AA stole my money

Muckledunfs

I had a ridiculous renewal quote from the AA that came with an upgrade to silver membership. The day before the renewal occured I called to cancel my policy (got a good deal from RAC using Tesco Clubcard vouchers).

On Monday night I found that the AA had removed the renewal amount from my bank account. I called first thing Tuesday and they admitted they were at fault and would refund. I stressed that as I have a mortgage payment due on Friday I needed the money back ASAP which he said he would rush through.

By Wednesday night nothing had happened so I sent a complaint in via their website and receieved an automated reply but still no money.

Is there any sort of redress to this other than eventually getting my money back? If I hadn't noticed this and transferred funds my mortgage DD would have bounced.

GJ_WRX

Sounds like this is their new tact in getting business. Another recent poster said they tried to auto renew a policy that was cancelled 3 years ago!

Sadly I think you will just have to wait for the banks to put the money back in your account then contact the AA for any charges or extra expense you have incurred due to them.

I had a similar thing last week when a hotel thought they over charged me by £2000 so refunded it on Thursday then realised they only charged me the agreed £20 depost so took the refunded £2000 back. End result was the £2000 debit came out straight away leaving me broke and in my overdraft all weekend. I finally got the refund this Wednesday even though it was done on the same day.

Crabman

Keep a note of any conversations/correspondence between you and the AA and note down anything they said/agreed to (e.g. they said they'd rush the refund through). It's important to jot this down now as this will be useful evidence - you may not remember all the exact details of every phone call in a month or two.

If you suffer losses as a result of the error which it seems the AA have already admitted, you should raise a formal complaint with the AA asking them to put it right. If they don't respond appropriately within 8 weeks, refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You are entitled to seek your own costs when going to the FOS which I believe is £10 per hour... someone else may be able to confirm if that's still the case.

Handsome90

Crabman wrote: »

If you suffer losses as a result of the error which it seems the AA have already admitted, you should raise a formal complaint with the AA asking them to put it right. If they don't respond appropriately within 8 weeks, refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You are entitled to seek your own costs when going to the FOS which I believe is £10 per hour... someone else may be able to confirm if that's still the case.

I don't think AA is regulated by FOS. After all, AA is not a financial so you cannot escalate your complaint to the FOS.

I would advise you to write a letter of complaint and see what they say. If they don't cooperate, you can come back to us for what to do next.

opinions4u

Handsome90 wrote: »

I don't think AA is regulated by FOS. After all, AA is not a financial so you cannot escalate your complaint to the FOS.

The FOS doesn't regulate anybody.

But breakdown cover is insurance so complaints can be referred to the FOS for a ruling.

http://www.theaa.com/aboutaa/complaints.html

I would advise you to write a letter of complaint and see what they say. If they don't cooperate, you can come back to us for what to do next.

The answer is in the link I posted.

RichardD1970

GJ_WRX wrote: »

I had a similar thing last week when a hotel thought they over charged me by £2000 so refunded it on Thursday then realised they only charged me the agreed £20 depost so took the refunded £2000 back. End result was the £2000 debit came out straight away leaving me broke and in my overdraft all weekend. I finally got the refund this Wednesday even though it was done on the same day.

Sorry, must be missing something. The hotel put £2000 in you bank, then realising it was a mistake so took it back. How did that change your financial situation? And what refund did you get?

Joe_Horner

Contact your bank and request a full and immediate refund under the direct debit guarantee. That's what its there for.


eta: Although, re-reading, you may not be covered by the guarantee because of how late you cancelled. The payment would have already been legitimately requested the day before it was due because our banking system still moves like a sloth on temazepam when it suits them!

Joe_Horner

RichardD1970 wrote: »

Sorry, must be missing something. The hotel put £2000 in you bank, then realising it was a mistake so took it back. How did that change your financial situation? And what refund did you get?

I'd guess that the problem is the methods they used for the mistaken refund and taing the payment. If they gave the refund (by mistake) using a standard transfer then it would take up to 3 days to arrive in his bank but if they then take the money back using his debit card it would go out immediately.

Presumably they used the card to take back the mistaken refund AND the bill itself so would have debited £4k, leaving him waiting for the £2k "refund" to arrive.

YorkshireBoy

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Contact your bank and request a full and immediate refund under the direct debit guarantee. That's what its there for.


eta: Although, re-reading, you may not be covered by the guarantee because of how late you cancelled. The payment would have already been legitimately requested the day before it was due because our banking system still moves like a sloth on temazepam when it suits them!

How do you know the payment was collected by DD?

It could have been taken by continuous payment authority (CPA) using the debit card details provided last year (or at the start of the contract).

Even if it was collected by direct debit, the fact the OP called "the day before the renewal" (by which time the DD was already in motion) means the payment wasn't made "in error"...being as it was correctly notified at least 10 working days previously.

Joe_Horner

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

How do you know the payment was collected by DD?

It could have been taken by continuous payment authority (CPA) using the debit card details provided last year (or at the start of the contract).

In which case he has a better chance of a quick refund because a debit card payment would have been triggered at the time it was taken rather than requested a few days before.

Even if it was collected by direct debit, the fact the OP called "the day before the renewal" (by which time the DD was already in motion) means the payment wasn't made "in error"...being as it was correctly notified at least 10 working days previously.

Hence the edit I made pointing out exactly that, which is even in the bit you quoted

Buzby

A DD instruction was already in process when the customer advised the cancellation. There is no fraud or theft, just ad timing (on everyone's part).

To stop money disappearing from your account unchallenged - don't have a DD. Pay them by cheque.