Orange - taken 2 direct debits and won't pay back

smnberryman

Hi

My OH got a new contract with Orange a few years ago (2008 to be exact)

Orange had been taking DD for both old and new contracts since March 2008 until June 2013)

My OH got a 'gesture of goodwill' refund from Orange for the last 6 months overpayments (~£200)

At the time I thought this was a refund of all overpayments, however now it's come to light this was only the tip of the iceberg! From trawling through statements the actual overpayment was just over £2k.

Yes, I know she should have checked statements regularly, but excusing that, it does not give Orange the right to keep the money...surely?

Apparently they only offered 3 months payments initially but upped this to 6 months and wouldn't go beyond this.

Should I contact Orange again and offer them the chance to repay the rest of the money?

Or should I go straight to the regulator? (is that Ofcom in this instance?)

Or small claims?

Thanks

(again I know she should have checked her statements! )

grumbler

You say that your OH got a contract, but you don't say that she cancelled it.
If she can prove that she did, then I think the small claims court is the best place for claiming all overpayments for the last 6 years.

Of course, start with sending Orange a Letter Before Action.

brightonman123

contact bank, to request an indemnity claim- Orange HAVE to refund the money to bank a/c, then take up with customer afterwards..


http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Collecting/Pages/CustomersRights.aspx

smnberryman

Thanks grumbler

I believe it was an 'upgrade' to her (then) existing contract, so I'm not sure if she explicitly cancelled the old contract, I'll have to find out.


Thanks brightonman, I'll take a look at that too

Techhead_2

smnberryman wrote: »

Thanks grumbler

I believe it was an 'upgrade' to her (then) existing contract, so I'm not sure if she explicitly cancelled the old contract, I'll have to find out.


Thanks brightonman, I'll take a look at that too

You need to find out exactly what happened. It could be that she just took out a new contract. If that is the case the old one would continue. She needs to get out all her paperwork and check.

smnberryman

Techhead wrote: »

You need to find out exactly what happened. It could be that she just took out a new contract. If that is the case the old one would continue. She needs to get out all her paperwork and check.

Thanks, given she didn't see these payments for 5 yrs I'm going to assume the chances of finding any sort of paperwork are slim

Anoneemoose

brightonman123 wrote: »

contact bank, to request an indemnity claim- Orange HAVE to refund the money to bank a/c, then take up with customer afterwards..


http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/Businesses/DirectDebit/Collecting/Pages/CustomersRights.aspx

They do but then OP's other half will still owe it until they can prove otherwise - and theh will be pursued by dcas and possibly have credit files trashed.

I would say it's best to leave it 'paid' until they can officially get it back...either by Orange giving it to them or by taking to court. As others say though, they need to check first what exactly happened before taking any specific course of action.

Buzby

To be honest, it doesn't look good. Also, if a settlement has been reached and paid, there is no chance you will be able to go back for more (usually referred to as a second bite of the cherry).

Morally, the payer has an obligation to pay - if a supplier on receiving a complaint agrees to provide some form of rebate (as in this case) it will be based on goodwill. If the offer was not enough, it needs to be rejected outright and negotiations continue.

Attempting to revisit it with a further complaint will be rightly rejected, and any costs in doing so via the SC court will be correctly have the capped costs added to the pursuers bill.

smnberryman

Buzby wrote: »

To be honest, it doesn't look good. Also, if a settlement has been reached and paid, there is no chance you will be able to go back for more (usually referred to as a second bite of the cherry).

Morally, the payer has an obligation to pay - if a supplier on receiving a complaint agrees to provide some form of rebate (as in this case) it will be based on goodwill. If the offer was not enough, it needs to be rejected outright and negotiations continue.

Attempting to revisit it with a further complaint will be rightly rejected, and any costs in doing so via the SC court will be correctly have the capped costs added to the pursuers bill.

Yes I agree it doesn't look 'good' going back to try and get the rest of the payments.

I wasn't part of the discussions that led to 6 months payments being refunded, as far as I am concerned that's not good enough - they should be paying back the entire amount.

If this was indeed an 'upgrade', surely Orange should have stopped taking payments for a non-existent contract. I'm hardly being unreasonable am I? (again assuming this was an upgrade, and she didn't just take out a new contract without cancelling the other one)

macman

Yes, they should have stopped, but equally she should have cancelled the DD.

smnberryman

macman wrote: »

Yes, they should have stopped, but equally she should have cancelled the DD.

Yes she should have noticed the additional payments, but cancelling the DD wouldn't have helped because Orange would still try and collect payments.

As far as I know, with an upgrade, Orange should have cancelled the old contract (and DD).

Again, I know she should have checked her statements, I've told her enough times already! A few months fine, but 5 years :eek: