Argos card - Failed DD

Patrick050289

Hello everyone,

I have had an Argos account for many years ( last in use around 18 months ago ) where my payments were being made by Direct Debit until the balance was cleared.

Around Christmas time I purchased an item using the Argos store card and since the interest period passed my first payment was due out on the 20/06/16.

Totally unaware of the above, I received a letter from Argos stating that my payment failed and that they applied £12 late payment charge.

The minimum payment went out, but was later ( the same day ) credited back to my current account.

There was sufficient funds in my account, still the same bank account etc.:mad:

Just to make it clear I am not really bothered about the £12 charge... I am worried about it being marked on my credit file.


Any suggestions what I could to revert the damage?


Many Thanks
Patrick

sourcrates

Hi,

Just read your post properly, if payment went out again same day it will be ok, it won't be marked as late.

rogue999

I've read it as the direct debit to Argos wasn't paid is that right? Going out then back into your account would usually mean either there weren't enough cleared funds in your account to cover the dd, or there was a problem with the dd mandate not being active - they expire after 13 months of no collections unless reset-up by the originator (argos in this case). I only mention this as you said the account's not been used for about 18 months.

Have you been in touch with Argos and paid the overdue amount yet? If not do this ASAP. Where i work we attempt to recollect unpaid DDs 14 days after the original due date (if not already paid over the phone) and only after that would we class it as overdue - obviously all firms work differently but get it paid quickly and there's less chance of it being marked as 'missed'.

Patrick050289

Sorry, I perhaps didn't make it clear enough...

Looking at my bank statement my bank ( Barclays ) tried to pay and the amount was taken out of my account, but later the same day returned back to my account ( Barclays ).

As a result, for whatever reason no money reached my Argos account.

rogue999,
If the direct debit expired would they still attempt to collect the money?
There was more than enough money available to cover the payment.


Thank you

sourcrates

Patrick050289 wrote: »

Sorry, I perhaps didn't make it clear enough...

Looking at my bank statement my bank ( Barclays ) tried to pay and the amount was taken out of my account, but later the same day returned back to my account ( Barclays ).

As a result, for whatever reason no money reached my Argos account.


Thank you

Will be a late payment marker then, only a problem, and a very minor one, if your applying for credit.

It's defaults that deter lenders from saying yes to credit, one late payment won't matter.

Patrick050289

Thank you for all replies so far,

sourcrates,

Thanks for that.
I am however trying to understand is who actually is to blame?
My direct debit was in place & there was sufficient amount of money in the bank.

Doesn't seem fair that I am getting penalised for no fault of my own.

Thanks

rogue999

Yes they can still try to collect on an expired mandate and it would show like that (i've done it in error at work!). I would say that would be classed as their error as they should have noticed and reset the DD. I would ring them and pay ASAP if you can and also mention about the DD not going through properly - they should really check their end as the same thing will happen next month if that is the problem and they don't correct it.

sourcrates

Also a written complaint may work for you as well !!

rogue999

Patrick050289 wrote: »

Thank you for all replies so far,

sourcrates,

Thanks for that.
I am however trying to understand is who actually is to blame?
My direct debit was in place & there was sufficient amount of money in the bank.

Doesn't seem fair that I am getting penalised for no fault of my own.

Thanks

Ask your bank for confirmation in writing of why it wasn't paid, they will be able to tell you exactly why.
If it is Argos's fault then go back to them and ask them to investigate. When DDs fail to go through there is a report showing the reason why (eg insufficient funds, no mandate etc) - they should definitely be able to tell, but with such a big company it may be difficult to get to the right department who would actually know those details, the general customer service team would probably only see your account and the ins and outs and not know the details.

Patrick050289

Hi Everyone,

What a nightmare - No one knows what is going on, or who in fact is to blame.

Argos told me to speak to Barclays as they were the ones that retracted the payment and everything is set up correctly.

Barclays told me they can't even see a direct debit set up, but they can see that a payment was made and later retracted:mad:


where do i go from here?


Thanks

sourcrates

Patrick050289 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

What a nightmare - No one knows what is going on, or who in fact is to blame.

Argos told me to speak to Barclays as they were the ones that retracted the payment and everything is set up correctly.

Barclays told me they can't even see a direct debit set up, but they can see that a payment was made and later retracted:mad:


where do i go from here?



Thanks

Already told you to send a WRITTEN complaint.

You are much more likely to get a positive outcome.

Speaking to people on the phone about these things is seldom productive, as you have discovered.

If you ring, all you get is a call handler, if you write, you usually get a dedicated member of the complaints team, simples !!!