3 charging the same bill twice

norfik

Hey,

I have recently received a bill of £107.90 (normally pay £33 but used a lot of minutes). Bill date was 3rd November and payment was due on 22nd November. The bill is normally paid via direct debit.

To avoid not having enough money on my bank account on the payment due date, I have made that payment on 12th of November online (pay-by-card). Unfortunately, Three has decided to not register that and take the payment again (via Direct Debit) on 22nd - this has just brought my balance into overdraft and will result in me incurring at least £25 charges.

I have been in touch with Three call centre (ugh), where they explained that direct debit payments are processed automatically and they can send me the money back within 5 working days.

My question is, since there was no warning or indication on the website that online payment may result in Direct Debit being taken regardless, do I have any right to claim compensation for bank overdraft charges?

Buzby

None. You cannot mix and match you payment methods. A DD is not created in real time, a billing run is used to compile the amounts due to be called for on the due date.

If your payment to account is credited after the run, there is no way the amount will reflect the change. The good news is, much less will be taken the following month.

Compensation? Nope - you confused the issue, and the network did nothing wrong. Your bank may give you a rebate if you ask nicely - but only if your first.

simmterb

Got stung by this one myself - some companies actually contact your bank to sort of call for/initiate the direct debit ahead of the actual due date, even though the money itself will only be handed over by your bank on the due date. Ah the pleasures of 3 customer services!

Techhead_2

simmterb wrote: »

Got stung by this one myself - some companies actually contact your bank to sort of call for/initiate the direct debit ahead of the actual due date, even though the money itself will only be handed over by your bank on the due date. Ah the pleasures of 3 customer services!

It's not some companies , all direct debits need to "sort of call for/initiate" a direct debit ahead of the due date.

Similarly , when you make a payment by card (whilst the bank reduces your balance straight away) it takes a few days for the money to reach the company and to credit your account.

When you add in weekends , you can see how the two can easily overlap.