Credit Card company have double-dunted my current account balance - fee's incurred.

Gaberdeen

So, a small update.

I received a response to my complaint around 3 days ago but was unable to read the correspondence because I'm currently offshore and Tesco won't let me access my account without 2FA. (Not a lot of phone signal in the North Sea)

I figured I'd read it when I got home but today, Tesco AGAIN tried to take the balance from my current account and AGAIN my bank bounced the direct debit and issued me yet another penalty charge.

So, I spent the better part of an hour on the phone this morning trying to talk to a human being about this and finally got though to a young man in Newcastle.

As it transpires, the original correspondence I got 3 days ago was to notify me that my complaint was not being upheld because I paid my card off too close to the Direct Debit date and the error was mine. 

I asked why Tesco attempted to take the same Direct Debit 5 days on from when it was rejected I got a rather sheepish reply that the system is automated and that any failed direct debit automatically tries again 5 days later and that it cannot be stopped unless the DD is cancelled.

I pointed out that if that was the case, Tesco must have know that they would automatically be attempting to re-bill a paid statement, because that was the premise of my original complaint and according to them, they had no case to answer.

The young man conceded my point & was very apologetic, which I told him not to be, because it wasn't his fault all this happened and he informed me that because of the inconvenience & in light of the circumstances, Tesco were crediting £25 to my statement next month as a goodwill gesture.

So, victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Lesson learned, never make additional payments to a credit card you pay off in full.

Ebe_Scrooge

Thanks for the update, it's always nice when posters come back to report on the outcome.  A few points to mention - and please take these as they are intended - factual statements, rather than a dig at you

Gaberdeen said:

As it transpires, the original correspondence I got 3 days ago was to notify me that my complaint was not being upheld because I paid my card off too close to the Direct Debit date and the error was mine.

This is correct, as stated in previous comments.  Whilst not intentional, it was your error, not Tesco's fault.

Gaberdeen said:

I asked why Tesco attempted to take the same Direct Debit 5 days on from when it was rejected I got a rather sheepish reply that the system is automated and that any failed direct debit automatically tries again 5 days later and that it cannot be stopped unless the DD is cancelled.

Standard practice for most DD's - automatic re-try if the first one fails.

Gaberdeen said:

I pointed out that if that was the case, Tesco must have know that they would automatically be attempting to re-bill a paid statement

The automatic re-trying of a DD is a separate batch computer process, so the re-try process wouldn't necessarily "know" anything other than the first attempt had failed - and the automated process is to re-try after a pre-set time-frame.

Gaberdeen said:

very apologetic, which I told him not to be, because it wasn't his fault all this happened

Good for you!  Such a lot of people vent their frustrations on front-line support staff who very often are not experts in every facet of the bank's operations, and merely do their very best to help

Gaberdeen said:

Tesco were crediting £25 to my statement next month as a goodwill gesture.

A good result for you   In my experience, most lenders are very accommodating when it comes to customers making a one-off error, and a good-will gesture is always nice.

cymruchris

A good outcome, and very much a learning experience in how DD's work. A bit frustrating when things don't go to plan, and nice of them to give a token gesture, and good on you for not flying off the handle. (I imagine if you're working in the North Sea you'll be used to being calm under pressure!)