Regular Payments off a Credit Card Discussion

dktreesea

CPAs are definitely quite tricky. We have a contract with Virgin Media that (and thanks for this brilliant and informative thread) I now understand is a CPA rather than a DD. Towards the end of the first contract Virgin Media contacted us with a better deal, but it meant that we now had a new contract extending for 24 months out. We decided to move house, to a place Virgin told us they couldn't supply, so we said "then how do we go about cancelling the contract?" But they didn't cancel it, because they said it was to supply us at our current address.

So I contacted the bank who said that because we had given Virgin an authority to draw down our account each month only the supplier could cancel it. They said the only way they could get around this is if we paid via standing order and just varied the amount each month to reflect the amount owing. Hardly satisfactory for us or the bank.

In the end, we didn't take the other flat, but now I feel like I have to check that where we are moving to is okay to take Virgin, because there doesn't seem to be a cost effective, much less efficient, way to stop using them.

The nightmare didn't end there. Roll on Scottish Power. They had an authority from us to draw down our account by a fixed amount each month. Well, I didn't read the fine print. This arrangement assumes that what you pay extra in the summer months will cover you for the winter months. But it turned out one month it didn't. So they then increased the payment without informing us. My account went overdrawn, the bank charged me fees, so I contacted the bank to say the amount had been jacked up without my permission, so why had the bank paid it out. They said that the authority we had given Scottish Power probably authorised them to take the higher of the fixed monthly sum or the amount owing.

I could see the logic of that, but the thing is, they hiked up the payment and left it hiked up, (and refused to reduce it back down) so over time the amount we were in credit to them grew and grew. it took on a life of it's own - I used to call the account "Pinnochio's nose". In then end I contacted British Gas to switch the account, and lo and behold, the previously oh so unhelpful Scottish Power contacted me to "work something out".

I've accepted it, but far from having a happy customer, one thing is for sure. The day we leave this flat will be the last day I ever use them again. They were so arrogant, with an attitude like "Now you have authorised us to draw down your account, we can do whatever we like, ha ha."

Ramearess

I've just noticed I have a recurring payment from a card that i reprted lost/stolen can i claim these payments back from my bank?

Paul_Herring

Ramearess wrote: »

I've just noticed I have a recurring payment from a card that i reprted lost/stolen can i claim these payments back from my bank?

Was the recurring payment set up when the card was in your possession, and thus legitimate? If so, then no.

saxysarah

I have what I think after reading this are CPA's coming out of my bank account (via debit card) they appear to be for magazines etc which drop thro my postbox on a regular basis but i'm not sure exactly where I took the supscriptions out and I have no idea how to go about cancelling them! Am I stuck with them for life???

CannyJock

saxysarah wrote: »

I have what I think after reading this are CPA's coming out of my bank account (via debit card) they appear to be for magazines etc which drop thro my postbox on a regular basis but i'm not sure exactly where I took the supscriptions out and I have no idea how to go about cancelling them! Am I stuck with them for life???

The magazines will have a subscription service. Google the magazine name and subscriptions and you'll no doubt turn up contact details. If it's a CPA they need to cancel it from their end. If you have decent online banking you can check that it's not listed in your authorised DD mandates - but should still be cancelled from their end to avoid hassle.

saxysarah

its def not DDs cos i've tried to cancel it via the bank before and they said it was a 'card' payment so i assume they mean a debit card CPA i'm gonna have to get hunting cos i hardly ever read the damm things anyway - i'm fairly sure I did it through the magazine group on an initial £1 for however many issue thing but have u tried cancelling via the website.............its virtually impossible!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

sk_ayers

Before reading the article on recurring payments on this website (forwarded by a forum member - thank you!) I had no idea what these CPAs even were. I didn't realise the dangers of using credit cards to authorise payments like insurance (especially when you switch credit cards on a regular basis).

I've learnt my lesson; in the future I will be paying by DD.

gttltzy

not always that easy MMMMartin. If you read my above thread they still got the money from me even when i had changed my card!!

amiehall

I had one of these regular payments coming off a credit card for 6 months before I noticed. I know I should have payed more attention to the bill but I had no idea things like this could happen. I thought I'd given my details for a one-off payment for something. Luckily I've managed to get hold of the company involved and cancel it. They have refunded most of the payments too but I'm going to take so much more care in the future with who I give my card details to and what they're going to use them for.

filingbankrupcy

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