Mint Direct Debit Scam

SteveEast9

Hi

I have a Mint Gold Visa card with a *minimum* payment Direct Debit set up to my HSBC account.

I administer all accounts online. On 6 September my Mint statement indicated a £73.00 minimum payment would be collected by Direct Debit on 1 October.

However, I decided to repay the entire balance by online payment.
Subsequently, this payment showed on my online *Mint Gold Visa* account as having been received by them and credited on 11 September.

So my Mint Visa Gold is now NIL.

Naturally, no need for me to cancel the Mint Visa Gold Direct Debit since I would want it for any future payments but I assumed that as my balance was NIL on 11 September, Mint would naturally not claim any money by the Minimum payment DD.

Oh no, by sheer luck I was looking at my HSBC online account on 1 October and a £73 direct debit had been claimed by MINT!!! Even though my balance with them had been NIL for 3 weeks prior to that.

I telephone HSBC immediately and requested them to stop the payment that day (I didn't have enough in my account anyway, so would have gone overdrawn) and explained to them why, and cancelled the Direct Debit.

3 Days later I look at my online Mint Visa Gold to find a £10 'Return payment Fee' has been debited to my account.

I phone Mint Customer Services. The first person refuses to refund the £10 even on a goodwill basis as they said I should have let the £73 go through, then phone them for a refund!!! I get put through to a 'Manager' and this is the virtual verbatim conversation:

The Manager 'Lucy' says 'Your statement required a minimum payment of £73. You had a Direct Debit set up. It is fixed. It cannot be changed' I say 'But Lucy I paid off my entire balance and my online Mint account shows it as paid on 11 September so I don't owe ANYTHING on 1 October!!!'
Lucy replies: 'Your statement of 6 September required a payment of £73. You had a Direct Debit set up. It is fixed. It cannot be changed'
I say to Lucy 'Lucy £73 is bad enough but what if my minimum payment had been £730 - would you have tried to take that as well!!!!'
Lucy replies: 'Your statement required a minimum payment of £73. You had a minimum payment Direct Debit set up. It is fixed. It cannot be changed - that is our system and whether or not other banks operate differently is not relevant'
I say 'Lucy this is ridiculous - all other credit card issuers that I have checked have a system whereby the direct debit is processed 4 working days before it is due *based on the account BALANCE owing* - mine was NIL so you should not have taken anything; not charged me a £10 return payment fee and refund it to my account'
Lucy replies: 'Your statement required a minimum payment of £73. You had a minimum payment Direct Debit set up. It is fixed. It cannot be changed - that is our system and whether or not other banks operate differently is not relevant. We do not refund fees when a Direct Debit payment is refused'

Since that conversation last Friday I have been busy with other things but I really want to pursue this.
Fortunately, that £10 fee is the only outstanding item on my Mint Visa Gold and also I do not need to use the Mint Visa gold, and I have no desire or intention to pay that £10 but if I don't this will affect my credit score.
I thought I would post here for some advice before I write a letter and send by recorded delivery post.

Many thanks

jamalfatty

You dont have any cause for complaint here, although they may refund the charge as goodwill they certainly arent obliged to.

Same as for most banks, when you setup the direct debit, you instructed them to take the minimum payment as shown on your statement on the payment due date on that same statement from your bank account. It is quite rightly so not for the banks to decide when and if you may want to pay your bill, they are doing exactly what you told them to.

Common sense says they shouldnt have, but what if after paying your balance off you went out and spent £73 the day before the DD was due expecting this to be paid off following day? Would you also complain then if they didnt take it?

sicker

Why anyone sets up direct debits with all these horror stories going about, is beyond me. It is very easy to set up your own payments for any length time by home banking leaving YOU in control. If something then goes wrong it's your fault and yourself to blame.

exel1966

SCAMMED , RIPPED OFF , CONNED !!

Whenever a poster uses these words you just know that they've screwed up themselves and want to blame someone else for their mistakes or their lack of understanding of how the systems work !!

economiser

sicker wrote: »

Why anyone sets up direct debits with all these horror stories going about, is beyond me. It is very easy to set up your own payments for any length time by home banking leaving YOU in control. If something then goes wrong it's your fault and yourself to blame.

I couldn't agree more. The problem is that with telephone, gas and electricity I have to pay a surcharge if I don't use a DD. I don't think many people realise that when you sign a DD you give virtually open access to your bank account to the debitor. Experience has taught me that the "guarantee" is not as straightforward as it sounds. What is more most banks will set up a DD on the debitor's say so without checking with you. It's happened to me.

michilin27

hi

the credit card company are not at fault here with regards to requesting the direct debit- the are carrying out an intruction you have asked them to do

however, they should also have advised you on day you called in to cancel the direct debit that it was too late to do so and they should refund the charge as gwg for mis information

they are not required by law however to refund this charge

steven504

I would write to mint and complain. put it in writing and the date you expect the money to be refunded. They tried to take money that was already paid off i got a refund from my cc for the same thing.

butch_dingle_2

i find this story quite hard to believe : you had a minimum payment of £73 which suggests a balance of around £2400 which you "paid off" from your current account, but 20 days laters you didnt have enough in this current account to pay a £73 direct debit.

Sounds like you need to organise your finances a bit better.

Smidda

butch_dingle wrote: »

i find this story quite hard to believe : you had a minimum payment of £73 which suggests a balance of around £2400 which you "paid off" from your current account, but 20 days laters you didnt have enough in this current account to pay a £73 direct debit.

Sounds like you need to organise your finances a bit better.

Sounds like someone needs to keep their noses out and if they have nothing constructive to say on the OP's original query then dont say anything!! :mad:

SteveEast9

jamalfatty wrote: »

You dont have any cause for complaint here, although they may refund the charge as goodwill they certainly arent obliged to.

Same as for most banks, when you setup the direct debit, you instructed them to take the minimum payment as shown on your statement on the payment due date on that same statement from your bank account. It is quite rightly so not for the banks to decide when and if you may want to pay your bill, they are doing exactly what you told them to.

Common sense says they shouldnt have, but what if after paying your balance off you went out and spent £73 the day before the DD was due expecting this to be paid off following day? Would you also complain then if they didnt take it?

Actually, you are talking complete nonsense.

The minimum payment required by a specified due date relates to a statement balance and any purchases made after the statement date refer to a later period.

The logic of what you are saying is so ludicrous as to be laughable, it would require a customer - who has chosen to repay the whole balance early, as I did - to actually CANCEL the direct debit immediately, and then set it up all over again the next month.

Moreover, by your logic I would be foregoing any interest-free period of use of that money if indeed I did spend £73 subsequently. That rather goes against *my* interests and the whole point of this site advising people to make use of interest-free spending on credit cards.

SteveEast9

economiser wrote: »

I couldn't agree more. The problem is that with telephone, gas and electricity I have to pay a surcharge if I don't use a DD. I don't think many people realise that when you sign a DD you give virtually open access to your bank account to the debitor. Experience has taught me that the "guarantee" is not as straightforward as it sounds. What is more most banks will set up a DD on the debitor's say so without checking with you. It's happened to me.

1. Ebico are a socially responsible Gas/Electricity supplier (using Southern Electric) and are currently virtually the cheapest for both. They charge the *same* unit rate to every customer no matter what payment method they use, or plan, (including Key card!!) - use the energyhelpline comparison site recommended here by Martyn Lewis and you'll find you can get what you want.

2. A DD originator can *only* set up a Direct Debit without your prior written authority if (a) you have already given them those bank details, duh!!!! and (b) You have given them verbal authority that they can verify, or it is a requirement of the product that you have a direct debit.
The nonsense talked here about Direct Debits is astonishing - the guarantee is very clear, if the payments collected are not strictly in accordance with the agreement you have with the issuer, or, for example, they make a charge where the money was not owing, your bank *must* refund you within 24 hours. The bank *must* believe *your* version and leave the matter to be settled between you and the DD issuer.

3. Every other unhelpful and useless response to this thread surprises me. I thought users of this website reflected more closely the intelligence of Martyn Lewis. Clearly I was wrong.

Not one of the respondents has suggested what they would have done, or have answered the scenario if they had repaid a balance early (early enough, eg THREE weeks) and then been debited.
All you have all done is 'moan' about Direct Debits like slightly moronic lemmings.
I have used Direct Debits for over 30 years with not a single real problem until now.