Recurring Payments Warning! discussion

grumbler

This method is much more common than you think. Check your original paperwork. Most likely they warned you about this and you had an opportunity to cancel the automatic renewal before they sent you the letter.

masonic

jonnyboy122 wrote: »

Very cheeky as I thought that card payments were one offs and that as far as I am aware I gave no authority for any continuous payment.

Interestingly, I phoned up my insurer yesterday to renew my house insurance and was pro-actively offered the option to make a one of payment and for the card details not to be stored for the next renewal. I decided to take this up and it was even confirmed back to me that I was authorising a single payment of £XX.XX, yet when my online policy documents were produced, they said "Having chosen to make your payments by recurring credit or debit card authority, we can confirm we will apply for payment on your renewal date".

I guess I'll see what actually happens. I can call them on a freephone number to cancel the renewal and I would normally contact them in order to try to haggle anyway.

madsad73

I have just been caught up in this problem & it is becoming a nightmare which I can't seem to resolve.
I tried to renew my driving licence for 70+ online I went onto the site that I thought was the DVLA & completed the form it asked for payment of £5(I should have realised you don't pay for it) so I payed by debit card & received a confirmation email with an order number.
It wasn't till I got a bank statement with the £5 on it that I noticed another payment of £24 had been taken by the same firm Net-Secure which I couldn't make out so I phoned the bank who told me it was for an internet service, I told them I hadn't bought anything & they said that it looked like I had been scammed, the bank told me to cut up my debit card & they would send me a new one in 3 days, I was then put through to their fraud department, they said that the £24 had been set up as a recurring payment every 2 months, I said that I hadn't given anyone authority to do this and I wanted it cancelled immediately, they said that they would put a stop on it and investigate them.
After a couple of weeks later I got a letter from the bank to tell me that they had heard from Netsecure and that the service I had signed up for was still available to me & that they couldn't help me any more. I phoned the bank yet again and was told that as I had given them my bank details there was nothing they could do about it and to my amazement said that I had no authority to cancel the payment &:A:A that it was only Netsecure who could. I went up to my bank & spoke to a customer service manager who said they had put a stop on it but that Netsecure could still keep on asking for the £24 every 2 months.
I said that it seems that the only way to stop it was to close my account. I phoned Netsecure & asked them to cancel it & they said they would & I got a confirmation email but as yet it hasn't reached the bank,I will now have to make another journey into the city to see if this has been done.
I think that it is criminal that these unscrupulous websites can con people by pretending to be genuine, in my eyes it is legalised fraud by very clever people.

jonnyboy122

I seem to have inadvertently signed up for several of these continuous payment authorities. On checking my card statement I have found that Zipcar have taken £118 without my express authorisation.

I signed up to a freebie a year ago as the developer of my estate had to provide this as part of the planning permission - I don't recall any mention of any continuous payment authority. I haven't used the Zipcar and wouldn't have signed up for a renewed membership.

However, unlike the insurer I had no letter or e-mail reminder, just the payment taken from my account. Unlike the insurer I have had no response to my demand for a repayment so far. Zipcar also seem to have mis-sold me business membership on the basis I am a Director of the estate residents' management company, which I clearly told them.

Another warning to be very careful of what you sign up to. :mad:

Claudia24

This is my first time using the forums, I would be very grateful for some advice.

I subscribed online to Which in 2007 to check a few details about an appliance. After a couple of years, I found I wasn't using the service and tried to cancel. Every time I called up I was asked to enter my 'membership number'. Since I hadn't used the site in a while, I no longer had my membership number and couldn't access the helpline.
I searched the site for my membership number but couldn't find it. I emailed Which and informed them I couldn't find my membership number and wanted to cancel the subscription. I didn't receive a reply.

I went into Barclays and asked staff to cancel the payment, which I now know to have been a continuous payment. They told me I had to contact the company. In frustration, I went to the bank machines and manually cancelled the payment. This process was repeated over the years whenever I saw the payments had been reactivated. I changed my bank card many times over the years and remember presuming this would take care of the unauthorised payments.

I recently moved back to my parents' home for financial reasons and have been going over old bank statements.
Some of my older papers are still in storage so unfortunately, I cannot yet confirm if I had any written correspondence with Which.
When I realised that Which had taken £7.75 every month up to the present day, I phoned them up (I no longer need a membership number it seems) and explained the situation. The man I spoke with confirmed receipt of my email in 2009 informing them I wished to cancel my subscription. (Unfortunately I don't have a copy of this email as the email account was upgraded). He tried to tell me the reason they didn't reply was because I had sent the email at 11pm. He also said I would have received an automated response. I do not recall receiving this email, it is possible it went to the junk folder. 'Which' sent out a cheque to refund the last 6 months worth of payments.

Latterly, I was not as clued up as regular money saving forum posters. I am making efforts, but it's a steep learning curve. All I can say in my defence is that I fell into a state of 'learned helplessness' with mounting bank charges (I was on a mis-sold bank package) and general stress. I was young and life was chaotic due to long hours and low wages. I became a financial 'martyr' and consequently I didn't pay as much attention to my statements as I should have done.
However, I do think 'Which' transgressed it's code of ethics as a watchdog in this instance.

Marvasaurous

Hightail are onto a masterpiece of fraud here...

Even though I cancelled my paid subscription and now only have a 'free' account, they are still taking £11.99 monthly from me. When you log on to try and stop this, it says you cannot cancel until the next payment cycle – but wouldn't this just happen again whilst you get charged every time?!

I have requested they stop payments immediately and refund the money taken against my knowledge. I'll keep you updated on what happens.

It's crazy, so many people are complaining to them about this, how are they allowed to go on? Who can you let know about it?!

Skinnymick

I have just had a CPA issue with Experian. I set up an account with them in 2007 when a credit card was cloned, seemed the right thing to do at the time. But I never used it to check my credit status and confused them with CPP. I have finally managed to end all arrangements with CPP, but on checking my on line bank account recently noticed a regular payment stillleaving the bank each month. I googled the telephone number to find it was Experian. On phoning I was informed that I had opened an account in 2007 but the operative also confirmed that the last time I had accessed the account was 2007. I have managed to stop the payment which I now understand was a continuous payment authority, and put a complaint in. I do not understand how it can be acceptable for an organisation to continually take money from a customer with no interaction from them at all. They have not upheld my complaint but as a gesture of goodwill have agreed to refund half of the payments made. I suppose my question is what is being done about CPA? They don't show up as regular outgoings on your bank account, like standing orders or direct debits and I guess they are often for small amounts you may not notice. Is it really acceptable that a provider takes money continuously for 7 years, with no interaction with the customer at all? Surely there should be some obligation on them to contact the customer, how many people are out there paying for a service they have never used? I am thinking of taking the complaint to the financial ombudsman, as I really feel this is wrong, but wondered if anybody else has had a similar experience?

grumbler

Yes, it is acceptable, and it's up to you to check your monthly statements. That's what they exist for.
What have changed? - You can cancel them now with the bank if you can't do this with the company.
How common? - Direct Debits: cancel and save money - MoneySavingExpert

Armorica

You should check your bank statements and read/understand the T&Cs when you sign up. The T&Cs for services like this are pretty simple; it's not the same as CPP/miselling a financial product/investment.

jess1974

I'm in a dispute currently with post office car insurance.....i took out a policy a year ago on my new car and paid with my debit card over the phone in full....had a letter this week saying they will auto renew at the cost of £289...i had quotes around the £150 mark with other companies so i rang post office to say i will not be renewing....
This is where it becomes tricky, for some reason they have my ex husband down as the policyholder so therefore will not deal with me....the lady confirmed they will try to take the money....i had already been online and cancelled the direct debit....however my bank (hsbc) says that if they have my debit card number they can try and access funds that way.....they said the only way to ensure no monies can be taken was to cancel my card and re issue a new one..
However after reading some of the above stories i am concerned that they will take money from my new card x