A week ago, walked into a branch of N'wide to cancel this direct debit I vaguely remember setting up in September with a college; at the enquiry desk they could not find a trace of it. Similarly it wasn't listed in internet banking.Today it was paid out; £313. I telephoned; they said it was a temporary direct debit, whatever that is, and was irreversible.

How could the d.d. have been paid out if it wasn't on the system, and is the branch likely to reinburse the amount as a goodwill gesture, even though I can't prove I walked in there and spoke to the enquiry desk receptionist?

A week ago, walked into a branch of N'wide to cancel this direct debit I vaguely remember setting up in September with a college; at the enquiry desk they could not find a trace of it. Similarly it wasn't listed in internet banking.Today it was paid out; £313. I telephoned; they said it was a temporary direct debit, whatever that is, and was irreversible.

How could the d.d. have been paid out if it wasn't on the system, and is the branch likely to reinburse the amount as a goodwill gesture, even though I can't prove I walked in there and spoke to the enquiry desk receptionist?

Then under the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme they can repay it and the college can then take it up with you since you have tried to cancel it and they have given you the spiel of some temporary DD.....that is rubbish btw.

Direct debits are an agreement between you and the receiving organisation; your bank/building society are the 'middle man', paying automatically to the receiving organisation on demand. When you want to cancel, you must first speak to the receiving company to prevent them requesting payment from your bank/building society. That said, direct debits can be cancelled on the Nationwide system but only AFTER the first payment has been collected because the direct debit details do not appear on the Nationwide computer system until that payment has been demanded.

With standing orders, you have more control as the arrangement is between you and your bank/building society and therefore you can cancel or amend much more easily!

This explains why utilities et. prefer direct debit payments rather than standing orders!

Hope this helps a bit but sorry, you will have to go back to the receiving organisation to obtain a refund if your contract with that organisation was no longer required and you had notified them of such.

"that said, direct debits can be cancelled on the Nationwide system but only AFTER the first payment has been collected because the direct debit details do not appear on the Nationwide computer system until that payment has been demanded."

That is true but that is not what the direct debit guarantee says. It says you can cancel the direct debit at anytime. I believe this is a major flaw in the system and there is no consistancy.

Case in point I recently changed my energy supplier and I could see the new direct debit mandate sitting on my account before the first payment was taken. Yet I have had instances where it did not show up prior to the first payment being taken and recall many customer being in a similar situation.

Surely it should be one or the other not just random?

Also assuming the payment was not required there is no need to go back to the company which took the direct debit. If an error has been a direct debit indemnity claim will sort it out. The advice to get a refund from the originator is often given but is incorrect.

In my experience many bank staff are unfamiliar with the DD guarantee and what it means so it might be an idea to obtain a copy. The usualy process for an indemnity claim is that the bank will credit the funds back to your account (timescales vary, which is in itself a scandel but not relevent here) and claw back the funds from the originator behind the scenes.

I genuinly don't know what happens if the originator insists the payment was due and they had a valid mandate. I believe you could raise an indemnity claim on any direct debit payment and the onus would be on the company to show that it was legitimate.

Ps I too agree that talk of a temporary DD is BS. Two ex-bankers can't be wrong. Although that phrase does sound distinctly dodgy. I'm going to be quite now.