Unauthorised direct debit, over £200 in charges and no support from bank

Basicsoda

Santander if that makes a difference.

Bank tells me that since I gave this company my direct debit details in the past even though I cancelled direct debit and also with company then even though 6 months later they tried to get money then its my fault since because I gave them details they can set up a direct debit at any time!

Even if that was the case, the charges come from being overdrawn so IMO at the very most I should of been charged a single unpaid fee rather than an unpaid fee that makes me overdrawn then £5 a day charges

What are my rights on this as I cancelled direct debit last yearso I dont think that its fair for them to say "tough"

dancingfairy

Banks don't always know what they are talking about
Here is a link to the direct debit guarantee:
http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Collecting/Pages/CustomersRights.aspx

Do you have any prof the DD was cancelled - written confirmation from the bank at the time? any letters you sent to the company themselves?
How often was the DD meant to come out - if monthly and you hadn't heard anything for several months then it's clearly wrong.
Not sure how you can get the bank to see sense. Maybe a formal complaint in writing?
Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along to help.
df

Basicsoda

It was monthly and wasnt taken for at least 4-6 months.

I dont have proof it was cancelled however at the time I had charges as the bank forgot to cancel it despite me going in so refunded the charges I received then so may have have record of that.

They did try and say they refunded the charges last time as a goodwill gesture despite me having to go to high level complaints then and getting debt collector phone calls about it and in the end had a personal apology from the branch manager(who has now left that branch so cant help me)

I did think about the DD guarantee just wasnt sure since the funds werent in to cover it(£6 after all that!)

dancingfairy

In terms of overdraft charges it depends what the terms are on the account - some have moved over to daily charges (as it makes it simpler for customers to understand what they are going to be charged). Have a look at your terms and conditions to see if you are being charged what they say you should be - I know this doesn't help with the orginal problem of the unauthorised DD being taken though
Have you been into branch? Have you asked to speak to a manager?
If that has failed then I guess you will have to write a written complaint although I'm not sure how you would word it.
Best of Luck
df