Expired CC info replaced by lender - has led to money being taken w/out my knowledge

Spiritseeker

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can offer advice on my situation? I have never had a 'blip' on my credit file, I always managed my money to ensure that I have never missed a payment date. Unfortunately this has recently changed, and I'd like to fix my file, but wonder where I stand on this:

In 2008 I took advantage of a coupon issued by Virgin Wines for £40 off a purchase. Part of the criteria was to join their 'wine bank'. This meant that they took monthly amounts from my credit card (Halifax One Card) and for each amount paid into the 'bank' by me, they'd credit my 'account' with a certain amount. I think I was part of this scheme for around 4-6 months - I certainly placed one order with them, possibly 2. My last (maybe only) order with them was in Nov 2008, and I the last money they took from my account was also in Nov 2008. I then wanted to exit the scheme.
As far as I remember, there was no minimum time period you had to sign up for, and no exit/penalty fees for leaving. I've tried finding a copy of their T&Cs from that period but can't - their latest set of T&Cs certainly does not indicate there are any exit fees or minimum membership periods. I never actually fully cancelled my membership, I don't know why - I never call an 0845/0870 number out of principal, and they use these. Maybe this was why, or maybe they're one of those companies that make leaving painful. Anyway, I knew my credit card was due to expire anyway, and so never cancelled the membership in full, feeling confident that they'd not get any more money as I never updated my card details.

I have not spent any money over the past year on the credit card account that this Virgin Wines monthly amount was being taken from. I've had the card replaced after it expired, and it's there for emergencies. I foolishly did not check my Feb statement this year - I was not concerned as I knew I had not spent any money on it. I opened my March statement - and I had around a £50 balance, and was in arrears due to not making a payment in March - I was horrified. I immediately rang Halifax, they told me Virgin Wines took the money, and I paid off the balance there and then to prevent any more late payments. I rang Virgin Wines, and they were helpful, cancelled my account permanently, refunded the money, and explained that in Feb this year, they were given a new system by the banks whereby expired credit card details could be updated. This is how they got my new card details.

I rang Halifax again - they waived my late payment fee, refunded the interest, and I no longer owe anything (I do still need to get them to refund the £50 odd pounds I paid to cover the 2 monthly payment to Virgin Wines, late fees and interest, which has now left me in a credit position). However, I expressed my concern that I'd have a late payment against my credit file, all for a blasted £20 payment taken by VW, that I had no idea had been taken, that I could have easily afforded to pay off, and in my mind, that VW should not have been able to take!
Halifax explained to me I can only 'correct' my file if I get written admission from VW that they were not authorised to take the money. Needless to say, VW will not put this in writing. They were helpful and have put in writing what happened, but have stipulated that they were not in the wrong. I plan to go to a Halifax branch tomorrow as advised by Halifax over the phone, with this written statement from VW.

I desperately want to clear my credit file - I need to apply for a remortgage next month and am terrified that this will prevent me from getting the best deals, something I was relying on to continue to afford my home payments.
I feel that Halifax had no right to provide VW with my updated details, certainly not without clearing it with me first.

Do I have a hope?

chattychappy

Spiritseeker wrote: »

Anyway, I knew my credit card was due to expire anyway, and so never cancelled the membership in full, feeling confident that they'd not get any more money as I never updated my card details.

I don't want to sound harsh, but you must realise you are totally wrong here. You can't expect that your contractual obligations will end merely because someone can no longer take payment according to the agreed method.

When you enter into a CPA (continuous payment authority) you agree that your account can be billed until the authority is cancelled. Just because a particular card on that account is expiring doesn't mean that the account is closing.

"your" card details aren't really "yours". The CC company is free to supply them to merchants if they wish. This isn't really dodgy - it's just a mechanism so that something like CPAs work. This issue is a side show, I'm afraid.

You've done pretty well so far - your best hope is to be nice to them. But going down the route of "you shouldn't have supplied my details" isn't well founded in my opinion.

Spiritseeker

Yes, I'm so annoyed with myself for not cancelling the membership. I can't even remember why! It's 2 and a half years ago that I stopped taking part, Virgin Wines wasn't anywhere in my mind as a possibility of coming back to bite me now.

I am just so frustrated that this ended up affecting my file. I take full responsibility for not checking my Feb statement, and was stupid for not cancelling my membership, I just feel like a black mark on my credit file is a serious penalty that is over the top for what has actually happened.

I'll go down the nice route - I don't tend to get 'not nice' in these situations anyway. Thanks for the response - I suppose I was looking for an informed answer on whether or not the bank could give out my new details.

lisyloo

I just feel like a black mark on my credit file is a serious penalty that is over the top for what has actually happened.

I appreaciate that you did this innocently and I'm not havign a go but non-payment is a serious issue to lenders.
The fact that it was inadvertant does not help the lender.
It's really important to them that you pay their bills on time.
So I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but this is the correct information from their point of view.
It shows them that you are the sort of person that sometimes doesn't pay bills on time.
The fact that it was inadvertant is pretty irrelevant to the lender to be honest.
I'm not saying any of that to have a go, but you need to understand that this is your TRUE history and that's what lenders what to see and know about you.
Sorry, but are 100% in the wrong here and you've had a very good outcome.

Paul_Herring

and [Virgin Wines] explained that in Feb this year, they were given a new system by the banks whereby expired credit card details could be updated.

Not that it's much help to you, but this system has been in place for companies for years - it's unclear whether the person you spoke to was indicating that Virgin Wines suddenly now had access to the procedure (which I find unlikely) or you were being fobbed off with excuses.