theft by direct debit (well, almost)

madmacfroggy · 11 November 2006 at 9:58PM

Hi,
I'm new here and not sure if this is the right place to post.

Background:
I pay my phone bill from PostOffice Homephone by direct debit, £31.70 every month, and in september, over the course of a few days they managed to debit an additional 14 times that amount in exponential increments to a sum of £443.80 more than i should have paid that month! I obviously phoned them about this, and was told that they'll forward it to finance, and there's nothing more they can do right now.
To top it off, i got my printed bill a few days after the second phone call, saying i'm £370 in credit. So I phoned them again, furious that they actually have over £800 of my cash. The being in excessive credit is because what I pay in direct debit is more than I use, and they say they can't reduce the amount I pay monthly until my account review date which is in march next year...
Anyway, I got that £370 back about 3 weeks ago, and the other day i got £5 back from my previous account with them which i overpaid more than a year back (which I had almost forgotten about that but remembered and brought it up during one of the calls, "While I'm at it...")
But, still no sign of the £443.80 they unlawfully took from me in september. I expressed my displeasure and demanded £20 in compensation for leaving me short of cash. they said £10 is the max for such occasions, unless they made me go ever my bank overdraft limt, in which case they would refund that if I provided evidence of it.

I suspect, as this has happened to other people as well, is that the Post Office are causing this 'billing accident' to happen to people, to help with their cash flow, which is why they're being so slow at paying it back.

My question is this:
Is there any way that I can charge the Post Office interest on the amount of my money they have been holding, which they would not hesitate to do if the situation was reversed. (maybe there's a chat forum where corporations can moan about customers not playing fair...poor things..)
Or, can i claim compensation in anyway, sue them, get free homephone for a year, dissolve the company and take over their assets?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

regards
madmacfroggy.

Mikeyorks · 11 November 2006 at 10:22PM

madmacfroggy wrote:

.... in september, over the course of a few days they managed to debit an additional 14 times that amount in exponential increments to a sum of £443.80 more than i should have paid that month!

Simple solution - go into your Bank with proof that the DD is actually just £31.70 per month - and demand the excess back under the DD guarantee scheme. Which is specified here :-

http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/generalpublic/yourrights/

Your Bank might wriggle a bit - but insist they refund your account there and then. They will have to chargeback the excess to Post Office who , in turn, have signed up to an indemnity scheme that they will refund your Bank in the event of such an error. But all of that is nothing to do with you - you simply demand your money back. And your Bank have no alternative if the facts are as you posted.

BACS (the link I've posted) are administrators of the DD scheme - and the guarantee they provide is not negotiable - provided an 'error' has been made.

jonesMUFCforever · 12 November 2006 at 1:30AM

You don't need proof of what the D/D amount should have been.
Go down and say that you want to be refunded under the Direct Debit indemnity scheme.
They will credit you within 24 hours.
I would still pursue the Post office for some compensation even if it is only £10.
Finally I would be looking for a new phone provider!!

ginger_nuts · 12 November 2006 at 1:42AM

I had a similar problem this week with my ISP .They took 2 payments when the should have taken 1 .I phoned my bank and got the money back .

protector · 12 November 2006 at 4:41AM

Further to ejones999's comment - it may be worth letting the Post Office know you intend to switch providers (if you do consider it of course) - it may be that you get a cheaper price for the same service offered to keep your custom.

Good luck with the bank, though it does sound like the scheme means you'll have your money back very quickly - according to the link Mikeyorks posted...
"If an error is made by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid."

Definately sounds good to me.

madmacfroggy · 12 November 2006 at 1:28PM

Thanks for the replies, I'll definitely try getting the money from the bank, which I agree, should happen without problem.
I do however want to make the Post Office pay-up for inconvenience, and loss of interest on the money, I just don't know if that's possible, it would only amount to a few £ I think, but the satisfaction would be priceless...

immoral_angeluk · 12 November 2006 at 4:15PM

Well of course the post office are going to mess you around giving you back your money... imagine all the extra money they're getting from the interest off your money while they have it... :mad:

Mikeyorks · 12 November 2006 at 9:06PM

ejones999 wrote:

You don't need proof of what the D/D amount should have been.
Go down and say that you want to be refunded under the Direct Debit indemnity scheme.

The proof is advisory - and particularly where multiple DDs are involved.

And its the DD guarantee ....... the indemnity works in the other direction;)

angelatgraceland · 17 November 2006 at 1:18AM

When this is sorted-change providers-it is only by voting with our feet(or maybe our accounts) that we can stop this sort of behaviour. Look on here for a better deal.

theft by direct debit (well, almost)

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