Charges on a cancelled Debit card - advice please!

jaibaby

Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong place.

I pay my Sky bill by debit card. But about 7 months ago I had to cancel my card due to identity fraud, and again had to cancel one in July. However, the payments to Sky have still been made. When I phoned to query this the customer representive stated that every transaction on a debit card goes through a system, then each charge is either denied or allowed. As the Sky charge seemed genuine, they allowed it to happen. Fine, I have no problem with that, I just thought there was some law about cancelled cards and charges to them.

But, I have multiroom with Sky, and they state that the second box must be plugged into a phone line at all times, otherwise you will be charged a second subscription. Ok, but no. Both my boxes are in a phoneline, but for the last 5 months I've been having trouble with the second box. I've had letters sent saying it's not plugged into the line, when it hasn't been moved. They charged me a second subscription not 3 months back, but did reimburse me the following month. And now, low and behold, another bill where they have charged me a second subscription!

I cannot afford to keep paying these "double" bills. My bill is normally £61 (now with increase) and I have to pay £113. I phoned the bank again today to stop the charge being paid and they said there's nothing they can do. Even though, as said, they have to give it the ok to go through! Sky won't do anything because it's already left their systems. I'm stuck! I've already had to pay for Sky cover as when this first happened, it was just after a year I had been with them so my warranty was out. That's another argument. Why, if I am paying month after month for a subscription, do I have to pay for extra cover??? I know Sky are only interested in more money.

So please advise, I am so lost in it all. The charge will be taken out 28th Oct which means I'll go overdrawn and get charged for that. I can't afford this!!

Mark_In_Hampshire

Sounds like the payment type was a "recurrent card transaction". This means that if you cancel the card and get issued a new one - even if the number is different - the payee can still debit it using the details of the old one.

This is the only way in which direct debit has a slight edge, in that you can cancel the mandate with your bank, however, similarly there is nothing to stop the payee from setting it up again.

Sky's Ts & Cs with regard to the box being plugged into the phone line are onerous to say the least, since the customer isn't actually in a position to guarantee that the phone line is working at any given moment.

You might have an internal wiring fault, an intermittent phone line issue, or a faulty Sky box.

Personally, I'd write to Sky and explain the situation. I'd insist that I am removed from automated billing and in future I shall receive bills which I will pay rather than have the money taken from me. Because of the issue, I'd politely point out that I will not pay an additional fee for the privilege of paying manually since that has become necessary to prevent them billing me incorrectly. I would also invite them to come and take a look at the installation (you could take a camera snap with your phone maybe and include it?) to satisfy themselves that it is connected to the line, and invite them to send a replacement box.

The reason for the cover plan is that unlike cable, where Virgin own the STB and are responsible for maintaining and replacing it, with Sky you own the box and so even if it fails, the subscription liability remains whether you can receive the service or not. Hence the extra cover prevents you having to pay the full sum for a new box. I'd have thought these were plentiful on places like eBay though I can't vouch for that.

pmduk

If you're out of the initial minimum contract period, I wonder if it would help to cancel your sky sub, then when talking to their retentions people insist you rejoin only on a direct debit basis? I don't use Sky personally, perhaps someone with more experience of them could comment?

PARIS_5000

jaibaby wrote: »

Firstly, I apologise if this is in the wrong place.

I pay my Sky bill by debit card. But about 7 months ago I had to cancel my card due to identity fraud, and again had to cancel one in July. However, the payments to Sky have still been made. When I phoned to query this the customer representive stated that every transaction on a debit card goes through a system, then each charge is either denied or allowed. As the Sky charge seemed genuine, they allowed it to happen. Fine, I have no problem with that, I just thought there was some law about cancelled cards and charges to them.

But, I have multiroom with Sky, and they state that the second box must be plugged into a phone line at all times, otherwise you will be charged a second subscription. Ok, but no. Both my boxes are in a phoneline, but for the last 5 months I've been having trouble with the second box. I've had letters sent saying it's not plugged into the line, when it hasn't been moved. They charged me a second subscription not 3 months back, but did reimburse me the following month. And now, low and behold, another bill where they have charged me a second subscription!

I cannot afford to keep paying these "double" bills. My bill is normally £61 (now with increase) and I have to pay £113. I phoned the bank again today to stop the charge being paid and they said there's nothing they can do. Even though, as said, they have to give it the ok to go through! Sky won't do anything because it's already left their systems. I'm stuck! I've already had to pay for Sky cover as when this first happened, it was just after a year I had been with them so my warranty was out. That's another argument. Why, if I am paying month after month for a subscription, do I have to pay for extra cover??? I know Sky are only interested in more money.

So please advise, I am so lost in it all. The charge will be taken out 28th Oct which means I'll go overdrawn and get charged for that. I can't afford this!!

I pay my sky bill by debit card each payment that I make is a one off.

Did you register your debit card for regular payments with sky this could be why they are taking ongoing payments from your card.

jaibaby

PARIS_5000 wrote: »

I pay my sky bill by debit card each payment that I make is a one off.

Did you register your debit card for regular payments with sky this could be why they are taking ongoing payments from your card.

Yes I did, but I still cannot understand why they are allowed to use old card details to take this payment. Friends I have spoken to about this have said they have cancelled cards to stop payments being made, so why is Sky different?

As for the cover, what I can't understand is, if I am still paying a monthly subscription for their service (and I have the full whack) shouldn't I automatically be covered? I have already had a bloke out to sort the other box out before and it was the wiring that was the problem. I think I may threaten them with leaving. I'm not happy about having to pay £61 (nicely put up just before the VAT increase may I add!) and then an extra £9 a month on top of that to make sure I can keep watching. Sky are a joke, and I can't wait for the day when cable finally come in my area!

Thanks all

Mark_In_Hampshire

jaibaby wrote: »

Yes I did, but I still cannot understand why they are allowed to use old card details to take this payment. Friends I have spoken to about this have said they have cancelled cards to stop payments being made, so why is Sky different?

Some companies take it upon themseleves, when given a card payment for a single transaction, to then store the details of that card and use it as the ongoing payment method. Where the item is for a subscription - an ongoing service - the card payments can then be set up as "recurring" meaning that even if the card number changes, the debits still work. It's basically a form of attachment to your current account like direct debit is. The best idea is never to give over details of your bank account for a direct debit and never to pay by card, but to pay using online banking - that way the payment is "pushed", not "pulled".

jaibaby wrote: »

As for the cover, what I can't understand is, if I am still paying a monthly subscription for their service (and I have the full whack) shouldn't I automatically be covered?

No. As before, unlike cable, you own the box. It's basically an inducement when you sign up - you get it free. If it stops working, that in no way alters your obligation to pay your service subscriptions even though you can't then use the service.

Similarly, if your cooker isn't working properly, you still have to pay the electricity bill for any electricity it does use. The electricity supplier is not responsible for mending the cooker.

Cable is different because the box is owned by Virgin and therefore it is a "managed" service.

ACDC1978

Sorry but this seems a helpful thread... can someone please tell me how to start a new thread? I need some advice and I'm new to this

Mark_In_Hampshire

On the page before this one.. (link below)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

..at the top left, click the New Thread button.

brewerdave

Back to original post - jaibaby - do you perhaps have a TalkTalk phone line? If so, see this thread re multiroom problems
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2615341
My SIL has recently had this double charging problem - he had to get a manual ring back done to confirm that both boxes WERE connected, but is waiting for the problem to reoccur.

jaibaby

Yes I agree with the cooker thing but I'm not paying over £60 a month to use that. If I bought a cooker and paid so much a month instead of all up front, I would be covered if it broke down. I never had my box for free, I had to pay £199 for it

No I have plusnet for my phone line. It's the actual cable running into the sky box that is the problem!

Thanks all again x

xyz123

as with all things sky box has a warranty when purchased new, it is your responsibility after that.

you dont have to pay the monthly insurance so dont complaint about paying it. you can save money and keep a reserve if there is a problem, i have had many problems in past with sky boxes, i never have warranty, you can easily get boxes off fleebay for £15-£20 which would last 6-9 months (with some luck of course)....

regarding ur debit card, is that account still active? and also when you cancelled did u think about what would happen to these recurring charges. you should have called sky to update your details....