Octopus direct debit guarantee.

scottyp123

I get lots of people like DD as it takes the work load from you but personally I don't trust them, if there is ever a problem with billing or whatever you are in a far better position if the money is in your account instead of the providers. Imagine if they take £10k by mistake, rare I admit but you do read of it, if Octopus suddenly owe you £10k then you have a problem, if you owe octopus £10k then octopus have a problem, guess which one they will sort out first.

Also as I said I remember my dad toddling off to the Norweb showroom with his quarterly bill and a cheque for the ammount and paying it over the counter, it seemed to suit everybody that way. Imagine if some salesman confronted my dad and said look you dont need to come here, just give us all your account details and we will just take the money automatically from your bank account when we think its due, if the salesman didn't get a punch in the face I would expect my dads next stop would have been the police station saying a crazy man has just tried to steal all his money. Yes I know rose tinted spectacles and all that.

Gerry1

scottyp123 said:

I get lots of people like DD as it takes the work load from you but personally I don't trust them, if there is ever a problem with billing or whatever you are in a far better position if the money is in your account instead of the providers. Imagine if they take £10k by mistake, rare I admit but you do read of it, if Octopus suddenly owe you £10k then you have a problem, if you owe octopus £10k then octopus have a problem, guess which one they will sort out first.

I take the point that when money has been taken it can be hard to claim it back.  If I were buying something online from a potentially dodgy site or seller I'd use a credit card rather than a debit card because if push comes to shove I can stop payment to the credit card company.  There are other useful protections as well, e.g. Section 75.

However, if a DD is taken in error then the DD Guarantee says that the bank MUST make a full and immediate refund.  Admittedly, bank staff sometimes have to be reminded of this, but it certainly does work.  That said, you shouldn't cancel a DD without a very good reason, it's a last resort like stopping a cheque.  With an energy supplier you'll be put on a more expensive version of your tariff, and you might even find that your credit rating gets trashed.

Edit: duplicate word deleted

pseudodox

Well we all used to toddle down to the gas/electricity showrooms to hand over cash for our bills when there was not much alternative.  What guarantee did you have that it wasn't just pocketed by an unscrupulous shop assistant?  Very unlikely but possible.  And a cheque in the post can go astray.  We cannot return to the past way of life when overall things on balance are so much easier with modern technology.  We'd still be living with no central heating, outside toilets, smog, no fridge or freezer meaning we had to shop almost daily.

However we are now in the 21st century & fast approaching a cashless/chequeless society.  After all here you are posting on an online forum, so you have embraced the change from writing & sending letters from "Disgruntled of East Cheam".  There's a lot I don't like about the speed of change but I do my best to keep up & keep myself informed.  Forums like this where people willingly & freely exchange advice & I can ask questions (& the only stupid question is the one you don't ask) are wonderful.