problem with dorothy perkins card ...

tiredwithtwins

Hi,
wondered if anyone had any advice for me please? I have a Dorothy perkins card that ive had for a couple of years. I don't use it very often and have paid off the balance in full on the odd time I have used it. around june I set up a direct debit payment for the minimum amount via the online account when it was santander (I bought daughter some clothes) as I hadn't the money to pay the full amount that month. the direct debit went out in june, but I found out in august via a postal statement from santander that the direct debit hadn't been paid in july and I had incurred a late payment fee.
I emailed them, they replied saying it was their error and that they would instate the direct debit from their end. I paid £20 to nearly clear the balance, but have only just got round to rechecking tonight (I lost my log in details as I couldn't remember my password) - this is following an email this week saying my account is available online with newday. when I reregistered with this new account manager newday, I found out that the direct debit hadn't been paid and that another late payment fee had been added - I cant access the old Santander account and this newday online account only goes back to 19th sept.
ive emailed them to complain but im worried this will put a mark on my credit file (that I have worked hard to make clean) and wreck any chance I have of getting future credit.
if they don't accept my explanation what should I do? is there an ombudsman I can contact?
thanks for any advice
sue

grumbler

tiredwithtwins wrote: »

... is there an ombudsman I can contact?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/about/index.html

>> how to complain

stator

If they made a mistake to cancel your direct debit you could claim against the direct debit guarantee on the bank account, but that might not help with your credit file as it applies to the current account not credit card

grumbler

How can the DD guarantee can help in this case when the company failed to take the DD?!

g6jns_2

tiredwithtwins wrote: »

Hi,
wondered if anyone had any advice for me please? I have a Dorothy perkins card that ive had for a couple of years. I don't use it very often and have paid off the balance in full on the odd time I have used it. around june I set up a direct debit payment for the minimum amount via the online account when it was santander (I bought daughter some clothes) as I hadn't the money to pay the full amount that month. the direct debit went out in june, but I found out in august via a postal statement from santander that the direct debit hadn't been paid in july and I had incurred a late payment fee.
I emailed them, they replied saying it was their error and that they would instate the direct debit from their end. I paid £20 to nearly clear the balance, but have only just got round to rechecking tonight (I lost my log in details as I couldn't remember my password) - this is following an email this week saying my account is available online with newday. when I reregistered with this new account manager newday, I found out that the direct debit hadn't been paid and that another late payment fee had been added - I cant access the old Santander account and this newday online account only goes back to 19th sept.
ive emailed them to complain but im worried this will put a mark on my credit file (that I have worked hard to make clean) and wreck any chance I have of getting future credit.
if they don't accept my explanation what should I do? is there an ombudsman I can contact?
thanks for any advice
sue

You have to follow the card issuer's own complaints procedure first otherwise the Ombudsman will not consider your case.

stator

grumbler wrote: »

How can the DD guarantee can help in this case when the company failed to take the DD?!

If you have a valid DD set up and the bank makes an error and fails to pay the DD then they are required to make it right. This happened to me once, I cancelled one direct debit online but the bank also cancelled another one incorrectly. The current account bank accepted the fault and reimbursed me the costs but the CC bank refused to amend the credit record so I put a notice of correction on it.

oscarward

Not sure if it's still true, LLoyds TSB (as used to be) would cancel a DD if you don't use your card for a while.


I discovered this when I used my card after a year and the payment wasn't taken.

SnowTiger

oscarward wrote: »

Not sure if it's still true, LLoyds TSB (as used to be) would cancel a DD if you don't use your card for a while.

I discovered this when I used my card after a year and the payment wasn't taken.

http://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/FAQs/Pages/InactiveDirectDebits.aspx:

The dormancy period rule was introduced as a safeguard to protect payers from Direct Debit Instructions being live on their account indefinitely. So if you should forget to cancel a Direct Debit it will be removed from the bank’s system after the dormancy period has lapsed.

Usually thirteen months to take in to consideration annual Direct Debits, but I don't think there's a fixed rule, so it may vary from one bank/BS to another.

tiredwithtwins

thank you for your replies - still haven't heard anything back from them, but it did say it would be within 5 working days (and today is day 4).
It was the company that controlled the DP account - Santander - who said it was their fault, and not my bank.
I have since had what I presume is a standard default letter from New Day, but will wait to hear from the email before I ring (which I will do Monday if I haven't heard via email),
I will ensure I follow the complaints procedure and let you know,


thanks again