orange non direct debit charge 3 times 1 account!

dannismile

can anybody help me i have a contract mobile phone with orange and i also have two of their mobile dongle contracts too. i always used to pay by direct debit but i recently started own buisness so had to cancel direct debit as i couldnt always ensure the money would be in the account for the set date i now realise that for the past 4 months i have been charged £2.98 per line per month for not paying by direct debit!!! was not told this when i phone to cancel direct debit. As usual orange customer services not interested ans have been told i have to pay all 3 charges.

Can anybody advise me if this is correct and iff indeed they are allowed to charge 3 times when the whole bill was only ever paid via 1 direct debit and not 3 seperate ones many thanks danni.

Guys_Dad

If you read Orange t&c, it states that non DD charges are contained in the Orange price guide.

The Orange price guide - here - http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/downloads/PAYM-PG-20110104.pdf - states "Not paying by Direct Debit costs £3.58 per month"

That is attached to the various price plans. It is not clear if that is per plan or per account holder.

The reason that DDs are cheaper is because they are automatic and can be applied automatically to each account. Paying by cash/cheque would require posting to each plan and would, therefore, be more expensive.

Why did Orange not tell you when you cancelled the DD? You should have known already by reading the t&c you signed up to and, of course, just about every Utility company, phone company etc give you a "discount" for paying by DD.

Jon_01

This has been covered on here a number of time. Its per number and always has been.

Buzby

However, many business customers with designated business accounts do NOT pay this fee. If you are using the items for your business (rather than a true business account) then this will be why the charges apply. Virgin charge £5 for non DD - so it is a racket, but the Govt are happy to let it run unchallenged.

NFH

I've been having this problem too recently. I've been paying by continuous charge authority to an Amex card for years, but suddenly this year Orange decided to start charging me this unjustified charge for each number on my account, even when my account was in credit with no charges.

There is every justification to surcharge customers who pay by cash or cheque or by card over the phone, as all are particularly costly to process. Continuous charge authority may not be free for Orange to process but it's much less costly than cash or cheque and the bill would have to be huge to justify a £3.50 surcharge. Surcharging for payment by FPS/BACS/CHAPS is totally unjustified if payment is made on time and there really is no excuse for that at all.

Guys_Dad

It depends upon how you view it. A bit like the bottle - is it half full or half empty? So,does one view it as a discount for paying by DD or a surcharge if you don't?

I am all in favour of companies keeping their admin down and passing on the benefit to me. That's why I go for paperless billing with phones, utilities and bank statements.

I can't see why I should not get a better deal than people whose payment methods cost money. I don't want their admin costs.

NFH : - there is a difference between "pull" payments such as DDs and "push" payments such as SOs and CHAPS. When you issue DDs, you get exception reports from the bank when one isn't paid and then adjust the payee's account. These are the small exception over all. However, with payments that come in, the recipient has to allocate these payments to the accounts and has to do that with 100% of these receipts.

dtaylor84

NFH wrote: »

the bill would have to be huge to justify a £3.50 surcharge.

They don't have to justify it. You can either pay by DD or take your custom elsewhere - or pay up.

NFH

dtaylor84 wrote: »

They don't have to justify it.

Yes they do, if they want to have happy customers.

NFH

Guys_Dad wrote: »

NFH : - there is a difference between "pull" payments such as DDs and "push" payments such as SOs and CHAPS. When you issue DDs, you get exception reports from the bank when one isn't paid and then adjust the payee's account. These are the small exception over all. However, with payments that come in, the recipient has to allocate these payments to the accounts and has to do that with 100% of these receipts.

You are correct and I fully understand the distinction, but given that "pull" and "push" are both fully automated with no human intervention required by Orange, there is no justification for a surcharge on one but not on the other.

Snakeeyes21

NFH wrote: »

Yes they do, if they want to have happy customers.

Im sure they have plenty of happy customers, namely those who are paying by direct debit and getting the discount

You must have a bank account, so why decide on a payment method that costs you extra?

The mind boggles

NFH

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

You must have a bank account, so why decide on a payment method that costs you extra?

Partly because I don't trust direct debits after having so many problems with them, e.g. wrong amounts taken, amounts taken on the wrong date, amounts taken without the required 10 working days' notification, amount not amended after notifying of an error on a bill. At least with continuous charge authority, it's someone else's money which is taken and there's lots of time to put it right before payment from a bank account is due. The Direct Debit Guarantee is all well and good on paper, but direct debit originators often don't stick to it, so the whole scheme is best avoided. I would rather prevent problems from happening in the first place than to use the Direct Debit Guarantee to rectify problems after the event.