BT has upped direct debit without informing me!

coldwater

Ok, so two months ago BT wrote to me and said they were upping my DD from £22 to £58 a month! I thought this was way too much so rang them and they agree to put it at £48. While on the phone i signed up for a new contract with them as mine had expired. They told me once i had been on the new contract a week or so to ring back and they can put the DD down further.
So two weeks ago i ring back and the man i spoke to said they could put my DD down to £36 a month, it was all agreed and i thought nothing more of it. Well, the DD was due out today and i have just looked at my online banking and BT have taken out £65!!!! I have had no letter telling me they are going to do this, i am fuming!

Where do i stand? I have to wait for their call centre to open at 8am, so i have another hour to get even more angry before i call! Why can't they do a simple job properly! :mad:

spike7451

They did that to me this month,took £37 instead of the agreed £25,meaning that my car insurance didn't get paid & I incurred a £20 charge from the insurers.*When I complained,BT's get out clause is they told you on the bill & because they did so that way,they don't have to write to you seperatly,to which my bank strongly disagrees with as they have,in their eye's,broken the direct debit guarantee.
I was very dubious about giving BT access to my bank account after previous experiences (they dropped me £140 in the red by trying to take a DDebit 5 times & a month before it was due to start,I'm still owed the £140!!) so needless to say,I have cancelled the DDebit & cannot wait to move away from the lying gits!!

(*Incidentally,I am unemployed at present,until I start a job in January & had budgeted for the car insurance of £23 & BT's £25 from my JSA)

jackieb

I pay my BT bill by monthly DD, but they only take out the actual amount that my bill is. Is yours a fixed DD?

spike7451

jackieb wrote: »

I pay my BT bill by monthly DD, but they only take out the actual amount that my bill is. Is yours a fixed DD?

Yup,it was a payment plan worked out at £25 a month,I fell behind on a bill due to my car tax was due & needed paying so this was the easiest way of paying BT off.

I've 5 months left of the contract & am seriously thinking of changing now to another provider.I know I'll have to pay the remaining line rental.

shortchanged_2

jackieb wrote: »

I pay my BT bill by monthly DD, but they only take out the actual amount that my bill is. Is yours a fixed DD?

This is always how I have paid with every company I have been with because the monthly amounts varies by your usage.

Mark_In_Hampshire

spike7451 wrote: »

BT's get out clause is they told you on the bill & because they did so that way,they don't have to write to you seperatly,to which my bank strongly disagrees with as they have,in their eye's,broken the direct debit guarantee.

As far as I know, BT are right, and the bank are wrong.

When you agree to pay BT by direct debit, you agree that BT will give you UP TO (not at least, but up to) 10 days notice of the amount to be debited, e.g. no particular notice period.

The means of that notification is not prescribed and so the invoice should serve as sufficient notification.

This catches people on "monthly plans" out because after the customer fills in the DD mandate form under the illusion that they are authorising a set amount on a set day of the month, and perhaps assumes that's fixed - it isn't. It's not like a standing order.

What you're authorising is the debiting of unspecified amounts on unspecified dates, leaving the payee to flex either at will as long as some undefined period of notice is given by undefined means.

To pay a fixed amount per month on the same date each month, and have certainty that is both the minimum and maximum you'll pay, you need to pay by standing order.

JohalaReewi

coldwater wrote: »

So two weeks ago i ring back and the man i spoke to said they could put my DD down to £36 a month, it was all agreed and i thought nothing more of it. Well, the DD was due out today and i have just looked at my online banking and BT have taken out £65!!!! I have had no letter telling me they are going to do this, i am fuming!

As Mark_In_Hampshire says, BT have to tell you in advance (at least 10 days) of the amount due to be taken by direct debit. If you and BT agreed £36 and BT did not notify you afterwards (by whatever means) that it would be £65 then they have taken too much and you are covered by the direct debit guarantee scheme. So you can contact your BANK and request a full and immediate refund under the direct debit guarantee scheme because BT took more than they said they would.

Your bank might try to convince you that you have to take it up with BT, or that you have to wait for them to get the money back first but the DD guarantee says a full and immediate refund from your bank.

However, if BT did notify you of the £65 then the guarantee does not apply. This could even be an email telling you your bill is ready to view on the BT website and that bill has the amount to be taken by DD.

As Mark_In_Hampshire says, DDs are an authorisation to take variable amounts at variable times and not fixed amounts at regular intervals. The only thing you have going for you is you must be given advance notice (somehow) of the DD.