MBNA Unpaid DD/Returned Payment Fee

cheersthanksbye

I have a Sony/MBNA Credit card and have just had my latest statement through. Last month, by mistake I cancelled my direct debit setup for the card. However, so to make my payment date, I did a manual payment to pay off the full amount (the amount of the cancelled direct debit).

The manual payment made the account for the same day the direct debit was due so in my mind the complete outstanding balance was paid in time.

However, on my statement there is a 'Unpaid Direct Debit' transaction and then the day after, a 'RETURNED PAYMENT FEE' for £25! So it seems to me they have charged me for missing my DD, even though the complete balance was paid off in time. Two questions on this

1. I am going to phone MBNA poste haste to get the £25 credited back to my account - I take it they will do this (with me kicking and screaming if need be)?

2. Will this go down as a late payment on my credit score with the likes of Experian etc.?

Stonk

Time and time again people complain about this happening. Frankly, you don't deserve the money back, although you might get some of it. £25 is the fee you pay for learning the Rules.

The Rules are:
(1) If you have arranged to pay by direct debit, the CC company will take this irrespective of any other payments you make.
(2) If you don't want them to take the direct debit, you must tell them.
(3) The processing of a direct debit begins several days in advance and might not be stoppable once it's in action. So when applying Rule (2) you need to do so a week or so before the payment date.
(4) Do NOT cancel direct debits without notifying the payee. If you did it by accident, you should have notified them and they might have been able to sort something out if it was early enough. If it's too late, just remember it's your fault and don't feel hard done by.

fatboyonadiet

Stonk views are his won but none the less right, you did still make the payment and you don't seen any wrong, best bet is to ring and complain and maybe play dumb, most credit cards have a one strike rule and will probably refund as a gesture of good will. I once missed a payment on my Sonycard but wasn't charge a fee and the helpful (makes a change!) person at the call centre refunded my interest too! HTH and that I haven't offended!

cheersthanksbye

Stonk wrote:

Time and time again people complain about this happening. Frankly, you don't deserve the money back, although you might get some of it. £25 is the fee you pay for learning the Rules.

The Rules are:
(1) If you have arranged to pay by direct debit, the CC company will take this irrespective of any other payments you make.
(2) If you don't want them to take the direct debit, you must tell them.
(3) The processing of a direct debit begins several days in advance and might not be stoppable once it's in action. So when applying Rule (2) you need to do so a week or so before the payment date.
(4) Do NOT cancel direct debits without notifying the payee. If you did it by accident, you should have notified them and they might have been able to sort something out if it was early enough. If it's too late, just remember it's your fault and don't feel hard done by.

Hardly the MSE attitude I was expecting. I'll just cancel the card if they dont give me the money back, MBNA have hardly been the best anyway. Thanks for DD process.

satan666wayne

cheersthanksbye wrote:

Hardly the MSE attitude I was expecting. I'll just cancel the card if they dont give me the money back, MBNA have hardly been the best anyway. Thanks for DD process.

It seems very MSE to me, following the rules would have saved you £25.

Benuk73

Hi even though you paid your payment in time, they applied for the Direct Debit and it causes them "paperwork" so to speak as returned and that's why they charged you the admin fee.

I would ring them, apologise for not informing them of the cancellation of the DD and ask in this instance for the charge to be refunded.

Failing that, tell them you will no-longer use their card, and close the account.
I'm sure they would rather refund £25 rather than loose poss future custom.

Regarding your credit file, no you shouldnt have a missed payment against your records, because the payment was received in time. It's only a DD issue here and their charge.

Hope you get some good results.

Good Luck

Stonk

Hardly the MSE attitude I was expecting.

Think of it this way - the post will stand out as a warning and save others from doing the same thing as you. Whether that be "incurring the fee" or "posting the same old moan about a legitimately charged fee", the world will be a better place.

cheersthanksbye

Thanks Benuk73 - cheers for letting me know about the credit score thing - that was a major concern!

And thanks to you all for the info. OK, so technically its my responsibility to read the DD form, but I didn't. But isn't MSE's message to haggle and complain where there is justification to do so? It certainly wasn't made obvious to me that I would incur the fee.

And in any case, I'll just close down the card if they wont play ball. Thanks again.

johnllew

cheersthanksbye wrote:

And in any case, I'll just close down the card if they wont play ball.

Why? Did you not want the card in the first place? Are you on a 0% BT offer or are you amassing Sony points? If so, and even if you have to pay the £25, why not keep the card and make the most you can out of it?