Continuing Authority - DANGER!

lisyloo

There are lots of 'reputable' companies that use these continuing authorities now

I don't have any.
I have never had a problem finding another way to pay.
If there was no other option I would simply not use that company.

Can you not report your card "lost" to your bank in order to get these fraudulent CCA payments to stop coming off your account?

I don't agree that in this case the use is fradulent.
The poster agrees that he signed up to a CCA.
The cancellation letter may have been lost or bungled, but this is not fradulent use.

My advice is DON'T USE THESE in the first place.
For existing ones send the leeter by recorded delivery (70p) that way you can prove that it was received.
Keep a copy of your letter on PC.
If you can prove you cancelled it then it becomes fraud and you get your card company to help.

Don't blame the card companies, they are constrained by the law.
If you want them to help you the GET PROOF and then they can treat it as fraud. If you don't do this then you can't expect them to break the law to help you.

King_Weasel

I have just asked Egg Money to suspend one of these payments and, not to my surprise, they've told me they can't. But they did offer (email message) to take up any dispute if I sent them a copy of my cancellation letter to the retailer. What they would then do I don't know and in this case I hope and expect it won't go that far.

King Weasel

dzug

Mr_McGoo wrote: »

This arose after a "free trial" of a service (Which reports), when although I had given proper notification that I did not wish to continue the first monthly payment was taken. I contacted Lloyds TSB to repudiate the payment but was told it was between me and Which, and they would continue to accept monthly debits if Which asked for them.

Have you taken ANY action to advise 'Which' of the error? Or did you run straight to Lloyds?

I suspect the latter - I'm pretty certain 'Which' would have repaid you.

And I really don't think it's fraud - that's over-reacting. A lost, misprocessed or even delayed cancellation letter is far more likely.

Nikko5

FlyHigh wrote: »

Nope, whether the card is reported is reported lost / stolen / closed or anything else if you give a company authorization to take payments continuously then they will do exactly that! The payments will still leave your account. The banks can only dispute the payments if you prove you've tried your hardest to cancel these services.

But how would the dodgy company know what credit card number to bill if your old card is no longer valid, and you have been issued with a new one (with new number, exp. date etc)?!

missile

The CC company transfer the transaction to your "new" account number.

lisyloo

It is open to abuse by dodgy retailers.

I agree but there are at least sides to every story.
People who don't understand what they've signed up to or don't bother to get a FREE proof of posting are really not doing their part to contribute to a hassle free life.

lisyloo

Maybe there should be an IQ test attached to every CC application form then

Well there should be an attempt by the seller to ensure the other side understands what they signed up to - and laws are in place to help this e.g. Key Facts documents that you don't need a high IQ to read.
There is also a responsibility on individuals to understand what they are signing up to - not necessarily all 300 pages but at least the MAIN points e.g. cancellation rights.

I shall stick to my view that CC should be more responsible towards the vulnerable

I agree.
I wasn't specifically referring to vulnerable people.

If it is a system open to abuse then it should be scrapped.

I agree.
In the meantime there is no obligation to use it.
So my advice is DON'T USE CCA.

HelpWhereIcan

I have just found out that AOL have been using a CCA to take £10.99 pm from my Lloyds TSB debit card since 2000.

The card expired in 2001, we moved house in 2003 and the AOL account has not been used for at least 6 years.

Querying Lloyds TSB is no good as they do not want to know because I had given authority for the CCA (not that I remember doing so or it being explained as such) and I had the "do you not check your bank statements?" question.

Funnily enough, I do but the amount and payee did not really register with me at all for some reason (it's not like I have money to throw away either.)

Queried with AOL and they agreed to cancel immediately and offered me a refund of 12 mths payments (based on 1 month for every 6 months the account had not been used or something).

Politely declined and asked for more as being fair (the 6 years) - passed through from UK to India - currently on hold for ages while he speaks with his supervisor.

taxi73

Martin has an article on this in his newsletter this week

Megalomaniac

HelpWhereIcan wrote: »

I have just found out that AOL have been using a CCA to take £10.99 pm from my Lloyds TSB debit card since 2000.

The card expired in 2001, we moved house in 2003 and the AOL account has not been used for at least 6 years.

Querying Lloyds TSB is no good as they do not want to know because I had given authority for the CCA (not that I remember doing so or it being explained as such) and I had the "do you not check your bank statements?" question.

Funnily enough, I do but the amount and payee did not really register with me at all for some reason (it's not like I have money to throw away either.)

Queried with AOL and they agreed to cancel immediately and offered me a refund of 12 mths payments (based on 1 month for every 6 months the account had not been used or something).

Politely declined and asked for more as being fair (the 6 years) - passed through from UK to India - currently on hold for ages while he speaks with his supervisor.

You must be on hold for quite some time to type all that out! What happened in the end? I remember signing up to AOL for one month's free internet, and my dad realised he was still being charged 9 months later. When I rung up, as the account was under my name but his card, they said even though I hadn't used it, they could only reimburse 6 months because that was the longest records they had on their screen.

I reckon AOL is probably one of the worst for this, as they were one of the only companies offering free dial up internet for a month at the time, and everyone was joining the internet revolution. I wonder how many others are also still paying it!