telephone complaint

areia

Im trying to look into where my mums bill money is going,,, Im sure shes with first telecom ( its first something ) ,,, every month she pays her bill in cash over the counter at natwest,,, shes has it dated stamped and receipt of payment,,, the next month she gets her bill ,,, and it says her previous bill was unpaid,,,, now this went on for a while as she went into the bank ,,, they said it was sent,,,she rang the telephone company they are saying she hasnt,,,, now thinking a possible theft on the banks part,,, they have investigated and they still confirm its gone through,,, she as now stopped ringing first telecom as they are now accusing her of being anyone, anyone can stamp a bit of paper and well basically accusing her of lieing,,,( I personally have been in with her when shes paid these bills in too ) ,and that she must pay by DD,,, she doesnt want to ,,An option is to pay via the bank and she prefers it that way ,,,, and every month she is still paying what she owes for her months bill,,,, its now reached over £100 ,,,, what I am finding strange as shes not had any court summons just her monthly bills and that she has to pay the outstanding,,,How and where can we go with this,,as someone has her money somewhere,,,

tomtontom

I'm sorry, can you rewrite your post without the bizarre commas everywhere? It's painful to read!

AJXX

Perhaps try an official complaint (sent recorded delivery) to both the bank and whoever telecom outlining what's happened and what you want/expect to happen and point out that the money has been sent each time in good faith and due to either a failing at the bank or whoever telecom has not been received.

I know many older people seem to have a strong dislike of Direct Debit, but it's surely easier than her trudging down to the bank and eliminates cockups such as the above in the long run?

areia

She's elderly and set in ways, she has nothing going out by direct debit we've both had money taken from our accounts at some point,,, even I don't pay certain bills by Direct Debit, but I'm not against it.
I'm personally more annoyed at the fact they are accusing her of not paying her bill.
You would of thought a phone call would be enough as well as complaining though the bank, She was even using the Banks phone to call the phone company and he just said you could be anywhere.
We'll do the snail mail route, was just wondering if anyone else had gone through this

LadyDee

Theft by the bank? You can't be serious.

First, make sure of the name of the company. Then ask yout mother to ring them and check that the account number on their paying-in slip is correct.

If your mother insists on paying by cash in the bank, then get her to pay the cash into her bank account first and then pay the bill from her bank account. That way she has proof on her bank statement of the payment and where it's been sent.

unholyangel

Do you mean she pays by giro slip attached at the bottom of the bill?

Surely they must be receiving payment else her service would have been cut off by now?

hollydays

areia wrote: »

Im trying to look into where my mums bill money is going,,, Im sure shes with first telecom ( its first something ) ,,, every month she pays her bill in cash over the counter at natwest,,, shes has it dated stamped and receipt of payment,,, the next month she gets her bill ,,, and it says her previous bill was unpaid,,,, now this went on for a while as she went into the bank ,,, they said it was sent,,,she rang the telephone company they are saying she hasnt,,,, now thinking a possible theft on the banks part,,, they have investigated and they still confirm its gone through,,, she as now stopped ringing first telecom as they are now accusing her of being anyone, anyone can stamp a bit of paper and well basically accusing her of lieing,,,( I personally have been in with her when shes paid these bills in too ) ,and that she must pay by DD,,, she doesnt want to ,,An option is to pay via the bank and she prefers it that way ,,,, and every month she is still paying what she owes for her months bill,,,, its now reached over £100 ,,,, what I am finding strange as shes not had any court summons just her monthly bills and that she has to pay the outstanding,,,How and where can we go with this,,as someone has her money somewhere,,,

Well done you for helping your mum if she's not too sure what is happening .

Could it be simply that your mum is paying the bill later than the last date required ( as happens with credit cards) ?
Or, recently I had a credit card that I paid but the payment was held in a " holding account" by the bank as it WAS the banks mistake .

bris

I hate to say it but if they aren't getting the payments why oh why do you still let her pay that way. Stuck in her ways or not you need to take a bit of control and set up the DD for her.


DD is the safest method as it's also protected by the bank but the bottom line is you don't pay in a way that clearly isn't working, probably your mums error too because the bank isn't stealing the money.

sheramber

I am not clear on what is happening.

Is it a case of each month the payment is not getting taken off so her bill is increasing each month or is one payment missing and the amount is getting carried forward each month.



e.g month 1 due to pay £10
month 2 bill is £10 for this month and £10 for last month = £20
month 3 bill is £10 for this month and £20 from previous months = £30
and so on

or

is it a case of month 1 bill £10

month 2 bill £10 and £10 for last month = £20 but £10 paid is set against the first month leaving £10 balance due

month 3 bill £10 and £10 c/f from month 2 = £20 and £10 paid is set against month 2 bill leaving £10 outstanding.

hollydays

Things to check.
Look at her paper bill. Ring the supplier and ask them for their account number. Then go into nat west with her next time . Ask them what account number they're using.make a note of this and any other reference number the bank is using also . Double check it all . Ask the bank if there's a possibility that the money is being held in a holding account somewhere.

pmduk

It could even be that the money is held in a holding account at the telecom company whilst awaiting a claim