Virgin CC, Run by total idiots?? Be Warned!!

Si_Guy

Ok, heres what has happened...
I had a virgin credit card with a balance on.
I paid this balance off near the end of statement month.
As expected, that months interest appeared a couple days later.
I used the virgin messages section online to contact customer services and ask for account to be closed. They replied saying as soon as the final payment for that months interest was paid, the account would be settled.
I made bank transfer online to clear it, about £36.
Sorted right?

Wrong!

About a week later they tried to take the £36 again via direct debit, even though my virgin online balance was £0.00! I had cancelled this direct debit through my bank because i was told the virgin account would be closed as soon as i paid the outstanding balance. Logged back into virgin only to find now they have added a £12 fee for direct debit returned unpaid!!! Are they joking! My balance has not even gone over the limit! Seriously annoyed at these incompetant idiots!

Just a warning to anyone considering this company!

Paul_Herring

About a week later they tried to take the £36 again via direct debit

As would most other CC companies regardless of whether they'd normally treat a payment made an appropriate amount of time before the DD was due as substitute payment or not.

Did you actually ring up and ask for the closing balance and pay it there and then, or just assume that the total on screen was all that was due and that a payment a week before the DD was due would actually cancel the DD for that month?

If the latter, it's not Virgin that are the "idiots."

thenudeone

I don't have a Virgin card any more but on my play.com statement (also run by mbna, like Virgin) there is a statement saying: "Please remember, your regular direct debit payment will always be taken, regardless of any additional payments you choose to make"

So unless you specifically agreed with them not to take the direct debit, they have done exactly what they said they would.
I would still ask for a refund of the charges, though.

Si_Guy

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Did you actually ring up and ask for the closing balance and pay it there and then, or just assume that the total on screen was all that was due and that a payment a week before the DD was due would actually cancel the DD for that month?

If the latter, it's not Virgin that are the "idiots."

Like i said, i messaged them using the online messaging. They told me when i paid the final ammount of £36 they would close my account. They clearly didnt do this because if they did the DD wouldnt have come out.
thanks nude one, i will be asking for a refund. what a joke!

Paul_Herring

Si_Guy wrote: »

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Did you actually ring up and ask for the closing balance and pay it there and then, or just assume that the total on screen was all that was due and that a payment a week before the DD was due would actually cancel the DD for that month?

If the latter, it's not Virgin that are the "idiots."

Like i said, i messaged them using the online messaging. They told me when i paid the final ammount of £36 they would close my account. They clearly didnt do this because if they did the DD wouldnt have come out.
thanks nude one, i will be asking for a refund. what a joke!

So that would be "the latter" then?

Your OP gave no indication that you'd asked for a closing balance, nor that you indicated you wanted to pay there and then:

Si_Guy wrote: »

I used the virgin messages section online to contact customer services and ask for account to be closed. They replied saying as soon as the final payment for that months interest was paid, the account would be settled.
I made bank transfer online to clear it, about £36.

That sounds like:
You: "I want to close my card"
Them: "The account won't be considered settled until the final payment is made" <They may have mentioned a specific amount.>
You: <Don't indicate that you'll be paying it before the DD is due>
Them: <Assume the DD will cover it, so don't mention it>

YorkshireBoy

The direct debit guarantee says, to paraphrase, "don't just tell your bank to cancel it...tell the originator as well". You didn't do that.

The "important: confirmation of direct debit instruction" letter MBNA sent you clearly informed you that in order to stop a DD being collected once the statement had been produced you had to contact them 7 working days before the collection date. You didn't (specifically) do that.

They even put a message on your statement about the affect of additional payments on the DD (as a previous poster said above). You either ignored that or didn't bother reading it.

You're not the first to come unstuck with this (just use the forum search tool looking for "important confirmation direct debit instruction"), and probably won't be the last.

bengal-stripe

Si_Guy wrote: »

......They replied saying as soon as the final payment for that months interest was paid, the account would be settled. I made bank transfer online to clear it, about £36.

When did you make the payment, some day, a few days later? Did it ever occur to you, that an on-line transfer (unless it’s not Faster Payments) needs about three working days to show up in the receiving account and a DD is put on it’s way several days before the due date?

Si_Guy wrote: »

......About a week later they tried to take the £36 again via direct debit, even though my virgin online balance was £0.00!

Well it was only about a week later, there must have been a weekend in between, leaving just five working days. So your transfer and the DD will have crossed paths (and probably waved each other 'Hello') on their travels to their respective destinations.

What date was your payment booked and what date was your DD due? How many working days were there between the two events?