Direct debit problem - DD guarantee??

sillystudent_2

Hi, hope you guys can help with this
Basically I've checked my online banking today (Barclays) and Vodafone, as they usually do around this time every month, have taken out £63.99 by DD to pay my phone bill.
The problem is - this month they shouldn't have!! I'm on a £30pm tariff, but this month I foolishly went over my minutes quite a bit, hence the high bill My lovely parents kindly offered to pay it this month as atm I'm in serious financial straits (even by student standards lol.) Therefore they paid it on the Vodafone website by credit card about a week ago - the payment was confirmed and everything (have a receipt), yet Vodafone have for some unknown reason gone and taken out the money from my account!

My question is - can I just walk into my bank and demand the money to be returned under the DD guarantee (which allows money given out in mistake to be returned immediately doesn't it)? Or does the DD guarantee not apply here? If I can't do that, what should I do, ring Vodafone (since they've effectively charged me twice)?

Another thing is that the £63.99 charge has taken me £4 into my personal reserve/outside my overdraft meaning I'll be charged £22 for the privilege :mad: Seeing as its not really my fault (apart from being so close to the edge I guess ) is there any way I can get Barclays to waive this?

Thanks for any help you can give me here! I know this isn't the end of the world but I'm really stressing out atm, the first of my end of year exams is in a week's time :eek: and I just want to be revising 24/7 - the last thing I want to be worrying about is money

Thanks again!

Rose123

when did your parents pay the bill?

sillystudent_2

when did your parents pay the bill?

Thanks for the speedy response They paid it last Thursday I think, so 5 days ago if that helps!

dc110

When a direct debit is due from your account the originator will need to trigger this DD prior to this about 3-5 working days to ensure the instruction reaches your bank on the day the payment is due. Chances are the DD was already started when the payment was made.

Edit : maybe 5 days but only 3 working days - the DD was already started when they paid it

On the basis I would say Vodafone have done nothing wrong therefore you cant ask them to refund fees on bank account - only option there really to rely on Barclays goodwill.

agsnu

Yup as dc110 said, you were too late to stop them requesting the DD.

sillystudent_2

So what happens now? Forgetting about the bank charge, can i still get the money back off the bank straight away, or is it a matter that has to be sorted out with vodafone?

dc110

dont see why you cant ask for an indemnity

agsnu

I don't see why it would be a valid claim under the DD guarantee: they told you the correct amount & correct date. The fact that you separately made an additional payment to the account seems irrelevant.

If you phone up Vodafone they can probably see that your account has a positive balance and initiate a refund.

sillystudent_2

Good news! Decided to pop into the bank today and, have to say, Barclays were brilliant! The personal banker girl was really helpful, just looked at my account details and asked a couple of security questions, and that was it - got all my money refunded. Plus they even agreed to waive the personal reserve charge :j

Didn't even take up any time really - there wasn't any queue to see an advisor, so was in and out in under 5 minutes! Thanks again for everyone's help!

dc110

good news

Rose123

Thats brill!