VERY charging late payment fee for payment made on due date

krissys1981

I pay on the due date on my Very account every month. Today I paid this morning but by this afternoon the confirmation email had not arrived and so I logged in to check.

The payment showed on the account but with the payment date as the 13th June!?!?

My statements are online and I must admit I do not check them as I always pay the take 3 payment and assume no interest will be charged. I took a look at these and I have incurred a late payment charge of £12.00 for the last 8 months.

I called them and they said that had I phoned and made payment it would not be late but as I did it on the internet it does not get logged until the next day. Yet I can clearly see the payment being made today.


They said I should use DD to stop this from happening but I like to control payments monthly and surely it is my choice to do so.

Can anyone help with any advice? Thank you in advance

sourcrates

Pay a day earlier, if you are going to continue to use the net to pay.

Sometimes a payment made online is not credited till 24 hrs later, depends on the systems used by individual companies.

Paying over the phone, is more hassle, but credited instantly.

I would write and complain about the charges, mark your letter "complaint", ask for a full refund, if refused, complain to FOS, you will get them refunded, one way or another.

poppasmurf_bewdley

You should never assume that payments made online will go through on the same day.

They may show on your account, or they may not. It is always advisable to pay at least one day before the payment is due to avoid any delay which may occur.

This especially applies when paying credit card or charge card accounts.

kerri_gt

I would call again or write, with a copy of your bank statement if it shows the payment going out on the actual due date and appeal to their goodwill to refund the charges.

However, I would say it is foolhardy to leave making a payment until the very day it is due, payments of this kind do not generally transact to the recipient business immediately, and what happens if the internet banking or something goes down?

If you're paying your bill monthly, why are you so against a DD? You can set it for the date in the month that suits you I believe. If you're paying your bill anyway, then what difference does a DD which does it automatically for you make in reality? Why not give it a go for a while.

System

I am fairly certain when I pay it says something like it may take a day or so to show on your account.

redpete

krissys1981 wrote: »

They said I should use DD to stop this from happening but I like to control payments monthly and surely it is my choice to do so.

Of course it's your choice but make sure you understand the difference between seeing money leaving your account and it being acknowledged as arriving in their account.

krissys1981

Thank you everyone. The only reason I choose not to pay by direct debit is because I am self employed and vary the payments on my account. I have previously done this before and if I made payments to my account during the month, they would not then collect the DD as it had shown as paid for that month on their system when in fact I wanted the payment taken in addition to the DD.

I do not get paper statements but Very have pointed out that they do instruct you on those to pay earlier. However when making payment on their website, they acknowledge payment as received and do not mention it taking any time to arrive. Strangely I also have a woolworths account (just gone to very) and pay this in the same way. It is with the same finance company but I have never been charged a fee from them.

Very have replied and as a goodwill gesture have repaid 1 charge of £12

In future I will pay a few days earlier. Thank you for your advices.