast one. As others have stated kick him to the curb. Due to the converstaion was this the intent of hiting send to many times in the first place?

I would also (depending on the amount) consider filing a SAR and/or chexsystems for account abuse.

I'm a little concerned about any software system that let's any user "click twice". Aren't there supposed to be controls in place to prevent this from happening? Typcially, after the first click to send a transaction, one cannot click it again. Otherwise, us bankers would be dealing with hundreds of these "I clicked twice" issues per day from our users. If there was a software glitch (and we've all seen them) and it's the bank's software, I'd at least get a legal opinion before kicking the customer to the curb or anywhere else. The very fact that we have an unbalanced set of transactions makes me worry about a glitch somewhere.

I pay a number of bills online, many have the verbiage "do not press click more than once when submitting or you will generate more than 1 transaction" or words to this effect.

As far as wanting a legal opinion, contact your bank's legal counsel for that...BOL replies our opinions of the posters only...i certainly wouldn't use any of these comments as legal opinion. Can you imagine this in court "well, sir, i was on a message board and an anonymous poster said it was okay to do this".