Virgin Credit Card's Cheeky Charges!

mabainborough

I am looking for some advise on how to take this forward...

On June 28th 2009 i called Virgin to ask how much debt was left on my credit card. I was told £1.29. Brilliant!! So i paid the £1.29 over the phone from my debit card and asked the lady to close my account and to send me a letter of confirmation that my account had been closed.

A couple of days letter i remembered that i pay my Virgin Credit Card via direct debit, so logged on to my account and cancelled the payment. I had closed my account on 28/06/09 so i thought there was no way Virgin would try and take any money from my account on 03/07/09 as i don't owe them anything and my account is closed.

Today 20/0709 i have received a statement from Virgin saying that they are charging me £12 for an unpaid direct debit and £3.11 interest = £15.11!

I was on the phone to them like a shot asking how can try to take money from me when i don't owe them anything and when they don't get the payment they shouldn't be asking for - charge me?!!

They offered to halve the payment.

I said this was not acceptable as my account was paid off and closed they had no reason to tkae money from me. They explained that because i had cancelled the payment at the bank it was own fault. I said the lady who i spoke to originally on 28/06/09 should have cancelled it at her end or advised me of what was going to happen. I have asked to hear a copy of the telephone call and for a supervisor to call me back (within 48hours) and to have the address of the Financial Ombudsman ready to give to me. I asked for no more interest to be added to the account whilst this dispute was handled but the advisor says that if i don't pay up by 5th August 2009 the charges will keeep coming...

This charge of £15.11 seems completely unfair and for a payment Virgin should have cancelled.

Help, am i doing the right thing? Can Virgin do this to me?

Thanks love (an angry) Marie x :mad:

cifpower

Yes Virgin can do this.

CannyJock

Personally, I'd dispute it. Their systems make a DD submission even after a balance has been paid in full. You should pay the £ 15.11 on time even though you're disputing it - this avoids a lot of ongoing grief. This doesn't count as you accepting their position or agreeing to the charge.

Continue to dispute the £ 15.11 and ask for it and costs (telephone calls, correspondence and your time) with interest to be repaid.

Keep everything in writing and take it all the way to the Ombudsman if necessary.

PNPSUKNET

I agree with canny, pay it then make them pay it back with stat 8% intrest as not due. If not it will cause trouble on your credit file and its not worth the hassle.

jonathon

I have seen this a few times on other threads out of interest if you owe nothing how much would the DD have been ?

CannyJock

jonathon wrote: »

I have seen this a few times on other threads out of interest if you owe nothing how much would the DD have been ?

The DD would have been for the full balance of £ 1.29. Making an ad-hoc payment to them close to the payment due date doesn't affect the DD run. Virgin will issue a series of DD instructions to their bank to collect the payment for the amounts they notify.

jonathon

that would then put him in credit no

CannyJock

jonathon wrote: »

that would then put him in credit no

Oui. By exactly £ 1.29.

mabainborough

jonathon wrote: »

I have seen this a few times on other threads out of interest if you owe nothing how much would the DD have been ?

They tried to take a direct debit of £25.00!

This was my previous minimum payment. Seems funny how they tried to take the full £25.00, when 5 days previously all i owed was £1.29. I cancelled the direct debit at my bank as i believed my account was closed and i owed nothing.

It seems silly for £15.11 but it is just unfair. I will def take it all the way. The lady should have explained the situation properly on the telephone to me before she agreed to close my account. Looks like im in it for the long haul ...

mabainborough

cifpower wrote: »

Yes Virgin can do this.

Can you explain further for me?

*Vikki*

Thats really bad! Take it all the way! No way can they be allowed to do this!! Its day light robbery.