Credit card !!!! up

pianoman56

Hi,

Any advice would be appreciated. In September I contacted my credit card company & instructed them that for the time being I could only afford the minimum payments. Previously I had been paying the CC off in full. every month. I made it very clear that until further instruction they were only to take minimum payments.

Well guess what thay have taken then lot this month & will NOT accept that this is their error. They are causing me serious financial problems & my in laws are paying my mortgage for me which is due Monday.

On Monday this week when I discovered the problem I contacted them & I was told that the money would be refunded back 1st November. The money was taken 23rd October. I have now been told that it will not go back into my account until 9th November. Thats 18 days !!!

My question is. Have they breached any banking laws by doing this ? I gave very clear instructions & whoever I was talking to in September clearly did not carry them out.I have insisted they find the call & listen to it. That seems too much bother quite frankly & they won't do it unless I write in with a complaint which I am sending off to them tomorrow.

BTW its Virgin !! Any help comments ??

Hax

If the money was paid by direct debit, then under the direct debit guarantee, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund from you bank. Just contact your bank, explain the amount taken was in error and they should then refund the total amount of the direct debit. However, that then leaves you with an unpaid credit card bill - you need to make sure that the CC company don't try to screw you over that - they may apply late charges and a late payment marker to your account - you need to keep an eye on things.

P.S. This is my understanding and not qualified advice!

CLAPTON

usually your CC statement clearly spells out the amount and date of the payments.... what did yours say?

fozmcfc

Well, hopefully Virgin will see it is their mistake and offer a gesture as well as refunding any charges you may have from your bank.

My general advice is.

Have you made sure that the DD is now set for the minimum amount or you will surely have the same situation next month as well.

Set up online access to your virgin account, there you can easily change the direct debit to suit you and they will then send an amended direct debit mandate to you.

Or you could also cancel it online and make manual payments online if you prefer.

I personally will never consider just making a phone call and assuming everything is just done and dusted. Yes in a perfect world that is all it should take, but with so many terrible call centres in this day and age it simply isn't worth the risk.

Good luck.

bengal-stripe

pianoman56 wrote: »

.........whoever I was talking to in September..........I have insisted they find the call & listen to it.

Whenever you agree to something on the phone, take a contemporaneous note of date, time,
operator’s name (or number) and the basics of what was agreed.

It is amazing, how few people seem to be doing this.

chattychappy

You might want to consider paying manually in the future. I've never signed a DD and have seen too many threads like this to persuade me they are worth the hassle. Sure, plenty of people find them convenient, but when they do go wrong they can be a pain. As for the guarantee - fine if you can persuade a bank that the thing was taken in error.

pianoman56

A manager from Virgin has contacted me offering profuse apologies & saying that their staff had grossly mismanaged all of this.Clearly she has discovered it is their fault. The money will go back into my account tomorrow & a a goodwill gesture of £100 has been given.

chattychappy

pianoman56 wrote: »

A manager from Virgin has contacted me offering profuse apologies & saying that their staff had grossly mismanaged all of this.Clearly she has discovered it is their fault. The money will go back into my account tomorrow & a a goodwill gesture of £100 has been given.

Well done, and nice outcome.

fozmcfc

pianoman56 wrote: »

A manager from Virgin has contacted me offering profuse apologies & saying that their staff had grossly mismanaged all of this.Clearly she has discovered it is their fault. The money will go back into my account tomorrow & a a goodwill gesture of £100 has been given.

Great result.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

pianoman56 wrote: »

A manager from Virgin has contacted me offering profuse apologies & saying that their staff had grossly mismanaged all of this.Clearly she has discovered it is their fault. The money will go back into my account tomorrow & a a goodwill gesture of £100 has been given.

Thanks for the update. You wouldn't believe how many people post a question here and never heard from again.