Virgin card...cancelled Nov 09 but still taking charges!

sputnikstokie

Hi

i pay my credit cards off each month so imagine my surprise today to get a Virgin credit card Notice of Arrears notice for £77.75!

This is on a card cancelled in October 2009!

I ring up and am told it is an AA car breakdown renewal from October 2009 for my girlfriend,who told AA in Nov 09 not to charge to this card again.This was clearly ignored. She didnt even agree to renew this year!!!


Due to my email address changing 6 months ago my statements were not received,and why should i expect any anyway!? So this overdue interest charged debt was a shock, totally out of the blue.

Neither The AA nor MBNA/Virginmoney were interested on calling and i have paid it in full online today.

I feel like ive been mugged.

If i had moved house i would not of known at all!

So is a credit card ever cancelled?

Am i to live with the company accepting charges to a closed account forever?

Is doesnt seem right, can anyone help?
Im thinking of contacting the financial Ombudsman.

Any advice appreciated...thanks.

SS_pale_

Hax

sputnikstokie wrote: »

Hi

i pay my credit cards off each month so imagine my surprise today to get a Virgin credit card Notice of Arrears notice for £77.75!

This is on a card cancelled in October 2009!

I ring up and am told it is an AA car breakdown renewal from October 2009 for my girlfriend,who told AA in Nov 09 not to charge to this card again.This was clearly ignored. She didnt even agree to renew this year!!!


Due to my email address changing 6 months ago my statements were not received,and why should i expect any anyway!? So this overdue interest charged debt was a shock, totally out of the blue.

Neither The AA nor MBNA/Virginmoney were interested on calling and i have paid it in full online today.

I feel like ive been mugged.

If i had moved house i would not of known at all!

So is a credit card ever cancelled?

Am i to live with the company accepting charges to a closed account forever?

Is doesnt seem right, can anyone help?
Im thinking of contacting the financial Ombudsman.

Any advice appreciated...thanks.

SS_pale_

Sounds like the payment was set up on a continuous authority - they can only be cancelled with the recipient of the money, not the card issuer. In most cases, the card issuer will honour such a payment claim even if the account is closed.

However, from your post, you say that the payment was for October 2009 and your girlfriend didn't instruct the AA to not use that card until November 2009 - so it looks like the AA were perfectly correct to rebill to your card in October (assuming that's when the renewal was due).

As for you changing your email address, you say that only happened 6 months ago - roughly June 2010. So, that leave the period from the debit to your card being made in October 2009 until June 2010 for them to contact you at your original email address - it seems odd that they didn't. Are you sure you didn't receive anything from them?

You might want to check your credit reports as if it's got to the stage of them sending you a notice of arrears, then I think it's highly likely that they will have registered late payments against your account.

sputnikstokie

The AA were told in Nov 09 not to charge the card again as it is cancelled ,they agreed,but did so again Oct 2010....we found out today with a letter....who keeps a company you have left over a year ago abreast of your change in email address etc????.....madness!

Not happy.

Hax

Ah sorry - in your original post, you stated that the payment related to AA renewal for October 2009 (as opposed to 2010).

When you say your g/f didn't agree to renew this year, did she actually contact them to tell them not to renew or did she just ignore the renewal notice assuming that it wouldn't be renewed?

If she actively instructed the AA to not renew, then I would complain to them both about that and about them ignoring the clear instructions that were given to not use your card again - instructions which they have clearly breached.

Not sure where you stand with MBNA - I guess that technically it's an unauthorised transaction. I've no idea about the legalities of this - I guess the hardest thing would be for you to try and prove that you gave the AA instructions to not use your card again.

CCA is the worst way to pay for anything as you have absolutely no control over it and you are putting your faith in the merchant to abide by your instructions.

jonesMUFCforever

Take it up with the AA then MBNA have done nothing wrong here.

sputnikstokie

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Take it up with the AA then MBNA have done nothing wrong here.

Clearly it starts with The AA.

How they can ignore instructions and to even charge to a card which isnt even the policy holders! I didnt agree to this, i wasnt even made aware or that there was a CCA and it would be charged again!
They were told in Nov 09 to delete the card details to avoid this.They didnt.Their error.

But on a dormant and closed credit card account (nothing for a year) shouldnt the card company reject the payment?

The AA are not interested......like i say mugged.

CLAPTON

have you written a formal complaint to the AA?

blue_monkey_2

Am I missing something, the OP says in the title that he had cancelled the card in Nov 09. So technically, there was no account or card to take money from. The OP is asking, is a card ever cancelled.

pauljoecoe

sputnikstokie wrote: »

Clearly it starts with The AA.



The AA are not interested......like i say mugged.

I'm sure they'll take notice if you take it to the right level and threaten to take them to the financial ombudsmen.

Surely though, if you were still being covered by the AA (in their eyes) they would have sent out membership documents which should have raised your suspicions.

I agree CCA's are dodgy things to agree to - use a bank account if you want to pay by DD.

[Deleted User]

blue_monkey wrote: »

Am I missing something, the OP says in the title that he had cancelled the card in Nov 09. So technically, there was no account or card to take money from. The OP is asking, is a card ever cancelled.

Not in the case of a CPA.

The_AA_Company_Representative

Hi there, please call the AA on 0845 607 6727 so we can discuss and help you to resolve this issue. We look forward to hearing from you.