Regular Payments off a Credit Card Discussion

Paul_Herring

jean68 wrote: »

Please excuse me if i am being thick but i am a newbie .I have just been reading the posts and could someone please tell me what & quot means .Thanks .Jean .

Where have you seen it? I can't see an instance of it in this thread.

jean68

Hi Paul it was mentioned two or three times in the first six or nine posts .One said they were advised to put on something to help stop payments being taken .Thanks for repying to me Paul.

Mr_McGoo

This is the text of a recent letter from Lloyds TSB after I queried a payment. I had been advised by them to be very cautious, since many on-line transactions, especially free trials, actually set up a CPA about which the retailer will NOT warn you and about which the bank/card issuer can do little until you deal with the retailer. In short it's another scam operated by retailers, in this case Which Magazine, who should know better.

The key seems to be your written request to the retailer, copied to the bank. It may be advsable to send this by Special Delivery.
____________________________________________________________
I write following your recent enquiry about the recurring transaction on your credit card.

I hope it will help if I explain how the Visa/MasterCard payment system works in this situation. When you give your card details to a retailer for a free trial or a payment for a regular service, you may be agreeing to set up a continuous authority. This will be explained in the terms and condition of the retailer.

In these circumstances the retailer is then able to take payments from your card until they receive a written request to cancel. Charges can continue to be debited even when the account is closed,

Before I can return any charges, I need a copy of your cancellation letter. I am unable to return any transactions dated less than fifteen days after the cancellation date.

We can't check individual charges on your monthly statements as they are sent out automatically. So can you please check your statements and let me know if any more appear after you have cancelled, sending me a copy of the cancellation letter. Once I have received this I will return the charge immediately and credit your account.
Yours sincerely,
Lesley Ogden Manager
Dispute Processing

Paul_Herring

jean68 wrote: »

Hi Paul it was mentioned two or three times in the first six or nine posts .One said they were advised to put on something to help stop payments being taken .Thanks for repying to me Paul.

Ah - found them - they're an artifact from when the board software was updated a couple of years ago. Where ever you see & quot ; there should be a " (quotation marks)

moneyman77

I always pay off my credit cards in full, even if I have to borrow from a line of credit. Some of these automatic payment solutions seem at first like they will be a good thing but like you found out there is always a catch. Pay it off and don't let those credit card companies make any more money from us

s.jenkins

wow! thanks for posting this.

Jamsindahouse

There is a way to not stop the payments as such but insure your credit card company can get the money back for you.

Its called a "Revoke Authority" letter
Basically write a letter to the company billing you, quoting the card number they are billing and advise them you revoke the authority given for you card to be used for billings in the future.

Send it to them recorded delivery and keep a copy of the letter.

If they bill your card again write to you credit card company with a copy of the letter you sent to them and ask them to process a "cancelld recurring chargeback" this should ensure you get your money back (unless a fixed term contract has been agreed)

Hope that helps

The_Equalizer_2

May sound like a daft question, but there are companies out there that don't use direct debit.

Such as Newshosting.com.
I use them to access newsgroups.

Once you login, the only pament options they give you is to either make a payment, using a card, or to change your card details.

So would be the best thing to do in this case. Not use them?

I cant use a credit card, as I only have 1 on the go at the mo & that is used purely as an interest free balance transfer jobbie.

So if we have a company that requires payment via card of some sort, what can we do?

I just had a thought, there are a few places offering top up debit cards, I wonder if these could be of use?

Sorry if I am asking something that has been covered before but there is so much info on this forum & the MSE website that its hard to keep up.

Regards & Thanks

E

susimuggle

moneyman77 wrote: »

Pay it off and don't let those credit card companies make any more money from us

You are sooooo right. Please would you lend me £3,000. Thanks.

ICan'tStandIt

imported_admin wrote: »

Did you know?

Authorising a regular payment off a credit card known as a ‘Continuous Payment Authority’ is much more dangerous a bank account ‘direct debit’. !The problem is you can’t cancel it, only the company its set up with can. !

The major, but not exclusive, culprit of such dodgy dealings are internet !!!!!! sites leaving people taking !‘embarassed’ monthly payments. !Always make sure any CPA is set up with a legit company, and try to use direct debts not credit cards. !I once reported on this for Moneybox, read a report based on that here

To discuss this click reply


Insert of clarification: !Thought i should say, a CPA (also called a recurring transaction) applies if you do it off a debit as well as credit card. !You need to do a Direct Debit off your bank account, not a regular debit off any plastic.

Not sure if this has been said already as not read the whole thread, but you can cancel a regular payment as long as you're within you right to do so, ie. you've not signed up to something for a year and want to bail out after a month.

If you cancel and they accept your cancellation, you need to keep proof in case they continue to charge you.

Therefore if you cancel over the phone ask for a reference number and the full name of the person you spoke too (First name and their extension will do if they don't want to give you their surname - many call centre reps prefer to do this). If you cancel by email or letter, keep a copy.

A credit card company can charge any amount back to the company if you can prove cancellation. As long as your cancellation is dated before any subsequent debits.

If you can't get hold of the company or can't find an address anywhere, write to them c/o of your credit card company and ask them to forward it to their merchant.

Hope this helps.

PS - your credit card company don't care what you use your card for aslong as it is legal. When it comes to web !!!!!!, they would be more shocked if you HADN'T used it for that.