Barclaycard - Direct Debit Idiocy

thundyuk

Just thought I'd put this out there - Barclays process for direct debit notification needs some serious reworking.

I have a Barclaycard which I'd never used but when they wrote to me saying I had a 0% transfer offer I thought I'd use it.

Transferred the max I could on Saturday 22nd May and I noticed I'd never set up a DD, so I set that up at the same time. Monday rolls by and the transfer goes ahead. I get a text saying that my DD won't be set in time so I need to pay manually. Weird, methinks, since a DD is a few days at most to set up and surely my first payment is at least a month away? Nevertheless I log in online just to check and sure enough - payment due £0.

Then I get another text saying it won't be ready so I decided to call them up (Tuesday this is ). The nice lady on the other end says the DD is set up and not to worry about it as nothing is due anyway. I hang up.

Another text saying my DD won't be set up arrives the following day.

Then an email arrives on Tuesday night at 11pm saying that it won't be ready so please make a payment.

Today (Thursday) the postman drops a letter in my door - now they've WRITTEN to me saying it won't be ready.

What the actual f*** are they playing at?

I'm half suspecting that they're spamming me so they have plausible deniability when there's some issue with payment so they can retract the 0% offer. 

Anyone else experienced this utter farce? What happened in the end?

Cheers
Phil

[Deleted User]

1thundyuk said:

Weird, methinks, since a DD is a few days at most to set up and surely my first payment is at least a month away? 

Yethinks incorrectly. A DD always takes more than a few days to set up, when you consider the minimum 10 days notification required, plus set up time and statement cycles.

But there was obviously a miscommunication by the call centre staff, which is not unusual. Just make sure you make a manual payment if there is any doubt over the DD. They're not spamming you or trying to make you miss a payment.

thundyuk

That can't be correct though as when I spoke to their call centre staff Tuesday they advised me the DD was set up - that's within two working days?
PS Just checked my current a/c as well and the DD was set up earlier in the week.

[Deleted User]

It's absolutely correct. 

Having the DD technically set up is one thing, but they still need to give you the minimum 10 days notification of the amount to be taken by DD. And given that happens via the statement you can see why it can take a month or more.

born_again

The DD will be set up, but it will not take any payments until the next statement.
They can not take a payment from a statement already issued.

thundyuk

I see what you mean with the DD now however the message spam still makes no sense. I took the balance out on Saturday and the first payment isn't till June.

From my account:
Your minimum payment of £37.22 will be collected by Direct Debit on 21 June.

Last statement

Statement date 26 May 2021

Statement balance £1,488.96

Minimum payment £37.22

Please pay by 21 Jun 2021

I stand by my initial idiocy statement. ;-)

kaMelo

It does seem strange the number or notifications as well as what they say. There's a lot of nonsense in the media currently citing "confusion" but I think the notifications you've received are a valid example of confusion.
The notification periods for direct debits do differ though. There is a ten day notification requirement for setting up a brand new direct debit but only a three day notification requirement of the amount to be collected via an established direct debit although in practice most do give more notice than three days. 
For the avoidance of doubt I would always assume payment via DD will not be taken unless it is explicitly stated in either a notification or written on a statement.