Aaaaarrrggghhh my stupid sodding phone company want me to pay a £60 bill that they agree is wrong, while they look into refunding me next month - can they do this???

[AnarchyAunt]

I have a mobile (my only phone) on a contact where I pay £25/month, get a certain allowance for calls/texts, and free weekend calls.

Renewed contract over the phone two weeks ago as it was about to expire. Woman assured me when I asked that my price plan would stay exactly the same, nothing would change, yada yada yada.

So today I check online to see how much of my allowance I have remaining (bill is sent out on tuesday). And it says I have used £32 over my allowance! On closer inspection they started charging for weekend calls when the contract was renewed - so last weekend all my allowance was used on weekend calls and then they were charged at 20p/minute.

This has run up £22 in charges for weekend calls that are meant to be free, and has meant I have been charged £11 for all the calls/texts I have been making all week that I thought were covered by my allowance. I have been looking at it carefully just now and had they not removed the free weekend calls wrongly and without telling me, I would have no extra charges at all on my account this month and just the normal £25 bill.

They agree it is incorrect but say they have not got time to adjust this months bill so I must pay it by DD and then get it refunded over the next two bills. But I cant afford to! I don't have the money for a £57 DD in 2 weeks, I am really careful to keep within my allowance for calls and think they are talking crap when they say thats all they can do. A supervisor was meant to ring me back today but didn't [typical]. Suggestions?

Anyone? I know it is deeply long and boring but I can't afford to pay the phone company 60 quid and then wait for them to refund me in dribs and drabs.

Conatct Trading Standards - I would n't part with money on that basis , if they go under you won't see it again.

Looks wrong to me but thing about DDs is they can just present them and take the amount they say they are owed if you don't keep a very close eye on them. Call them back, demand to speak to a supervisor, and mention the Direct Debit guarantee (google it - banks and companies that use DDs agree to abide by certain standards that may help you). And talk to your bank, tell them you are disputing this bill and see what they suggest.

In the meantime, I'd give Trading Standards a call and see if they can offer any advice. Or write to the personal finance pages in one of the newspapers - often companies jump when they know there's a chance of bad publicity.

Is there time to get TS to do anything before they just take the DD from my bank though (2nd of feb)?

Tried demanding to speak to a supervisor - line went suspiciously silent, then I was told they'd speak to the supervisor for me and ring me back [do I need to say, they didn't]

Will try threats. I know it sounds like more of an annoyance but we are
so broke it will leave us with no money that week.

You could email Consumer Direct and they are usually really good at responding with what you should say back or how to invovle your local Trading Standards.

Can you contact your bank and cancel the DD? That's probably what I would do first. Then contact the phone company again and again and be outraged at them!

If you can't cancel the DD (although surely you can), then advise your bank what's going on; then if the phone company attempt to take the payment and you don't have enough money, you can ask the bank nicely to refund whatever charge they will whack on (been there...!)

Hope you manage to get this sorted - how frustrating (I am for you)

Thanks for all advice - will contact bank then bollock talk to phone company again.

I am so too, I'm always so careful not to overrun on bills and now this.

Aaaarrrggghhh they promised to deal with it withing five working days and didn't. Then they promised to deal with it by today (bill due out tomorrow) and didn't.

So I rang today and they have already taken the bill from my bank account, three days early

And they refuse to let me speak to the billing department, just keep saying I'll get a callback in the next five days. BUT I NEVER DO!!!

They now have over £40 of my money that I DO NOT OWE THEM, they don't know when I'll get it back, and I am fuming.

Contact your bank and retrieve that money. You can I have done it, even over the phone. Look online at your bank directdebits and it will give you the phone num. Contact CAB now today and start threatening them (the phone co.) Do you have the names of all the people who have been fobbing you off. CAB are excellent and will help you. Do it today you are suffering.