I despise direct debits

mouseymousey99

I've cancelled lots of my d/d's, and I manage the bills etc online. I keep a notebook so I know when things are due. Some things you have no choice with - eg BT.

Pollycat

Lile Kavanne & mark7799, I've always paid my bills by direct debit and have never had a problem.

I set direct debits up for my Mum & Dad's bills so they can manage their money better and they think it's great.

elaina79, which specific companies have you had problems with?

elaina79

My main issue was with Talk Talk, Setanta and Sky. I now pay Sky and Talk Talk using my debit card and did away with Setanta altogether.

Talk Talk took money via direct debit last month from my account for someone elses talk talk account. Trying to tell someone one the phone that a payment was taken and them not believing me was so annoying. I eventually got it sorted but the hastle I had to go through to get it. I ended up writing to them with the proof that they took the payment and had a call from the CEO office with an apology.
I got charged from my bank as well so had to write to them to get that refunded. So in total for that one stupid error I was on the phone for about 1 and half hours and had to send 2 letters to get it sorted.

I set up reminder now to pay all my bills and it all seems to be going well. I prefer to be in control of all my money without people just taking it, it feels wrong when they do that. Also the fact that these companies (mostly energy) take more money than what they should and earn interest on it, is just a legalised scam if you ask me.

peter_the_piper

I can't stand the thought of a bill landing on the mat with a sickening thud and realise that I had not allowed enough money for it. No, its DD for me, too darn busy to worry about bills.

Butlers1982

never ever had a problem with them.

kitschkitty

I like DDs the only one I had any issues with was virgin, so I get sent a bill from them now instead, and everything's great!

countrymusicfan

I missed one direct debit, and now it has snowballed out of control, so I am buying a prepaid card. I will pay my DDs by card and the bank can go swimming in Loch Ness. No more money out of me.

chuckley

they annoy me when i have too many (magazine subs). i try to leave all new credit stuff as bank transfer as i cant handle loads of d/d's.

advent1122

Mark7799 wrote: »

So what do I do differently???

I pay the following by direct debit

Gas
Electricity
Sky
Setanta
Telephone
Broadband

and I've never had a single problem in nearly 20 years since I bought my first home?

Ditto.
Everything direct debit.
I know how much goes out each month and get no unexpected bills.
Much less "hastle" than budgeting for a quarterly bill.

HappyMJ

Hate them myself. Just set up one to make the monthly payment to Barclaycard and the letter says to make alternative payments until a message appears on the statement. So I did...Both my manual ad-hoc payment and the Direct Debit came out for the same amount on the same day. Can I get it back? Probably, but 15 mins on the phone and I've given up. I supposedly approved that amount being taken so that's it...

I've followed the letters instructions so what ever did I do wrong?