Talk mobile ruins my credit rating

Quigibo

Ben8282 wrote: »

Over and over again we have threads from people who cancel the direct debit.
My advice. NEVER cancel a direct debit (unless there are some exceptional genuine grounds to suspect fraud etc).
I have NEVER had anybody take a direct debit that they shouldn't have and if they did you would have the direct debit guarantee to fall back on.
The direct debit should cancel itself in due course. If not, wait a few months and then cancel it.
So because of your haste in cancelling the direct debit before your final payment was taken you have created this problem for yourself. Talk mobile have not ruined your credit rating; you have.

nic_c wrote: »

Time to change habits. Why did you cancel if you thought you did not owe anything? Did you receive monthly statements, or was it all online - if the latter did you ever check your online account to ensure it was zero.
To answer your questions
- probably did but by the usual billing method
- even is a PAC is requested, if its not used everything continues, so once it completed they probably did a final bill and tried to collect by the DD
- they probably have a low balance policy - is it worth spending money chasing a £7 (letters cost). They did report it to CRA.

You are probably right, it's an old habit after poor early experiences with DD payments and before the DD guarantees.

Interstingly I lost access to my online account when I ported my number, so would never have known if I had a balance.

I'm supprised they are not accountable for letting me know I owed them money ever, but they are perfectly OK to have a major affect on my credit history. How else would I know?

Ben8282

The direct debit guarantee has existed since direct debits were first introduced, presumably to give people the confidence to use them. So you could not have had any such experiences from before the DD guarantees.

Quigibo

Ben8282 wrote: »

You have partially answered your question in your OP



Obviously there will be a final bill. Say your bill is generated on 1st of the month and you cancelled on 15th.
Next month on 1st there will be a final bill. That should be self evident. If you had already cancelled the direct debit obviously they couldn't take it.
]

Yes, I get that, but Talk. Mobile actually state that the direct debit should be left for 90 day after giving 30 days notice.

Are you also suggesting that company's only responsibility is to try the direct debit for payment, that's it? They don't need to attempt any other form of communication?

Quigibo

Ben8282 wrote: »

The direct debit guarantee has existed since direct debits were first introduced, presumably to give people the confidence to use them. So you could not have had any such experiences from before the DD guarantees.

From the Dd wiki
"The problem of cancelled and obsolete direct debits being wrongfully revived or re-implemented is estimated to cost UK consumers £385 million in 2010. For those customers who find out, it takes them on average four months to notice. Although no specific figures were collected it appears a substantial number of people lose considerable amounts of money annually because the obsolete direct debit is neither noticed nor recovered"

Quigibo

Ben8282 wrote: »

You have partially answered your question in your OP



Obviously there will be a final bill. Say your bill is generated on 1st of the month and you cancelled on 15th.
Next month on 1st there will be a final bill. That should be self evident. If you had already cancelled the direct debit obviously they couldn't take it.
]
Rather foolish if you ask me. Did you never think to call them and ask them to adjust the direct debit based on your current level of consumption?

Yes,
Called them, they refused to change it, asked for a refund of the £580 they had they said no, I needed to be in credit. I had no other option but to cancel my direct debit for 3 months until my balance returned to a little I credit and the restore the direct debit. The company in question has been in the news for these tactics.

System

Quigibo wrote: »

I've had energy firms constantly talk more and more money when I'm in credit and little option to do anything to prevent.

Err that's how it is supposed to work when you have your gas and electric on monthly direct debit, the idea being to spread the total annual cost as equally as possible over 12 months. You usually end up well in credit by the end of summer when your usage is low and then that credit gets used over winter when your usage goes up to meet the cost of that without increasing the direct debit.

t0rt0ise

Tarambor wrote: »

Err that's how it is supposed to work when you have your gas and electric on monthly direct debit, the idea being to spread the total annual cost as equally as possible over 12 months. You usually end up well in credit by the end of summer when your usage is low and then that credit gets used over winter when your usage goes up to meet the cost of that without increasing the direct debit.

That's the way it used to be. Now many of the smaller companies increase the DD in the winter virtually negating the usefullness of paying by DD.

Also when you move your account to another company, many of them continue to take the DD so that you pay two companies for a while. Some people can't afford to allow this, others attempt to get the money owed back but it can take months.

If you ask the bank to refund money taken via a DD when you've left the company, the bank will insist you cancel the DD first!

Quigibo

Tarambor wrote: »

Err that's how it is supposed to work when you have your gas and electric on monthly direct debit, the idea being to spread the total annual cost as equally as possible over 12 months. You usually end up well in credit by the end of summer when your usage is low and then that credit gets used over winter when your usage goes up to meet the cost of that without increasing the direct debit.

This was credit accrued over winter not summer.

[Deleted User]

Talk mobile didn't ruin your credit "rating" - you did by not paying the final bill.

You didn't receive a single email, call, letter or carrier pigeon telling you that there was an amount outstanding? You didn't log in to your account to see what the final bill was?

Quigibo

camelot1971 wrote: »

Talk mobile didn't ruin your credit "rating" - you did by not paying the final bill.

You didn't receive a single email, call, letter or carrier pigeon telling you that there was an amount outstanding? You didn't log in to your account to see what the final bill was?

Again, access to my online account was removed when I ported my phone number to the new company. I literally had no method to determine if I had a balance.