Sky overpayments!

louwis01

Hi, would be grateful for some help/advice! My mother-in-law changed their service from Sky to Virgin Media in December 2011. She sent a letter to Sky to terminate the service with them (they were out of contract!), but has only recently realised that Sky have still been taking payments by DD to the tune of over £800. When my mother-in-law contacted them, they said they had never received the letter and there was no way of them knowing whether the service hadn't been used (even though it hadn't and Virgin Media was in use throughout the time!) I want to help her get this money back! Can I use the DD Guarantee or should I right again to Sky.:mad:

[Deleted User]

louwis01 wrote: »

She sent a letter to Sky to terminate the service with them (they were out of contract!), but has only recently realised that Sky have still been taking payments by DD to the tune of over £800.

If she didn't receive an acknowledgement of the "cancellation", I'd say she's pretty much stuffed as far as getting a refund is concerned. Any attempt to invoke the Direct Debit Guarantee will be blocked by Sky who will insist it was a legitimate charge.

If you do write again to Sky you may get a "goodwill" gesture if you can show the date she switched to Virgin coincided with the alleged letter of cancellation. I doubt very much you'll get a full refund however.

Why on earth did your Mother continue to pay Sky for eighteen months? Doesn't she ever check her Bank statements?

StuC75

Who's to say even with virgin installed at her address that the sky subscription wasnt been used elsewhere - e.g. holiday home \ neighbours \ family member etc..

Cancel through the proper channel & check bank records better..

[Deleted User]

StuC75 wrote: »

Cancel through the proper channel & check bank records better..

Obviously. Especially when the payment continues for a year and a half!

macman

The DD guarantee does not apply here. Sky will say that they legitimately continued to draw the DD since no confirmation of cancellation was received. Her bank has done nothing wrong by paying it, as the DD was still in place and active.
Why did MIL not cancel the DD once what she thought was the last payment was taken though?

StuC75

Whats the point in making the Offer, when Skyy already have the money for the Service they have continued to provide?

The OP's MIL ought to have checked bank account to know what was going out, £40+ a month more than expected would be noticed by most people - even just a glance at statements would confirm this. was the MIL not receiving Sky Statements?.

Proof of postage is not proof of receipt nor is it any proof of what was sent.

DD Guarantee isnt for these kind of scenarios (Sky would have raised a statement showing these charges due!)..

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

For £800 I would either county court them if I have proof of posting or a copy of the cancellation letter, or I would invoke the DD guarantee and let them come after me, then maybe offer 25% as full and final settlement.

Heinz

Perhaps I'm too anal about such things but checking/verifying my current account and credit card expenditure online at least 3 times a week is my norm.

Buzby

Daily, in my case - but I get alerts to my phone when money leaves. As others noted, there is no DD guarantee applicable - she presumably ignored her bank statements for nearly 2 years, why?

She has to take responsibility for giving the DD in the first place,and for not querying Sky's indifference to her departure - or a 'Sorry you are leaving Us' letter.

This would make a 'reasonable person' wonder if their instructions were being carried out, and worthy of further investigation.

StuC75

But Sky would provide monthly statements for the service which ;

1 - Demonstrates Service HAD NOT been cancelled.
2 - Such Statement would provide the necessary notification of the Date & Amount to be Collected.

There is no proof from the OP MIL of what was received by Sky where it was sent to..

It is quite reasonable to expect that a normal person would -

Want confirmation from Sky of when service would end.

Physically check on such date that service had stopped (eg Turn on the TV).

Check for an End of Account Statement which shows finally money owed \ paid.

Once that was clear - close down the DD Instruction ( had it now already been cancelled)..

To suggest that instead they just unplugged the Sky box & forgot All about is not the responsible action.

Kurtis - do in your wisdom provide proof of where you Think the DD Guarantee is being broken... Since all pages advise that even when you cancel a DD you need to speak to company providing the service since payment will still be required..

http://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/Pages/DirectDebitGuarantee.aspx

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

DD is exactly for this type of scenario, service canceled, funds still taken.

Obviously the customer should have checked her bill, but the point of the offer would be to admit that, pay £200 save £600 and draw a line, should be pretty obvious? and also in the unlikely event it went to court it would be showing your admission of some liability and that you were willing take reasonable steps to bring the issue to mutually satisfactory conclusion.

StuC75

Also as well :

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/27/27-directdebit-guarantee.htm

Case 27/3 where the Financial ombudsman also cites

"But even if this had not been the case, we would not have upheld the complaint. The payments had been coming out of Mr C’s account for many years and he received statements every month, so he had ample opportunity to spot the mistake and notify the bank. In the circumstances, we did not think it reasonable to require the firm to refund the payments as he had requested. "

Mylo_The_Moggy

They've been taking payments for the last 18 months & she's only just realised?
Good grief, who knows what else has been taken out of her bank if she doesn't keep a check on it. Surely if she doesn't do internet banking she'd receive statements through the post??
I always check my statements AND have internet banking. Think I'd have realised soon after the very last payment & would have quiered why they were still taking payment.
In this day and age keeping a check on your finances is a must.