Credit card company taken direct debit payment for statement after receiving online payment

lather30

I recently part-paid my credit card statement (Barclaycard) via an online bank transfer (Halifax), which my online credit card statement shows they acknowledge receipt of on the same day it was sent. Three days later, the credit card statement shows them having also taken the direct debit payment for the same bill from my bank account, which has driven the account in question into overdraft.

I've sent Barclaycard a secure online message via their website asking for an explanation as to why they have taken the direct debit when they clearly acknowledge receipt of the online payment three days previously. I've also asked them to refund the money taken via the direct debit on the grounds that they had already received payment via the online banking transaction, and have therefore been paid twice and effectively taken the money without my permission. I'm currently waiting for their reply, which that say I should get within 24 hours.

As I'm self-employed and currently can't work due to the fact that my job requires fairly close contact with customers for periods of several hours at a time, money is of great concern to me right now. So to have someone effectively steal money from my account is not what I need right now. Does anyone have any advice on what else I can do to get the money back that, to my mind, they should never have taken from my account?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

you can make a payment to your credit card at anytime, though a DD is set up to be paid on a certain date each month.

You said "I've also asked them to refund the money taken via the direct debit on the grounds that they had already received payment via the online banking transaction, and have therefore been paid twice and effectively taken the money without my permission."

By setting up the DD you gave them permission to collect payment on certain date each month, which they have done, even if you had cancelled the DD after making your part payment the 3 days would probably not be enough to stop the payment.

Your good intentions have backfired this time, but the good thing is you have got the balance down.

digalumps

I think the problem that you had is that you paid it 3 days before the direct debit date and that was not enough time for Barclays to stop the direct debit

yes I know it's a strange in these days of instant computers but that does seem to be the way it works

I have paid Barclaycard bits and pieces anything up to a week before my direct debit date and had my direct debit reduced by that amount

Speedbird676

lather30 said:

So to have someone effectively steal money from my account is not what I need right now.

Whilst I'm sure you're frustrated this is a bit harsh. They didn't steal anything, merely executed the instruction you gave them when you set up the direct debit.

Typically banks handle additional payments in one of two ways, and I'm not sure which is the case for Barclaycard:

1. If you make an additional payment x number of days before the direct debit is due then they will adjust the amount collected by the direct debit. This is usually at least 5 working days before the direct debit due date.
2. Any additional payments made do not adjust the direct debit amount collected.

If your credit card now was a positive balance you could ask them to credit that back to your bank account.

onlyfoolsandparking

Barclaycard certainly haven't stolen money from you!!!
I regularly overpay my Barclaycard and its so easy to do, take this month as the example, my DD for £105 was due 18th May and its there in black and white when I log on. 'Your DD payment of £105 will be taken 18th May' I made a £400 overpayment on the 9th May and as soon as I paid it the message changes to 'You have paid £400 your DD will not be taken' SIMPLES!

Where it could have gone wrong is if I paid £400 today as that's not enough time for Barclaycard to stop the DD BUT it does warn you by saying 'Too late to stop DD' and I see that message regularly. Not a major issue for me if I am too late making any overpayment I just adjust the overpayment, in this case I would have paid £295 which add the DD to would still equal a £400 overpayment, Its not hard if you think about it.


Just as a side issue and in connection to credit card payments Barclaycard still take DD if its set at a FIXED amount but don't take it if its set at minimum payment and you overpay AT LEAST 5 days before DD is due. Some other card companies work in a similar way but not all, Virgin still take DD regardless of overpayments, they do tell you on statements so again no problem. 

CRISPIANNE3

lather30 said:

I recently part-paid my credit card statement (Barclaycard) via an online bank transfer (Halifax), which my online credit card statement shows they acknowledge receipt of on the same day it was sent. Three days later, the credit card statement shows them having also taken the direct debit payment for the same bill from my bank account, which has driven the account in question into overdraft.

I've sent Barclaycard a secure online message via their website asking for an explanation as to why they have taken the direct debit when they clearly acknowledge receipt of the online payment three days previously. I've also asked them to refund the money taken via the direct debit on the grounds that they had already received payment via the online banking transaction, and have therefore been paid twice and effectively taken the money without my permission. I'm currently waiting for their reply, which that say I should get within 24 hours.

As I'm self-employed and currently can't work due to the fact that my job requires fairly close contact with customers for periods of several hours at a time, money is of great concern to me right now. So to have someone effectively steal money from my account is not what I need right now. Does anyone have any advice on what else I can do to get the money back that, to my mind, they should never have taken from my account?

You obviously did not leave enough time hence the reason dd was taken. I have a BC and if making a manual payment as well as payment by dd I make sure there is enough time for the dd not to be activated. Sorry but Barclaycard are not at fault on this occasion. However if you really need the money paid by dd refunded then use the direct debit guarantee scheme.

D3xt3r5L4b

 They haven’t stolen your money - you voluntarily gave it to them.

Manual payments need to be 10 days before the Direct Debit is due to allow for it to be adjusted or not taken for the month. 

Live and learn. 

dr_adidas01

Agreeing with the other posters on here you left it 3 days before your direct debit was to be collected to to make a payment so that your direct debit wouldn't be collected, it does say when you do this that it is to late to cancel the direct debit payment. They certainly haven't stolen anything from you, you've just not payed in sufficient time for the direct debit not to be taken.

I have a BC and have a direct debit set up on it, though it never gets activated as I usually manually pay it in full after my statement is produced, when the payment has been added to my account it usually says "you have paid £xx.xx amount and your direct debit will not be collected)

tlc678910

Agree with the posters above - you paid your manual payment too close to the due date for Barclaycard to cancel the direct debit.  Some cards still take your minimum payment direct debit if you make a manual payment but Barclaycard will cancel the debit if you have paid the minimum if there is time.  If you log into the app or website to pay it will tell you whether they will cancel the debit or if it is too late.
I don't know if they will refund you but I would take the approach of asking nicely rather than accusing them of stealing.  I once got a charge for not paying on time because the direct debit had lapsed as it had been unused for quite some time as I usually always made a manual payment.  I didn't realise this happened.  They accepted my explanation and refunded the charge.  If your bank has charged you you could explain to them and see if they will refund the charge.

digalumps

Yes good point that just to reiterate to everybody if you pay your Barclaycard or indeed any card manually so that they never take the direct debit then after 13 months the direct debit will automatically cancel

you might not notice this 

TadleyBaggie

Some providers won't adjust the DD payment even if you pay it off weeks before the DD is due. I have a Sainsbury's CC with DD to pay off in full every month. It was sitting at £1400+ so I did a balance transfer to a 0% card over 2 weeks before the DD was due to be taken, they still took the full £1400+ putting the card into credit! I sighed but didn't !!!!!! and moan, just used the card as normal and used up the credit balance over the next couple of months or so.