Cancellation Hero Article Discussion

King_Drax_I

With reference to reporting your card lost or stolen, I too have heard that this is a way of stopping the card forever.

I have read it as such on forums about eBay and PayPal, where there's not much comeback for the card holder. Just report it lost or stolen; that should kill it stone dead.

MrsBartolozzi

Just thought I'd add a bit re the quarterly payments of TV license. If you are paying quarterly you pay in arrears. (or at least we are and were told it is the norm) If you then opt to go onto the monthly payment plan where you are paying up to date you will have to find the difference before they will let you transfer. Be sure you query this if you do decide to change, as we asked only to be told it will come off in the initial DD which may cause financial hardship to some people, charges etc. Please check before you change to monthly DD as the small saving might cost you more.
HTH someone,
MrsB.

gafffe

gpatrick900 wrote: »

Call back and report your card lost.

Came here to say the same thing. When you report the card stolen it cannot be used anymore and you get a brand new credit card number. It's a last resort option if talking to the company doesn't work - I was having trouble cancelling with Lovefilm and found it easier to go down that route. They emailed me a couple of times but they left me alone after that.

System

Re. the TV licence monthly DD scheme.

With this you pay 5 or 6 months in arrears for your current licence and then 6 months in advance for next year's licence.

When the licence is due, I set up a DD and take 5 months to pay the debt and then cancel after the 5th payment.

This way, I'm not paying unnecessarily in advance for next year.

When next year's is due, set up another DD to pay that in arrears too.

valeofale

Standing orders - when setting up a standing order, you also need to be aware that YOU are responsible for cancelling it, e.g. for rent payments - when you move, make sure you cancel the standing order instruction to the landlord [or set it up just for the fixed period of your lease] or the bank will continue to make payments from your account.

The so-called Direct Debit "guarantee" - when I moved house several years ago, I opted to pay Council Tax by Direct Debit. The council debited my bank account for my Council Tax and then again for someone else's. When I complained to the bank [Lloyds TSB] saying this was a mistake they REFUSED to refund the money. I then had to chase the council directly myself for about six weeks before they would repay me. At first, the council even refused to admit that they had debited my account in error - apparently "it couldn't happen"! Beware that banks may try to evade their responsibilities under the Direct Debit Guarantee.

eripmav

Here's a thing...

If you don't pay by Direct Debit with Virgin Media, they charge you an extra £5 a month for "administration". Are they within their rights to do so?

ShelfStacker_3

eripmav wrote: »

Here's a thing...

If you don't pay by Direct Debit with Virgin Media, they charge you an extra £5 a month for "administration". Are they within their rights to do so?

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, as it does actually cost them more money to accept payment by other means.

Although I paid on my credit card once and didn't get charged. YMMV.

colin_tomlinson

Amberowl wrote: »

Hi i start a new job in two weeks however i'm a struggling to pay my regular direct debits for energy bills etc as well as standing order for my rent. Is there a way to pay these bills by credit card rather than straight out of my account until i get paid? Martin says this is so in his article but doesn't say how? I know an overdraft would be the obvious answer but mine is small and won't cover my rent payment which goes out just before i start work.

Why not just change the date these charges are paid?

Contact your fuel companies and change the date to a few days after payday (although it might be too late for this month). Also look at what you're paying - are your fuel bills much in advance? If so, ask for the money back! If just a bit, ask for the DD to be reduced as well.

As for your rent, ask the bank to change the standing order by a few days. Once this payment has been made, you can change it back again. As to whether you're up front with your landlord and say the rent will be a few days late or blame it on a "bank error", is up to you!

Hope this gives you enough breathing space.

Sunny2

I really wish I had read this article two days ago! That's when I set up a 18185 account to reduce the cost of landline to mobile phone calls. The payment mothod was DD from a debit card and I can't remember seeing an option for setting up a DD from a bank account. Does this mean I have set up one of these dreaded recurring payments?

On another note, watch out if you buy 12 month subsription software (i.e. antivirus) . Some of these authomatically renew your subscription, even if you dont want to renew it.

seilbahn

I have today taken out home insurance with a company that I believe to be reputable. I did this online and paid by debit card. Is it possible that I may have unwittingly agreed to a recurring charge payment annualy or is it always clear.