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i've subscribed to setanta sports and they took 1st payment 6th of august, so as i had'nt received a single letter or anything from them i thought the next payment would be 6th of september, today i received a letter from my bank saying they tried to take payment on 30th august, the bank wont do goodwill gesture and there wasnt enuff money in account at the time so £39 charge, im in the process of claiming charges so ill add that on i, read somewere i have to be informed, when dd are coming out of my account and i was'nt in this case, i have an address for setanta to write to is there any standard letters i can use for getting the £39 of setanta.. any help appreciated
I don't think you will find anything in terms of a standard letter to send to a company.
However I can confirm that your hunch that you have to be informed is correct. I believe that you are supposed ot have ten days notcie but I am not certain.
Without notifying you, in effect, Setanta does not have your consent because you only gave your consent subject to the rules of the scheme. your bank also appear to be breaching the direct debit guarantee. Unfortunately this not uncommon and one good reason why I am working to minimize my use of direct debits.
The bank should refund the DD, that's the rules, you shouldn't have to chase round. In reality Setanta HAVE to give you your money back as they have not given you the required notice.
If you have not been informed then, despite the mandate being set up and effectively "live" no monies should have been removed until you were informed.
How did you set up your subscription? Online? On the phone? Did you actually physically sign a mandate?
In the meantime you need to speak to your bank as this payment was unauthorised and you need to claim under the direct debit Guarantee. Whilst normally this would mean the payment taken being refunded, as you didn't have enough to cover it were you charged for the "bounce" or the debit causing you to go overdrawn?
2007 Issues ALL RESOLVED
2008 Issues ALL RESOLVED
£4,200 in charges claimed back succesfully from a total of 5 Creditors 2009 Issues ALL RESOLVED
NEXT Directory - No Agreement, No Further Action **WON**
2010 Issues
Court Claim from Black Horse - AOS 22.11.10, CPR 23.11.10
Assisting Daughter with Employment Tribunal for Wrongful Dismissal/Discrimination
my wife signed up over the phone and after i got the letter from the bank i phoned setanta and asked what the hell is oging on and they said i should of recieved a welcome pack and stuff with all the info on and funnily enuff today i have received the welcome pack after i phoned and it says date of 1st payment was 4th of august which is strange cos bank says it was 6th anyways next payment would be taken on 30th of august but the letter was dated 28th august, so do i just phone bank again and say i want to claim it bank under the dd gaurantee.
Yes, telephone the bank and state you want the payment returned under the DD Guarantee.
Then write or telephone the Company and tell them that as you have not received the required 14 day written notice you have requested the payment back. Then ensure, that should you still require the service, they give you the required notice before the next payment comes out.
Good Luck
2007 Issues ALL RESOLVED
2008 Issues ALL RESOLVED
£4,200 in charges claimed back succesfully from a total of 5 Creditors 2009 Issues ALL RESOLVED
NEXT Directory - No Agreement, No Further Action **WON**
2010 Issues
Court Claim from Black Horse - AOS 22.11.10, CPR 23.11.10
Assisting Daughter with Employment Tribunal for Wrongful Dismissal/Discrimination
i went to my local Halifax branch to find it was'nt a branch it was an agency so 12 miles down the road to a branch and the staff had no clue about the dd gaurantee , eventually they go find someonone higher up the food chain in the branch who then proceeds to tell me the money was not paid to sentanta so i can't claim anything back and they won't refund the £39 as they don't trust sentanta to pay them it so i have to chase sentanta for the £39 bank charge now. is this right ? how i did'nt loose my rag today i don't know .
It was not clear at all from your posts that the DD had NOT been paid, quite the opposite it fact.
So, presumably (but please correct me if I'm wrong, because it's important!) the DD "bounced" and the charge you have received is for this? If this is so you will need to take this up with the bank, but I wouuldn't bother with the branch staff in this instance.
I would telephone your bank, insist on speaking with someone senior and explaining that the DD bounced because it was present BEFORE you had received ANY written communication from the Originator and therefore certainly NOT after the pre-requisite 14 days notice required.
Don't take any rubbish from them, they SHOULD refund. No guarantees though.....
So, if no luck I suggest a letter, email or call to the Originator. Again explain that you have been charged (which you can prove) because of them requesting funds against a DD mandate incorrectly (ie before they had sent the 14 days written notice) and therefore you want the charge back from them.
Sorry if this has caused confusion, I and apparently others were under the impression you had been charged because you had gone overdrawn, in fact i asked the question in post 3 but you didn't answer it.
2007 Issues ALL RESOLVED
2008 Issues ALL RESOLVED
£4,200 in charges claimed back succesfully from a total of 5 Creditors 2009 Issues ALL RESOLVED
NEXT Directory - No Agreement, No Further Action **WON**
2010 Issues
Court Claim from Black Horse - AOS 22.11.10, CPR 23.11.10
Assisting Daughter with Employment Tribunal for Wrongful Dismissal/Discrimination
yes the DD was not paid and bounced so the charge is for this, the manager at the bank point bank refused to refund, so do i wait for setanta to pay now or do i go back to the bank and complain on the phone again about it to someone more senior like you suggest ?
This ignorance of the direct debit guarantee is common, nobody told me about it I had to physcially seek the info out. An indemnity could be filled in if say the money had been taken without your consent but I don't think it applies in this situation.
I would ask that you consider publicising this issue as IMO DD's are prone to faults like this. I gather companies no longer need a signiture to setup an instruction which seems madness to me.
Personally (and I'm not saying it would work) I would question the bank as to why a company was able to remove funds from your account in an improper manner. I know the answer but, coming from a lay person, it sounds credible.
The horrifying thing is that any orignator could take any amount they want (in error of for more sinister reasons) when you were on holiday and you would have to chase around to get it all sorted. Direct debit guarantee indeed...
Bascially I would go down both avenues, threaten the bank with closing ALL accounts if you fell strongly (I don't think mentioning the ombudsmen would do any good but thta is my usual advice). I would also pursues Setanta vigorously and seek a claim for your time and effort with both orgs in portest at the shoody nature of the system.
BTW if you want the charge back and no more (don't forget this may have caused other dd's to fail etc) then I believe the bank HAS TO consider your request if it causes hardship. This would be a difficult argument to make in this circumstnace though.
Sorry if this seems a bit scattered just thinking aloud...
I think your best bet i Setanta. You're a new customer and I would suggest not overly impressed with thier first action as your supplier!
The fault IS with setanta, as the bank had what it thought to be a valid mandate for payment (The charge and whether that is ok is a different matter - one for the bank charges forum)
Setanta should NOT have requested payment on a DD mandate for which the pre-requisite 14 days written notice had NOT been sent, or received, therefore THEY are liable for your expense and I would persue them.
None the less I would be writing a very strong letter of complaint to the bank 1. about their branch staff being ignorant of the DD Guarantee 2. about their "don't care" attitude to you when you complained 3. For seemingly not giving you the details of their complaints process when you had cause to complain and 4. for charging you and causing hardship for something that turned out not to be your fault and 5. for paying out on a mandate that was obviously NOT signed and had not been set up after the pre-requisite notice period.
Good Luck. Let us know how you get on.
2007 Issues ALL RESOLVED
2008 Issues ALL RESOLVED
£4,200 in charges claimed back succesfully from a total of 5 Creditors 2009 Issues ALL RESOLVED
NEXT Directory - No Agreement, No Further Action **WON**
2010 Issues
Court Claim from Black Horse - AOS 22.11.10, CPR 23.11.10
Assisting Daughter with Employment Tribunal for Wrongful Dismissal/Discrimination
Today got up all pumped up to have ago at anybody on the end of a Halifax phone and 1st person i got to said gimme a sec ill look at your account and she cancelled the charge there and then and i never vented my anger once...
the only down side is the next person peeing me off today is gonna get an earfull as it was all stored up 4 halifax... thanks for all the help guys as usual u guys rock
2008 Issues ALL RESOLVED
£4,200 in charges claimed back succesfully from a total of 5 Creditors 2009 Issues ALL RESOLVED
NEXT Directory - No Agreement, No Further Action **WON**
2010 Issues
Court Claim from Black Horse - AOS 22.11.10, CPR 23.11.10
Assisting Daughter with Employment Tribunal for Wrongful Dismissal/Discrimination
Direct Debit Help - Setanta
and there wasnt enuff money in account at the time so £39 charge, im in the process of claiming charges so ill add that on i, read somewere i have to be informed, when dd are coming out of my account and i was'nt in this case, i have an address for setanta to write to is there any standard letters i can use for getting the £39 of setanta.. any help appreciated
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