Thread: 02 taking payment by visa card when we cancelled that last month and arranged direct debit-how can we stop it?

Tell the bank your card has been damaged and ask for a new one. Ring them now and when 02 try tomorrow they will be rejected....

o2 probably haven't set the direct debit up yet as it takes three weeks for them to do it (~allegedly)

That will not work, because it is a repetitive payment. Thank goodness this is CAG and not MSE, cos I would have been more blunt. You certainly should be able to complain to o2, and expect them to send you a letter of apology because of the reputation done. If the CO-op do suggest closing the account make them aware of this and make sure o2 write an apology in mitigation.

How is it fraudulent? The OP willingly gave the number at some stage - once given it'll stay of their files until you leave them. What I cannot understand, is that giveing them a DD OR a CC leaves you in exactly the SAME boat. If things are that close to the wirte, don't let firms have the right to plunder your account.

If you have money in a different account, transfer it to the account that needs the injection of funds, as you can move funds in 1 day. o2's debit will already be in motion - as they indicated.

Two corrections; (1) By giving a vendor your card number,there is no opportunity to cancel this arrangement formally, you can 'request' it can be done, but if a payment is taken it is not deemed unauthorised as you appear to believe. The banks have this sewn up to a 't' which is why I like, you don't provide a card number for use in this way.

(2) Since June 18th this year, BACS transfers now take just 1 day to process. There is no requirement for CHAPS unless the amount is over £5,000. Having now tried this revised service, the transfer is instant, as a credit I initiated took just 13 minutes to be credited to another UK bank.

As for o2's claim to resolve issues - this is simply PR and is of no practical value, surely even you realise it for what it is. To generate a warm and fuzzy feeling in the punter, whilst meaning absolutely nothing at any other meaningful level!

The direct debit was 'supposed' to leave the account from 29th onwards. That was fine, we knew it was happening and would ensure the money was there.
When we noticed that the instruction was still not set-up on the account my husband called and was then told that the debit card payment was being taken that day and "it was too late to stop it."

That's why I'm annoyed. They were explicitly told last month not to use the card and that we wanted to pay by direct debit but they've just gone ahead and done it anyway. I suppose it's safest to never pay with a recurring card payment. Does anyone know if there is there anything similar to the direct debit guarantee that covers recurring card payments?

Thanks

I cannot emphasise this enogh;

THERE IS NO CONSUMER PROTECTION FOR RECURRING CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD PAYMENTS to prevent the merchant taking funds, even AFTER the card(s) are cancelled.

The ONLY way round this is to have the card flagged as lost/stolen and ALL further debits will be blocked automatically.

Buzby, If you withdraw your consent to use the card and they do then it is technically fraud and they can do something.
here's the link to the money programme
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Moneybox | Warning over credit trap
link to the right of the article and Martin Lewis goes through what you can do.

Withdrawing your consent is not an option that fits in with the way these cards operate. We're being realists here - there is no practical resolution and you can shout 'not in my name' or 'I withdraw my consent' - all mean exactly the same thing. Nothing practical.

Just try this; Voluntarily give your card number to a merchant for a one-off purchase. (Say it is a one-off card payment) and 12 months later the merchant writes to you saying he'll take the renewal fee from the card details already provided by you. You respond by sating you did not provide the card number for any other purchase (effectively withdrawing consent you never gave in the first place). The next thing your find is the debit has come from your card account.

As for your claim that this is fraud - care to suggest how many debit taken have been prosecuted? I'm not aware of any, as there is no investigation, there may well be a reversal, but only if the merchant agrees. If you knew how little a merchant needs to make a debit, you'd never give out your card to anyone ever again.

I have tried to ascertain whether I can insist that ONLY when the physical card is present that a debit can be taken, but this is not a possibility - you have to wonder why.

There's no fraud - simply the same erosion of consumer control of their finances that has resulted in Direct Debits allowing anyone to help themselves as often as they want with any amount they want all without your signature. How incredible is that?

Just to be clear people a direct debit takes 14 days to setup no matter what company it is with.

Originally Posted by scotsdamo

Just to be clear people a direct debit takes 14 days to setup no matter what company it is with.

Sorry, I disagree. It takes as long as it takes and depends on a number of factors. Previously it required the physical paper mandate to be completed and sent to the payee's bank to authorise it, but a major change a few years ago completely did away with this, bringing down the set-up time from weeks to days, but it most certainly isn't 'instant' in the accepted sense.

However this issue isn't one of setting up a DD, but trying to cancel (or delay or skip) a payment that has been scheduled. For really large firms, this usually means at a set date, a 'billing receipts' run is made, where previously a computer tape was generated, listing these accounts and amounts it required payment from. This tape is then passed to their bank or a third-party with a direct connection to BACS for fulfilment. The merchant then waits for the funds to be deposited in their collections account.

It is the delay between generating this list, and the running of the tape to collect the debits that caused the problem. Because once compiled, no individual debit can be stopped. It would be safe to assume that 5 days would be a minimum for an instruction to be modified, so expecting a debit to be stopped within 3 days would be highly unlikely.