18866, d card,c card,or direct debit

tweeter

hi guys,
I'm confused about what the safest way to
register with 18866 is and do they take direct
debit accounts.
tweeter

sergeant121

They don't (yet) take Direct Debits so it's a question of taking a chance with a Debit or Credit card.

I've not heard of any problems.

Robert5988

If you sign a credit/debit card continuous authority(which you do with 18866 or sister companies) then the responsibility lies with you, and not the card company, to sort out any problems. You authorise them to take any sum up to your credit limit. Cancelling your card does not absolve you from any debt if monies have been incorrectly paid to this Swiss Registered company.

I know this point has been covered before and I know that to sound any warning about 18866(or sister companies) will bring forth posts stating they have not had problems with the company – which is undoubtedly true.

I have not signed with these companies because, personally, I am not prepared to take that risk(however small)

Robert5988

Just seen that this topic is being discussed in the thread about '18866 may you go bust'

Also includes Martin's warning about Continuous Credit Authority. see

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Questions;action=display;num=1082515286;start=

Alison_B

We have registered with 18866 but did have concerns with giving them our details as we didn't know much about them. We registered with a credit card that we no longer use and got in touch with the credit card company to reduce the credit amount to £100 instead of thousands. We explained what it was for and they told us that if this company takes money that they are not supposed to take, even though we have given them our details for continuous payment, then it is classed as fraud and we are covered, so we don't need to reduce our credit limit. Hopefully the bank are not trying to fob us off. The bank was Natwest.

Alison

gary38uk

i think if you read martins tips it says its best to use a switch payment, its easier to stop this at your bank, as where on a credit card the company that that takes payment has to stop it, you can not.

Robert5988

We have registered with 18866 but did have concerns with giving them our details as we didn't know much about them. We registered with a credit card that we no longer use and got in touch with the credit card company to reduce the credit amount to £100 instead of thousands. We explained what it was for and they told us that if this company takes money that they are not supposed to take, even though we have given them our details for continuous payment, then it is classed as fraud and we are covered, so we don't need to reduce our credit limit. Hopefully the bank are not trying to fob us off. The bank was Natwest.

Alison,
I think the reduced limit is a great idea.

There have been countless tales of a CPA being fraudulently used - often by internet !!!!!! site(so I am told!!)- and the credit card company refusing to intervene.

Under normal circumstances if you claim that your card has been fraudulently used(cloned) your payment is suspended and the credit card company investigates i.e. they have to prove you received the goods/services.

With a CPA you have authorised payments up to your credit card limit. It is up to you to prove you haven't had the goods/services. In the case of 18866 how do you go about this with a Swiss based firm who appear to be uncontactable by phone/email/letter.

I wouldn't have any faith in what someone in a Natwest call centre stated.

Personally I would stick to your reduced limit idea or get Natwest to put what they told you in writing.

Importantly get them to confirm that they would treat any disputed payment on a CPA account in the same manner as any other claimed misuse.

I suspect they won't do so.

Robert

charlie12

All my CPAs (18866,1899,Wanadoo BB) are on a card with a £500 limit for this very reason. I didn't go out of my way to get a new card with a low limit etc, but seeing as I already had a card with a low limit I may aswell use it for CPAs. Might get the limit reduced to £200 for further security

It's not a cashback card but who cares when my 18866/1899 bills are only a couple of quid a month ;D

Alison_B

The card that we are using has been dormant for quite a while now so we decided to use that one instead of using our normal everyday cards that have several direct debits on them. They agreed, if we wanted, to take the credit limit down to £100 but we had to have that limit for at least 6 months and couldn't after 6 months increase straight away back to what it was but we could increase to about £500.

dag_2

i think if you read martins tips it says its best to use a switch payment, its easier to stop this at your bank, as where on a credit card the company that that takes payment has to stop it, you can not.

That would surprise me. Direct debits guarantee you a full and immediate refund in the event of fraud or error. Continuous authority transactions don't - but then again, you haven't parted with any money until after you've paid the statement anyway.

You'd be a fool to make a payment to a credit card account with disputed transactions on it. I've yet to hear of a single case of a credit card company successfully enforcing the bill for a disputed CATS payment in the courts.

PaleScene

Thanks for this thread - food for thought as I've set up our 18866 account on our main debit card.

Would the limit be the card guarantee limit (£50 or £100 only, I forget which) or the account overdraft or even more? If the former I feel alright about it, but not the latter, understandably and agree with the person who suggested putting it on a little used card with a depressed limit.

If anyone can elaborate for me I'll be able to sort out what I'm doing and if I'm moving this or not.

Thanks.
Kris