Ulster Bank switched direct debits, but not balance - close shave

jlo

Am I naive and is this standard practice?

I've had an RBoS account for nearly ten years. Due to changes in my circumstances, I went to Ulster Bank and asked if they could set me up an account with them, as they're part of the RBoS group, and since I'm living in Northern Ireland, I wanted to have a local branch I could actually use.

They were very helpful and said they would sort everything out by contacting RBoS and transferring my bank balance and any direct debits I had. This moved much quicker than I had anticipated, and on checking my credit card statements I realised that a direct debit was due very soon after my "switch". After receiving my pay-in book, I, by chance really, made a deposit into the new Ulster Bank account.

Yesterday, I activated my online banking, allowing me to check my account for the first time, and saw that the day after I'd deposited the cash into the empty account, the direct debit had gone out!

I'm just a little bit concerned that Ulster Bank were happy to sit back and let my direct debit fail when there was a zero balance in the account, and no overdraft facility. I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn't paid some money in just in time.

So, is this normal or should I kick up a fuss with them? They told me they'd take the balance from my RBoS current account and put it in my new Ulster Bank current account and they didn't do this.