unauthorised rogue payment debited from my account

[TV license fairy]

A company has debited a payment from my account - presumably it's an honest mistake - and now it's overdrawn and I am unable to pay for some time sensitive things that I need to pay for immediately. If I don't buy them this weekend I can't buy them at all.

 

Basically I'm furious. Sorting it is going to cost me, and already has cost me, a lot of time that I don't have to spare just now. Plus there's no overdraft on this account either so I'm gonna have penalty charges applied also.

 

I am so angry right now. Does any one have any advice re my rights here?

[havinastella]

You are being very generic.

 

Did you owe the money that came out? What is the FULL story?

[TV license fairy]

I do not owe this money. Long story short, I've bought 3 things off this company recently. Accordingly they've taken 3 payments. No problem.

 

The problem is they've now taken a fourth payment

[TV license fairy]

To clarify

 

this is a payment that I have no idea at all about and was not expecting.

 

I run this account very carefully.

I know what goes in and what goes out.

 

This is a payment that should not have gone out,

and it has done so at the worst possible time.

 

There is no confusion or hidden info here,

 

the simple fact is money has been taken out when it shouldn't have been.

 

And i'm fuiming, legitimately so

[defaulter3076]

Ask your bank for a refund, the direct debit guarantee should apply.

[TV license fairy]

sure i will ask for it back. But what about the inconvenience this company have caused me? Inconvenience is putting it mildly, they've absolutely done a number on me

[defaulter3076]

If you haven't already done so, cancel the direct debit. Make sure there is not a new one.

The last time I reversed a direct debit, although many years ago, the charges were also reversed.

[TV license fairy]

this is not an arrangement like with a regular direct debit.

 

This is just a company who have my details

 

mistakenly charging me for something that's nothing to do with me.

 

And their mistake is costing me dear

[dx100uk]

so its a cpa via your debit card?

 

dx

[citizenB]

If this company has taken money they are not entitled to, then make a complaint to their head office. Head your letter "formal complaint" - they are obliged to respond within 8 weeks - either resolving the issue or providing you with a Final response letter. You can then escalate your complaint to the Ombudsman.

 

8 weeks isnt set in stone - it is "industry standard" so you could say in your letter that you want it resolved in say 14 days, or you will escalate your complaint. But, you will need their final response.

 

You could ask for some compensation for the time you have had to set aside to resolve this. If there were any charges involved because of their error, then I think you could probably demand they repay those as well.

 

I agree, it is frustrating and time wasted.. but I think you need to follow the correct route to obtain some kind of resolution.

[TV license fairy]

After quite a few phone calls the situation is a little clearer. Basically the company and the bank are blaming each other. Here's the breakdown:

 

I made an order for something worth £250. The company took my details and reserved that amount with my bank. So £250 is 'on hold' and I don't have access to it

 

Then they sent out just 2 thirds of the order (1 third was not in stock) and charged my card accordingly i.e. didn't charge for the absent third. The money that came out of my account (£190) did not come from the reserved amount, it is separate to that.

 

So the reserved amount is still on hold (i know it will return me to eventually) and the bank says this company have essentially pillaged £190 that they are not entitled to. The bank says they should have taken the money that was reserved and that if the item wasn't in stock they should have only reserved an amount that covered what they do have in stock. Or that they should have cancelled the reserved amount prior to then taking a lesser value

 

The company says they don't have the right to take a separate payment, and that what they took out (the £190) should be from the £250 that was reserved originally.

 

I kind of suspect the company are the ones who've let me down, but tbh I'm not sure that is the case. I really don't trust any of them! All I am certain of is that the timing of this has inconvenienced me greatly and I am very annoyed. I would like to know one way or the other who is at fault here.

 

Any thoughts?

[dx100uk]

anything here that helps...

 

GENERAL NOTES ON CHARGEBACK & CPA

.....

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companie

.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/- it works!

.

banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

.

This fsa guide has now been updated:

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http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...ghts_guide.pdf

.

Here's the text:

.

Cancelling a regular

card payment:

.

When you give your credit or debit card details to a company and authorise them to take regular payments from your account,

such as for a gym membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’ or ‘continuous payment authority’.

.

These are often confused with direct debits, but do not offer the same guarantee if the amount or date of the payment changes.

.

In most cases, regular payments can be cancelled by telling the company taking the payments.

.

However,

y.ou have the right to cancel them directly with your bank or card issuer by telling it that you have stopped permission for the payments.

Your bank or card issuer must then stop them – it has no right to insist that you agree this first with the company taking the payments.

.

Be aware, though, that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

.

see: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?336569-How-to-remove-a-lender-s-continuous-payment-authority(2-Viewing)-nbsp

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/consumerinformation/product_news/banking/know_your_rights/solving/index.shtml

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http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/feb/24/continuous-payments-authority-know-your-rights?newsfeed=true

..

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New june 2013

.

Regulator orders Banks and mutuals to review complaints about not cancelling recurring payments from November 2009.

.

Consumers who have set up a regular payment from their account will now be able to successfully cancel that arrangement

by contacting their card provider, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

.

The FCA has been examining how easy it is for customers to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs)

due either to payday lendersicon or for other regular payments such as subscriptions or gymicon memberships.

.

CPAs, which are also commonly called recurring transactions or recurring payments,

are relatively easy to set up but can be hard to cancel, causing problems for consumers trying to manage their finances,the FCA said.

.

Now, following the FCA review of how the largest high street banks and mutuals process requests to cancel CPAs, they have agreed that they will ensure that when a customer asks for a recurring payment to end, that will be sufficient to cancel the arrangement. They have also confirmed that should a payment go through by mistake following cancellation by a customer the customer will be refunded immediately.

.

In addition to securing this commitment, the largest banks and mutuals have agreed to review every individual complaint they have received about the non-cancellation of a CPA and to pay redress where payments have continued to be made despite the customer cancelling the arrangement. This applies to all complaints since November 2009 when the Financial Services Authority, the FCA’s predecessor, began regulating banking conduct.

.

Clive Adamson, the FCA’s director of supervision, said: “It’s important that consumers are confident that banks are meeting their everyday banking needs. Today customers can be confident that when they ask for a Continuous Payment Authority to be cancelled – it will be cancelled - and that it can be done easily.

.

“We recognise that historically this is an area where some customers have struggled but the banks and mutuals have responded positively to our work on this issue. From now on we expect them to be getting this right. In addition, they have committed to review past complaints.”

.

http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/06/28/regulation/regulators/fca-banks-have-to-cancel-recurring-payments-if-requested-UxbeHUuYQIy0SEYbGRE4tJ/article.html

.

Also mentioned your displeasure that as whomever took your money had obviously attempted this many times

probably activating your banks own anti fraud software - nobody had the decency to inform my you this was going on.?

 

 

one of my files..

 

dx