Anyone know where I stand legally?

arcon5

You should add 5-10% to your budget as contingency.

Hopefully they are understanding when you tell them.

fluffnutter

jennie, as far as I know, the Direct Debit guarantee makes your bank jointly liable for any mistakes that the company makes in collecting the correct payment and the correct time. Furthermore, the company can't simply take a double payment or payment on a different date to cover the amount you've not paid - they must contact you first. If they do take this money suddenly and without warning, the bank has a duty to refund you.

fluffnutter

gordikin wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure they do have to tell you.

They do, because any extra payment taken would be a change to the original DD and to do this, you have to give the customer warning.

Direct Debit Guarantee

The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instruction to pay Direct Debits
If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request
If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.
If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

fozmcfc

jenniewb wrote: »

Its for a gym membership, I did get a deal last year where I so many months free (either 3 or 4) which is the reason why I joined. I have just come into my second year and am wondering if the same deal applies for the following year? Needless to say aside from the queues for machines at peak times (not a prob if I go early/late) I have not seem my membership altered as a result.

I am going to the gym later today to face the music and point out the error to them though not sure if their admin department is open on a sunday.



I know, I should keep a better eye on my bank account- I know its no excuse and wasn't trying to use lack of money as an excuse I was simply trying to point out why its something I'm worried about incase anyone things to suggest waiting it out to see what they do and then talking to someone, I wouldn't be able to deal with the consequences of that financially which is why I thought to mention the finance issue.

As much as I budget, I do find it a constant struggle as prices change so much and I rarely can anticipate what charges will be on things like utility bills and etc. It also doesn't help with family expectations like birthdays and etc over the last few months plus making up for Christmas as well as having my own health related "stuff" which I wont go into details on here. I got rid of the mobile, lowered another outgoing and thought any credit to my account was as a result of my own efforts not a mistake by my gym!
I know I'm stupid for not keeping a closer eye on things, bank statements cause me anxiety just my arriving on my door mat, I end up glancing over all the names and making sure I recognise them all, anything that I don't recognise I then fly across and see what the charge is and normally recognise it that way. I mainly look at my statement for fraud rather then to keep a budget but I do pull out mini-statements weekly to make sure I have enough to cover costs for the rest of the week.

Glad to hear that things worked out for you, I hope my gym take a similar stand with me too.

I know where you are coming from with the bank statements.

Years ago, when I used to just not give a damn and spend my money and the banks money on top, I use to just file the statements away as it was depressing reading them. Of course it was my fault for just spending money like water.

Hopefully the gym will be decent enough to receive payments bit by bit, rather than wanting a lump sum. I'm pretty sure they will be and the gym definately is not a priority payments, over other essential bills.

Flyboy152

jenniewb wrote: »

I've just checked back my statements and found a direct debit has only partially gone through.

They increased the direct debit about 4 months ago but seem to have only applied the £2 increase fee and not the entire direct debit cost (which is A LOT more then this!)
I am now worried they will try charging my account all at once and leave me with nothing and also mean I cannot afford any other living costs I have plus could incur bank fees from my bank as a result.

This is their error and not mine. I am afraid to contact them incase they do charge me all at once, they can't have incorrect details on me as they still are able to take some money from my account even if its not the correct amount. Does anyone know where I stand legally on this?

Thanks

But you knew you had to pay the money, why don't you just put it aside and wait for them to take it?

Or am I missing something?

jenniewb

Flyboy152 wrote: »

But you knew you had to pay the money, why don't you just put it aside and wait for them to take it?

Or am I missing something?

I thought I had. I thought I also had the money taken out. At the same time as all of this I had cut my mobile and tried to cut my spending as prices were climbing and I knew I needed to cut costs to make ends meet. So I come to view my mini-statements and see them higher then normal. I just assume I've budgeted well- my gym always used to take the money and never seemed to need any pushing, checking that they have taken the correct amounts in a direct debit isn't something I thought I'd have to do when viewing a long statement so I see their listed and take no further action, I look at names when looking at a statement I look for amounts I have available to spend in a mini statement. I assumed as all things seemed fine, my budeting was working fine. On top of this it was my birthday last month. I got money given to me and tried hard not to spend all of it, I just assumed I had money left over from that.

Fact is I am able to pay about 2/3 of it rather then all of it, I've not spent it all, just some of it. Its only been 3 months not 10. I know I should take better care but I am not a maths genuis and also find budgeting very difficult, not because I spend money like water but because prices seem to change so often and things break down without warning. I also have alot going on at the moment. Not excuses not to pay up- I know, but reasons for why this is not my main number one issue in life.

jenniewb

gordikin wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure they do have to tell you. If they do tell you they are going to take it and then do so will you be happy?

Apparently they wont take it all at once (posts below yours) which is a huge relief- I don't mind paying for services I use at all. I just cannot manage them taking it all at the same time without warning.

I had infact been using any left over cash to pay off my credit card, its not been spend on "this and that", its been taken out of the account to pay off another debt. Not that it makes any difference in the face of it all!:cool:

baza52

so if i owed you £100 and told you i hadnt given you any money cos i had paid other debts you be happy and see no problem.
Nobody made you spend the money did they. you have to take some responsibility.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul wont hold up in court

jenniewb

baza52 wrote: »

so if i owed you £100 and told you i hadnt given you any money cos i had paid other debts you be happy and see no problem.
Nobody made you spend the money did they. you have to take some responsibility.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul wont hold up in court

Thanks for being both judge and jury...I had no idea I had asked to be put on trial.


I had not stated that as an excuse, I had stated it as an explanation as people seemed to be assuming and pointing fingers. I was correcting the assumptions being made (no I don't spend money like water, no I don't have a stong eye for figures-yet do try, no I haven't made my bank statements number one as my health seems to have taken on another category of its own at the moment, something I do not wish to share to a million+ possible readers, you'll have to take my word on this though am aware you will still judge and still things will be assumed negativly even with no details and only assumptions to go on).

I had not stated what I did so you could hang draw and quater me on it. What I did want was someone to tell me where I stood not to blame me for something I know was my responsibility to sort out: hence the point of asking the question as "where I stood legally" in the first place!

And I have not anywhere stated I was not happy to pay. Infact if you read what I wrote I stated I would be happy to pay what I owed as I have used the services I should have been charged for: just not all the money at the same time, not x months all at the same time.

Flyboy152

jenniewb wrote: »

I thought I had. I thought I also had the money taken out. At the same time as all of this I had cut my mobile and tried to cut my spending as prices were climbing and I knew I needed to cut costs to make ends meet. So I come to view my mini-statements and see them higher then normal. I just assume I've budgeted well- my gym always used to take the money and never seemed to need any pushing, checking that they have taken the correct amounts in a direct debit isn't something I thought I'd have to do when viewing a long statement so I see their listed and take no further action, I look at names when looking at a statement I look for amounts I have available to spend in a mini statement. I assumed as all things seemed fine, my budeting was working fine. On top of this it was my birthday last month. I got money given to me and tried hard not to spend all of it, I just assumed I had money left over from that.


Fact is I am able to pay about 2/3 of it rather then all of it, I've not spent it all, just some of it. Its only been 3 months not 10. I know I should take better care but I am not a maths genuis and also find budgeting very difficult, not because I spend money like water but because prices seem to change so often and things break down without warning. I also have alot going on at the moment. Not excuses not to pay up- I know, but reasons for why this is not my main number one issue in life.

Sorry, I don't buy this, if it is as much as your are making it out to be, you would have noticed you had more than you expected in your account; otherwise, whose money did you think you were spending?