Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To pay nothing by DD (that's direct debit - I adore my DD!)

46 replies

winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:07

ever since T-Mobile withdrew £300 from my account in 2000 for a £30 bill for which I had authorised a monthly DD.

They refused to refund it too, saying they would simply deduct future bills from that amount.

I was a student at the time and despite my protestations, I was left without a lot of cash with no earnings. It was very hard and I felt terribly upset about it as I'd not planned for a sudden £300 to leave my account.

Dh scoffs at me writing cheques each month and points out the 'benefits' of DD but I am never convinced.

Am I neurotic?

OP posts:
WooWooOwl · 12/12/2013 22:12

I don't think you're neurotic, if you want to create extra paperwork for yourself every month then that's up to you.

I've been using dds for years, never had a problem, and stuff gets paid on time without me having to make it happen.

tallulah · 12/12/2013 22:12

Not neurotic but sensible. I used to work in a bank's call centre and it was very clear from the calls we got that a lot of people do not understand what a direct debit is or how it works.

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 12/12/2013 22:13

Set up a standing order

BackforGood · 12/12/2013 22:17

But the Direct Debit Guarantee means that the bank would have refunded the money and sorted it out with the phone company if you'd gone in / phoned and told them. So you do seem to be creating yourself a whole heap of extra admin (plus stamps presumably? or time to go into the bank to pay things?) for no reason.

Original poster
winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:20

Well, I had agreed to pay T-Mobile circa £30 pcm and they withdrew £300 and refused to pay it back! This was in 2000 mind.

I know standing orders are for an exact amount. Are dds for a round about amount?

Ime and imo, there is a lot of trust involved with corporations who are proving to be less and less trustworthy. I don't mind the extra paperwork but I just wondered if one v. bad experience meant I was being neurotic.

OP posts:
hoppingmad · 12/12/2013 22:21

As backforgood says, the bank protects you against this kind of thing. It is up to the bank to return your money and then go after the company so that's probably why you had problems 13 years ago.
I pay pretty much everything by dd and in some cases I get a discount for doing so. I couldn't be bothered with cheques every month

CallMeNancy · 12/12/2013 22:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:22

I had v. long conversations with the telephone company and the bank.

The phone company was belligerent - said they would not return the money, it would pay for future bills and that was that.

The bank - RBOS - said the money had gone and there was nothing they could do about it.

I obviously cancelled the DD and changed banks!

OP posts:
Original poster
winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:23

Tallulah, more from you please.

OP posts:
gamerchick · 12/12/2013 22:25

I only pay by DD if I absolutely have too.

I use paper statements still for as many things as I can.. despite it costing more. Means I can pay it on the day I want.

EDF stole.. they STOLE out of my bank account more than they were supposed too. Fuckers. I dislike DDs quite a bit... the can just help yourself to your bank account whenever they feel like it Angry

specialsubject · 12/12/2013 22:32

no they can't. The Direct Debit guarantee means you get refunded.

burglars can help themselves too, but it is also against the law. Don't confuse 'can' with 'may'.

up to you, though.

gamerchick · 12/12/2013 22:34

You only get refunded by your bank if the company who took it agrees to it being refunded I was informed in a disgruntled phonecall to my bank. Also, it still doesn't stop them from taking it in the first place.

lastnightIwenttoManderley · 12/12/2013 22:38

Gamerchick as far as I know, you can still have online statements and pay bills manually?

rpitchfo · 12/12/2013 22:39

I pay EVERYTHING direct debit. Completely paperless for everything. And then tried getting a loan for a car. Need two bills with your address on...ermm can't remember the last time i got a paper bill.

Original poster
winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:43

"You only get refunded by your bank if the company who took it agrees to it being refunded I was informed in a disgruntled phonecall to my bank. Also, it still doesn't stop them from taking it in the first place."

^^ This. Don't confuse can with may, specialsubject? I didn't get refunded. Hence my suspicion with DDs.

How protected are consumers wrt DDs?

OP posts:
Melfish · 12/12/2013 22:43

I don't use DD for anything either. I like to check my bills before paying them in the bank. I used to deal with the utility bills of a large organisation and they were always wrong! DDs are only encouraged by companies as it benefits them: you can't stop the payment. If they over estimate your bill and take the money from your account, can you get the cash back or does it become a credit on your account?

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 12/12/2013 22:44

The diffrence between the 2 is a DD you give permission for a company to take money from your account and a SA you give the bank permission to transfer the amount you want.

For example I have a DD of £12.12 for tv licence, if I miss a payment tv licence can keep requesting the money. I think with a SA if the money is not in your account the bank will not send the money and you have to reset it up again.

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 12/12/2013 22:45

Rpitchfo you can request them

Original poster
winkywinkola · 12/12/2013 22:47

Fortydoors, if you miss a DD payment (how - not enough money in account?), the company will keep requesting and the bank can refuse?

But if the company requests 10x the payment and you have funds, the bank will accept, afaik. And then? Ime, you can do nothing.

OP posts:
Bloob · 12/12/2013 22:48

"I think with a SA if the money is not in your account the bank will not send the money and you have to reset it up again."

I don't think so. I have a SA set up between one of my accounts and the other. One month after (my own) admin error there wasn't enough money to pay it. They took the money anyway and bloody charged me. To go into another of MY OWN accounts!

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 12/12/2013 22:53

moneyfacts.co.uk/guides/banking/what-is-a-standing-order170611/

MinnesotaNice · 12/12/2013 22:56

Not sure if this would work in the UK banking system, but couldn't you open a second account just for DDs?

The way we do it is one account has savings and no DD come out of this account. This is the account that has a majority of our money. A second account has money for monthly bills and all the DDs come out of this account. Just one money transfer between accounts at the beginning of the month to cover all the bills.

MikeLitoris · 12/12/2013 22:58

I've never had an issue with cancelling a dd. I just phone my bank and ask for it to be recalled. It is back in my bank by the following morning. I don't even have to give a reason.

Aren't cheques being phased out? Didn't think many places still took them tbh.

Isabelonatricycle · 12/12/2013 23:01

I like being in control of my money, and so like having to actively do something for money to leave my account, rather than it being magicked away.

However, I have given in to direct debits as I get cash back on them with my bank, and my principles don't stand up against earning money... hey ho!

But yes, I entirely see your point, and should I change bank and it not be financially advantageous for me to pay this way, I'd go completely back to transfers and cheques. Think I'm the only person I know apart from my mother who carries a cheque book with them always...

Swipe left for the next trending thread