Paying for services not used - can we claim back?

emmav1

Hello,
I need some advice about our rights (if any) in the following situation:
I have recently taken over the bookkeeping for a small business and it has come to light that we have been paying for a service, by Direct Debit, for around 6 years which we thought we had terminated. My boss is convinced that he had a telephone conversation with the company, when we moved premises, to say we no longer needed their services but we have no call recording and nothing in writing to prove it. Unfortunately, the person doing the job before me never questioned the payment so we just continued to be invoiced and payment was collected every month.  Clearly, we have to take some responsibility for this oversight but it feels wrong that a company can continue collecting money when we are not using their services...especially for that amount of time!

The service was a kind of remote customer service facility to collect customer info out of hours. They have acknowledged that there has been no traffic from us since our office move in 2015 but insist that without 3 months notice they are within their rights to continue collecting the money, regardless of whether we made use of the facility.

Do we have a leg to stand on with regards to some kind of rebate? It amounts to over £5k so is not insubstantial. Is there any requirement on the part of the service provider to check-in with their customers when they are not using the services being charged for? Can we claim anything back via the Direct Debit Guarantee?

The company concerned has changed hands/traded as different names since the contract we signed. Does that give us anything to work with?

I would really appreciate people's thoughts / advice about how to challenge this, if it is indeed possible.

Thank you in advance!
Emma

MattMattMattUK

emmav1 said:

Hello,
I need some advice about our rights (if any) in the following situation:
I have recently taken over the bookkeeping for a small business and it has come to light that we have been paying for a service, by Direct Debit, for around 6 years which we thought we had terminated. My boss is convinced that he had a telephone conversation with the company, when we moved premises, to say we no longer needed their services but we have no call recording and nothing in writing to prove it. Unfortunately, the person doing the job before me never questioned the payment so we just continued to be invoiced and payment was collected every month.  Clearly, we have to take some responsibility for this oversight but it feels wrong that a company can continue collecting money when we are not using their services...especially for that amount of time!

The service was a kind of remote customer service facility to collect customer info out of hours. They have acknowledged that there has been no traffic from us since our office move in 2015 but insist that without 3 months notice they are within their rights to continue collecting the money, regardless of whether we made use of the facility.

Do we have a leg to stand on with regards to some kind of rebate? It amounts to over £5k so is not insubstantial. Is there any requirement on the part of the service provider to check-in with their customers when they are not using the services being charged for? Can we claim anything back via the Direct Debit Guarantee?

The company concerned has changed hands/traded as different names since the contract we signed. Does that give us anything to work with?

I would really appreciate people's thoughts / advice about how to challenge this, if it is indeed possible.

Thank you in advance!
Emma

Firstly as it is a business to business transaction you do not have Consumer Rights, so it will almost entirely fall back on the contract between the two parties. The Direct Debit Guarantee is irrelevant as the payment has been correctly and legally collected, nor do they have to "check-in".

I suspect that their three month notice period to terminate is correct, but I do not think you have any grounds for a rebate of the previous years. The fact that they have changed hands, or used different trading names is correct, provided continuity of contract and service. 

Unfortunately I think this is one of those issues where multiple people's negligence has been a somewhat costly error.

macman

The fact that you haven't used the service is not relevant. As long as it was there to be used, they are entitled to charge you for it. We can't see the contract from here, but your chance of a refund is probably less than zero.
The same applies to the notice period, but 90 days would not be unusual in this kind of BTB contract.

emmav1

Thanks for your replies guys, I was afraid this was going to be the answer!  

Sandtree

emmav1 said:

Thanks for your replies guys, I was afraid this was going to be the answer!  

Not really something to be afraid of... you are already showing you are adding value over their last hire and its also an opportunity to point out the flaws in the processes for cancelling services.

pbartlett

you could also ask them if, as a goodwill gesture, they would forego the 90 days notice requirement

Manxman_in_exile

Sandtree said:

emmav1 said:

Thanks for your replies guys, I was afraid this was going to be the answer!  

Not really something to be afraid of... you are already showing you are adding value over their last hire and its also an opportunity to point out the flaws in the processes for cancelling services.

This is correct ^^^^^^^.

And if your boss thought the contract could be terminated by a telephone call without any written confirmation (whether three months or not) you might win additional kudos by suggesting a review of other business contracts and creating a log or register of their important details so this does not happen again.