To not want to set up direct debits?

[Winterandspring]

Does anybody else not really get on with them?

It would be fine if they all came out on the same day but as I can’t do that I find I forget about them then go overdrawn.

There are still a couple of saving stamp schemes, but they are a daft idea as even if they don't cost more they are risky if you lose the stamps.

You all have internet so you all have internet banking. Keep track that way.

I hate direct debits and try not to have them. Some may be unavoidable but where I can I pay some other way. What amazes me is the enthusiasm for them on this thread, since having worked in a bank the vast majority of the public don't understand how they work.

DH gets paid 4 weekly but his actual pay is calculated weekly. So not only does it come on a different date every month, it is always a different amount. That makes budgeting fun. We have a bills account but we don't have much of a buffer so no way am I giving everyone cart blanche to help themselves to what they want when they want. I will pay when I have the money, thanks.

They work fine and there is a guarantee if they go wrong - although it wont be an instant refund.

Using them can also reduce bills.

I have used direct debits for nearly 30 years and only had them go wrong once. Due to a misaligned dial on my electricity meter, electricity company read the meter wrong and took £1500 instead of £200.

Strangely, that was the one time that the bill telling me how much they were going to take didn't arrive in advance.

I discovered that the so-called direct debit guarantee was a complete waste of space. Bank point blank refused to reverse the payment and told me to take it up with electricity company. Electricity company you had to wait on hold for an hour just to speak to someone. In those days (early nineties) electricity company still had high-street shops, so I was able to drive to one to sort it out. Still took them a few weeks to refund.

I still use direct debit though.

I think they are easier if you more or less always have enough income to cover your general expenditure in the month. If things are tight they are a complete pain. Especially those quarterly and annual ones. Because sometimes you forget they are coming out and they throw you.

So the "direct debit guarantee" promises (among other things) that you will be told in advance what you will be debited, and that you will be given a full and immediate refund if there is an error. Neither of those things were true the one time I needed to rely on it.

It was pretty clear to me that a major electricity company had deliberately not told me about a major hike in their bill, presumably as they thought they had a better chance of collecting the money if they took it by surprise.

It was pretty clear to me that a major electricity company had deliberately not told me about a major hike in their bill, presumably as they thought they had a better chance of collecting the money if they took it by surprise.

That didn’t happen. I used to work in billing for one of the largest energy companies. No person would have seen that bill and if they had they couldn’t have made a choice to not tell you.

The problem I have with direct debits is not so much remembering when they're due and making sure the money is in my account,but worrying about certain companies helping themselves to more money than they should. It's for this reason that I won't have dds for gas or electricity. I am happy to have them for my water bill,as that is a fixed amount each year,and ones for my charity donation and household insurance. But having witnessed my DM and a couple of friends having their gas or electricity payments hiked up without warning,it has put me off.