Alex C. Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 A bit of a rant first of all, but someone might be able to let me know my rights in relation to this. TV Licensing messed up a direct debit, took £34.12 out of my account yesterday with no notification to me - phoned them up, they apologised profusely and said they were extremely sorry. Even went as far as saying they recognised it was inconveniencing and they would reprimand the person responsible for the error (in data entry). All good. Said to contact my bank for an immediate refund, as I was covered by Direct Debit guarantee. A quick look at this guarantee: Guarantee If the amounts to be paid by Direct Debit or the payment dates change, the organisation collecting the payment will notify you normally 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If an error is made by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. If any payment is made in error, you should contact your bank or building society who are responsible for giving you a full and immediate refund - even if the original error was made by the organisation collecting the payment. Direct Debit is one of the safest ways of paying your bills. Fraud rarely occurs because organisations using the Direct Debit Scheme go through a careful vetting process before they're authorised, and are closely monitored by the banking industry. But if money were to be taken from your account fraudulently you'd be protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee, and would be entitled to an immediate refund from your bank or building society. Don't forget, you can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting your bank or building society. We also recommend you notify the organisation concerned. OK, so with me so far? Rang up HSBC (yesterday) and got through to a UK call centre. Explained the problem and was told they couldn't do it. Questioned them on it, and she told me that they weren't supposed to refund direct debits unless the mistake was made by them. Was still calm, explained the direct debit guarantee and was told that it doesn't really apply if its not a first payment, and that I would need to contact TVL. Quoted the part in bold, and she relented somewhat saying she would put in a DD indemnity request. This was at 4:30pm on Friday, so still in banking hours. Apparently immediately means that the refund is processed immediately but not applied for two working days. So I will not get the money until Tuesday, or possibly later. Surely this can't be right. According to the guarantee I should be covered but I'm not. I'm fuming with HSBC, because they're blatantly not following the rules of the scheme they signed up to. edited to add: The imbecile who answered my call also cancelled my current licenses direct debit, leading to another call this morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pertfoxylush Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 You should be covered by the DD guarantee, however the money can take a while to go back into your accounbt, something like up to 48 hrs?? If TVL have taken a DD in error and without your permission, than you are entitled to ask your bank to refund you the money and then recover the money from TVL. How long would a refund take from TVL? Just thinking that that may be a quicker solution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C. Posted December 2, 2006 Author Share Posted December 2, 2006 Its the principle though. I don't understand how they can get away with saying immediate - I have no money for food this weekend now, and it'll be 4 days between them taking it out and it going back in. Spoke to TVL and they'd be able to send out a cheque on Wednesday, so thats no good. Its not as if they even want to help - asked about upping my overdraft by £30 over the weekend and was told its not possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobsyouruncle Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Interesting point, and what if, the amount taken out lead the account to go into the red? What then, with some bank charges incurred topping £30, would they pay that too...............? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Immediate should mean just that. I'm familiar with the ways a couple of banks work (although not HSBC), and these requests are processed immediatly and the customer's account usually credited within 24 hours. However, if the customer needs the money, immediatly, as you do, both banks had a process in place to accomodate this. All I would say is that, if your account went overdrawn as a result of this error, you could reasonably expect the TV Licence people to pay the bank charges for you. I would suggest calling them back and asking whether they will cover bank charges, and if they agree to do so (which, really, if they've admitted an error, they're obliged to do), then I wouldn't worry greatly about my account going slightly over for a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heyesey Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Its the principle though. I don't understand how they can get away with saying immediate - I have no money for food this weekend now, and it'll be 4 days between them taking it out and it going back in. Spoke to TVL and they'd be able to send out a cheque on Wednesday, so thats no good. Its not as if they even want to help - asked about upping my overdraft by £30 over the weekend and was told its not possible. Contact the banking ombudsman. HSBC are in breach of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 You can't contact the Banking Ombudsman until you've exhausted the company's own complaints procedure, so that won't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heyesey Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 You can't contact the Banking Ombudsman until you've exhausted the company's own complaints procedure, so that won't work. In that case I'd just threaten them with a prosecution for fraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salome Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Direct Debits...only OK if everything goes smoothly. Any Hiccups and it's buck passing time ....!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9xyg32 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Do my best to avoid them at all costs and as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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