Direct Debit Guarantee question

martmonk

Hi all,

I can't find the answer to this question but hope someone can offer one.

I have a DD set up for my season ticket with NUFC. This is taken on the first of each month.
The August payment was taken on July 31st which didn't cause me bank charges as I was also paid on the same day. I did however complain to my bank that it shouldn't have been taken until the 1st.
I did this by letter and gave a copy to the club.
I since found out that this was a 'human error' by someone at the club.

My bank have refunded the amount and sent me a letter saying that they can take the money back if they subsequently discover the error wasn't theirs, which I now know it wasn't. However the mistake wasn't mine either, it was the recipients.

The direct debit guarantee wording isn't clear (to me) on what the outcome would be.

It says:
If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

But then is silent on what should happen with the payment that I am obliged to make. In this case the Aug 1st one.

Anyone know?

Hazzanet

martmonk wrote: »

But then is silent on what should happen with the payment that I am obliged to make. In this case the Aug 1st one.

Anyone know?

You still owe the club the money, so you will need to pay them back outside of the DD system.

YorkshireBoy

If they've made one 'human' error they could make another one, ie by cancelling your DD because they've had it reclaimed via an indemnity.


In hindsight, perhaps getting touch with your bank in such a formal manner, when a simple grumble to the originator would have sufficed, was a bad move?

martmonk

I thought that but the dd guarantee is unclear IMO as it simply says I'm entitled to a refund. To me that sounds like the recipient has to pay for their error.

I'll contact the club and tell them to contact me for payment if the bank takes the initial payment back from them.

YorkshireBoy

martmonk wrote: »

To me that sounds like the recipient has to pay for their error.

They won't pay anything, in terms of a financial penalty...if that's what you meant? They'll simply have the DD value reversed and see the money leave their bank.

I'll contact the club and tell them to contact me for payment if the bank takes the initial payment back from them.

There's no "if" about it. The bank have repaid you out of their own funds, as they have to. They WILL be indemnified by the originator.

martmonk

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

In hindsight, perhaps getting touch with your bank in such a formal manner, when a simple grumble to the originator would have sufficed, was a bad move?

Perhaps, if you mean a letter of any kind, but I didn't think it was that formal - it wasn't one of the templates offered on the direct debit website specifically requesting a refund. It was more a question to them - why has it been taken on the 31st July and not the 1st.

Hazzanet

martmonk wrote: »

I'll contact the club and tell them to contact me for payment if the bank takes the initial payment back from them.

The club will have received notification that the payment had been reversed the working day after you received the refund. The bank will then take the amount back from the club 14(ish) days later.

Unfortunately, the DD Guarantee simply reverses the error putting both parties back in the situation they were before the error occurred. Regrettably, there is no "free pass" as a result.

YorkshireBoy

martmonk wrote: »

It was more a question to them - why has it been taken on the 31st July and not the 1st.

Just a thought...the 1st August was a Saturday. What does your direct debit instruction confirmation letter say when the 1st of the month falls on a non-working day?

Many (most?) will say "on the 1st of the month or the next working day".

Some may say "if the 1st is a non-working day then payment will be taken on the previous working day".

So what was your agreement/arrangement with NUFC?

martmonk

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

"on the 1st of the month or the next working day"

?

^^^^^^^^^^^^

colsten

It sounds as if this will have "cost" the bank, the OP, and the club a whole lot more to sort out than it needed to. I would have just left the payment as is, and then would have had words with the club as they seem to have breached their T&Cs. If indeed they really have.

martmonk

colsten wrote: »

It sounds as if this will have "cost" the bank, the OP, and the club a whole lot more to sort out than it needed to. I would have just left the payment as is, and then would have had words with the club as they seem to have breached their T&Cs. If indeed they really have.

It'll 'cost' me about five minutes of my time in the ticket office one day in the next week or two to pay them if I need to as it's 30 seconds from my work.
I did leave the payment as it is, as I mentioned above I asked why it had been taken early.
"If indeed they really have" - can you explain? The payment was taken early, the agreement is to take the following working day when the payment date is a non-working day, not the previous one. Where does the doubt come from?