LIVID, absolutely LIVID!

jwturpin

Never before in my life have I had a bank charge on my personal current account, until today!

I recently got a new car and took out finance with Northridge. WHen I signed up at the garage for the agreement, I specifically requested the direct debit be set up on or after the 29th of the month as this is when i'm paid. I am very careful about this and have all my direct debits coming out on dates varying 29th to 5th of following month.

Anyway, cut a long story short, Northridge have gone and set up the direct debit on 25th , which means this month I went over my agreed overdraft with HBOS with two seperate transactions, one of £15 and one of £36. for the priviledge I was charged £35 for each transaction and an unauthorised overdraft fee of £28, plus interest, so at least £98 in total, all because Northridge couldn't get their @rse in gear.

This has never happened to me before, what can I do? I suspect the garage didn't inform Northridge in the first place as they have a track record with me of being totally slack.
I reiterate....£98!!! I am fuming.
Please help ;(
( i know I could ask them to waive, but I have had a charge ONCE before on a joint account I hold with them)
JT

McKneff

Ask for a copy of the DD mandate you signed. or check the copy you have.
Check the date on it. If its the 25th your stuffed.

If its 29th or after claim the charges back and make sure next months is correct or you will go through the same thing again.
Although you are paid on 29th isnt it possible because of Saturday/Sunday banking that you could possibly be paid one or 2 days late. Would nt it be safer
to get everything set for the 1st of each month.

I can sympathise, i have never been hit with a charge in my life but i know how horrified i would be. I would hate to give money to some company for absolutely nothing.

natweststaffmember

If it is the first time the bank might consider refunding the charges as a gesture of goodwill.

jwturpin

McKneff wrote: »

Ask for a copy of the DD mandate you signed. or check the copy you have.
Check the date on it. If its the 25th your stuffed.

If its 29th or after claim the charges back and make sure next months is correct or you will go through the same thing again.
Although you are paid on 29th isnt it possible because of Saturday/Sunday banking that you could possibly be paid one or 2 days late. Would nt it be safer
to get everything set for the 1st of each month.

I can sympathise, i have never been hit with a charge in my life but i know how horrified i would be. I would hate to give money to some company for absolutely nothing.

The direct debit mandate has no date on it that I recall, only the date I signed it, and that wasn't the 25th.

I directed the man in the showroom to ensure it was set on or after 29th. In answer to your query, I would never get paid late. My employers pay early if the 29th falls on a sunday or bank holiday. When I say 'after 29th' I mean loosely, the 29th/30th or 1/2/3/4/5th of following month,as long as it's set to come out within the first week after I'm paid on the 29th.
I am demanding about this with any direct debit.

Anyhoo, this threads' about charges, and I suppose my main query is, once the finance company amends this and the garage admits liability (which they will as I have paperwork documenting my initial request), I don't expect HBOS to refund me as this isn't their issue, I expect the finance company to reimburse me, BUT...
I want HBOS to remove the negative mark on my record with them as it could affect future credit status as I know bank charges are lodged with Experian et al.

Any ideas??

thank you.
JT

McKneff

I can understand your frustration about what you said to the salesman but its what date is on paper that counts, i would get a copy of the DD mandate if you cant find your own, possibly from your bank and see when the date is set for. Only then can you go down the refund route. Sorry i cant be of any more help than that.

dunstonh

Many companies now only have a restricted choice of dates available. The banks charge more for payments taken on the peak days and there days that are quite cheap in comparison. 25th is actually a common debit date as its the cheapest towards the end of the month.

You have one snag in your complaint though. You would have had at least 10 days notice in writing of the date they planned to take the money from your account.

LilacPixie

Did the finance company not write to you with the direct debit dates?? When it comes down to it the finance company sets up the direct debit irrespective of what you told the garage. If the finance company told you in writting that they would be collecting payment on or after 29th but collected on the 25th then ask the finance company to refund your charges as they took payment incorrectly. If you havenothing in writting confirming 29th thenyour best hope is asking HBOS if they will refund as a guesture of good will.

jwturpin

Update...


Well, that was easy, and quick. HBOS have refunded, well rather, they aren't going take the charges in the first place, which is nice, so no £98 worth of charges anymore

As for the finance company, I filled out the form in the presence of an agent of the finance company (i.e. the showroom salesperson), and stupidly, there was no date on the forms when I signed them. I have checked my existing paperwork, and stapled to the back of the "welcome to Northbridge and thankf or using us etc etc...." letter is a photocopy of the agreement, with a date written on it in blue biro, almost as an after thought.
It says, "your first payment will be due 1 month after the date of the agreement and will be £xx.xx". BUT when I signed the agreement, there was no date.
Yes, I know I shoujld have checked, but for the past couple of months since the agreement was set up, my agreed overdraft had plenty left in it to not cause a problem. I'd not noticed really either, but it's just this month it came to light.
Regardless, I thought signing a credit agreement when there is no date was illegal, and I'm going of thread topic....so I'll leave it there....

thanks for all your responses

JT

McKneff

Your welcome, glad you got it sorted.

Naked_Goose

Glad you got sorted. Work for finance company and reason date will have been hand written, is that for agreement to be legally executed it requires signatures of borrower and someone on behalf of finance company. With cars, finance can be arranged weeks in advance, but agreement will only go live when funds paid to motor dealer (normally day car is picked up). So when you went to pick your car up, unless dealer advised finance company, they would have sent in documents, finance company would have checked that paperwork matched what is on their system, and then signed and dated (This will be the 'date of agreement', regardless of when you signed, as before, both signatures required to make an executed agreement). Hope this sheds some light on how this happened, although dealer should have told finance company.