Paying off debt

Glpark01

I have 2 debts with bcw which i usually pay by dd but i had to change the date as it was coming out on the 25th and there are no funds in my acc until the 26th so they said the only thing they could do was cancel the dd, pay sept and oct by debit card then start taking dd payments on the 1st nov, i paid them last week for £10 on each acc but they've charged me £2 on each transaction for using a debit card are they allowed to do this? They didn't tell me about it either i just noticed on the bank statement and asked them what it was for.

ajaney

Companies are allowed to charge to take payments by card but they should have told you about this. the amount should not be more than it reasonably costs them to process your payemnt (although no-one seems to have told Ryanair this - £8 per person on a return flight!) The grey area is often how they tell you & how much it will cost you to contact them to complain!

They will probably say that the charge is mentioned in there terms & conditions. If it is a free or low cost phone number then i would ring up & say you were not told about the charge & ask for a refund. If you paying them not on direct debit again, ask if you can send a cheque.