Great Story - Barclaycard

chucky

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newfoundglory

Well, yes... you probably would need to tell them you had cancelled it. The charge is usually for a "returned direct debit" or "returned payment". If they go to collect the direct debit payment, and you have cancelled it then your bank is going to return it unpaid and that would trigger the charge for a returned payment!

You should always tell companies when you are cancelling direct debits to avoid this... but i'm glad you got the charge refunded anyway!

grumbler

Barclaycard:
Default charges:
Late payment fee: £20
Returned payment: £20

I think your £20 was actually 'Returned payment' fee. Even if call credit card company to stop/change DD a few days befor the due date it is often too late do this.
I had the similar experience with MBNA...

nh

I'd sympathise with the OP here... I didn't know you had to tell companies when you were cancelling a DD, in fact, whenever I have cancelled a DD before, the company concerned has always contacted me to say 'you have cancelled you DD...", suggesting the back had contacted them to tell them it had been cancelled.

I am sure these "YOu have cancelled your DD" letters have come before the amount was due to go out ie. it isn't because the company tried to take the money and couldn't

Good to know though!

Milarky

On the subject of cancelling DDs and not telling people - I'd swear that my old DD to Capital One was cancelled by either themselves or the bank - perhaps inadvertently - or else lapsed for some other reason. So I investigated and asked the bank "did I cancel it then?" and they could say [because their records on such things only last for a few months it seems] - and I also asked Capital One if they knew about any change - but of course they didn't. [It is pretty worrying when you can't even 'prove' how something like this happened!!]

davidcampbell

chucky wrote:

Barclaycard have a very strange sense of what Customer Service is!!

QUOTE]


have to say while i sympathise if you didnt understand the procedure, the fact that you got it wrong isnt their fault yet they still agreed to waive the charge.

quite good service imo

DC

daveboy

The direct debit would remain in their system and their system would try to take the money. It would only be then that it would become clear that the direct debit no longer exists with your bank.

By the book they could have refused to withdraw the £20 fee.

You've been lucky.

Whilst I'm all for sticking one up those card companies that do wrong and don't/won't put it right, this seems to be your fault.

Maybe one day we'll actually see an MSE'r who actually admits that they made the mistake - card companies are money grabbing bar stewards but they aren't always the ones to blame.

Chris2000

Milarky wrote:

On the subject of cancelling DDs and not telling people - I'd swear that my old DD to Capital One was cancelled by either themselves or the bank - perhaps inadvertently - or else lapsed for some other reason. So I investigated and asked the bank "did I cancel it then?" and they could say [because their records on such things only last for a few months it seems] - and I also asked Capital One if they knew about any change - but of course they didn't. [It is pretty worrying when you can't even 'prove' how something like this happened!!]

I was once told that the bank is supposed to cancel a direct debit mandate if no payments are taken for 13 months. This has happened with my Lloyds account a few times in the past, and I've had to set up new mandates.

suzie_wong

I have had 2 similar instances of late payment charges in the last few days, and I'm furious!!
I changed my current account from Barclays to A&L, and on 11th March phoned MBNA and Capital1 to change my direct debit payments accordingly. I was told both times that it had been changed, and all was fine as my payments weren't due until early April (so they had 3 weeks to get their act together.) I then cancelled the DD instructions with Barclays.
Then last week my credit card statements arrived, both with £20 fees for no payment. To add insult to injury, MBNA had taken me off the 0% interest deal as a punishment, and charged me £40 in interest!!!
Having called them both since, Capital1 eventually agreed to refund the £20. MBNA refunded the £20, but weren't prepared to waive the interest charge. I promptly moved my balance from MBNA (to another 0% of course) and closed the account.
I would have had no complaints if I had been told to keep the old DD in place, but both implied that there was plenty of time before the next payment and that it would come out of the new account.

davidcampbell

Chris2000 wrote:

I was once told that the bank is supposed to cancel a direct debit mandate if no payments are taken for 13 months. This has happened with my Lloyds account a few times in the past, and I've had to set up new mandates.

yeah thats correct.

DC

ceebee_2

Very interesting comments on this subject of DD"s. My problem was the complete reverse. i.e. I had an active DD with one credit card which payed the minimum amount each month, just to make sure that I wasn"t caught out if I forgot to pay of the whole amount. The c/c company subsequently introduced a rule saying that "if a payment, in excess of the minimum, is credited, then the DD will not be activated that month."
The result was that I finished up owing a small amount (the amount of the DD for minimum payment) but was charged almost a month"s interest on the full amount. It was refunded after protest.
The question therefore remains- When is a DD not a DD?