Can a business INSIST on payment by Direct Debit?

Savvy_Sue

We currently have our rubbish collected by WasteTech, who are a ghastly company to deal with: see this thread!

They have now sent us a letter, dated 20 November, with a Direct Debit form, and one of the final paragraphs says "As of January 2008, Direct Debit will be the only payment option for all our clients, so it is essential that the Mandate is returned immediately."

They ask for the form to be returned by 30 November, although I'm reasonably confident this letter only arrived last week.

Now, I don't WANT to set up a Direct Debit with them, because I'm planning to terminate our contract early next year, and I don't trust them. They already levy £15 admin fees for just about anything, I'm surprised they didn't charge that for sending this letter. I know there's the Direct Debit guarantee, but I'd rather not have the hassle of reclaiming money if I can avoid paying it to them in the first place.

So, can they refuse to offer other payment options? And if they can do so at the start of a contract, can they unilaterally change my contract now? Direct Debit was NOT an option when we first signed it, or we'd probably have taken it, before we'd had any serious dealings with them!

fguk

Now I guess you have probably considered all of what I am about to say, but you help everyone else, so you deserve some answers to your query!

1) I reckon they would be hard pushed to take any action if you continue to pay them using cheque or BACS or cash, so long as it was on-time and correct.

2) I also think they probably have a clause in their contract that says "with reasonable notice we can change everything blah blah blah"

3) It would be interesting to see if because of that change you are allowed to terminate early (unlikely I guess). Contract reading time! yawn.

4) Almost forgot, if you do continue to pay using another method, they may want to apply a service charge. However, you should be able to make sure that those charges are reasonable (banks do not charge £15 to pay in one cheque!)

kaya

"i promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of"
i didnt think you were alowed to refuse cash!
"legal tender"

ukukuk

some businesses use direct debit to keep their prices down. Its easy enough to cancel direct debits so I wouldn't worry about it.

Mark7799

fguk wrote: »

4) Almost forgot, if you do continue to pay using another method, they may want to apply a service charge. However, you should be able to make sure that those charges are reasonable (banks do not charge £15 to pay in one cheque!)

No but factor time spent on opening the post, manual reconciliation of accounts, preparation of paying -in slip, travel back and for to bank - might not be far short of 1 - 1.5 hrs work and £15 for one cheque wouldn't seem unreasonable. Admittedly, if there was more than one then this charge would come down through economies of scale

Savvy_Sue

Thanks to you all: yes, I probably do need to haul the contract out, and my glasses ... it really is the height of 'small print', maybe I should ask for a large print or Braille version (which I used to be able to read) to see how long they take to send that ...

We've been paying by BACS until now.

As much as anything, it's the lack of notice which annoys me. On the original "We hate Wastetech" thread someone else said they'd had this letter back on 17 November, so I've been keeping an eye open for it. I don't see all the finance post every day, but I DO see that kind of thing at least once a week: they've sent us a letter dated 10 days before they want a form back, but they haven't posted it until just before the deadline, and I don't find that reasonable!

Will mull it all over. On one level it may be less hassle to just set it up and cancel it, but it's the principle of the thing ...