Crack(ed) Accounts Department strikes again
Soruk
my (old) HomeOffice 2+ account to Business 2+ (not the Pro, I can't sync
high enough to get the benefit). Free router, free set-up,
�19+vat/month.
So I get the invoice.
(Free) setup: �50+vat
(Free) router: �50+vat
Monthly fee: �34+vat.
The only bit they got right was the refund of the already paid up
HomeOffice 2+ subscription.
For a bill that should have worked out at just under �20inc vat, it came
in at over �164.
I'm NOT impressed. Customer service claimed they can only put the
correction as a credit on my account, or refund by cheque or to a credit
card, and not to the account the direct debit came from - yet I remember
when they took the DD twice one month it got refunded back to the bank
account. Oh, and apparently since it's a business tariff the direct
debit guarantee doesn't apply.
Seriously not impressed, Demon.
Check your invoices, those of you who also took the upgrade.
--
-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell Eridani Star System
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Denis McMahon
> debit guarantee doesn't apply.
That depends on the bank account, not the tariff.
Whether DD guarantee applies or not is something the bank will tell you.
Check with the bank. If they took it out without giving you the notice
due, and it's a personal account, DD guarantee definitely applies. If
it's a business account, there may be different rules.
This web page suggests that DD guarantee may also apply to business
accounts:
http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/BusinessRatesDirectDebitonline.aspx
Note the wording of the guarantee (British Banking Assoc website) is:
The Direct Debit Guarantee:
# If the amounts to be paid 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
# You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting your bank or
building society. We also recommend you notify the organisation concerned.
http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=828&a=10383
If Demon did not notify you of the amount 10 days in advance, then
contact the bank and invoke the DD guarantee.
Rgds
Denis McMahon
hugh
<{$mrtickle$}@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>In <slrnhifjdv...@Zeskia.int.eridani.co.uk>, Soruk
><so...@bitbucket.eridani.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>account. Oh, and apparently since it's a business tariff the direct
>>debit guarantee doesn't apply.
>
>- report them to BACS ltd.
I think the OP should take it up with their own bank rather than BACS
who simply process the DDs on behalf of the banks.
--
hugh
It may be more complicated but is it better?
Soruk
>
> If Demon did not notify you of the amount 10 days in advance, then
> contact the bank and invoke the DD guarantee.
They notified me, with that wacked out invoice last Tuesday. I phoned up
as soon as I got it and was assured the invoice would be cancelled and a
new one issued in 3-5 working days.
So with nothing arriving today, I phoned up, and instead of cancelling
the invoice they put a credit totalling the incorrect overcharge on my
account and seemed quite reluctant to offer a refund but if they did
would only be by cheque or to a credit card - even though I don't pay by
CC. And the CC refund would take 15 working days(!) to process. With
Christmas and New Year that's the best part of a month.
Denis McMahon
> On 2009-12-15, Denis McMahon <denis.m....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> If Demon did not notify you of the amount 10 days in advance, then
>> contact the bank and invoke the DD guarantee.
>
> They notified me, with that wacked out invoice last Tuesday. I phoned up
> as soon as I got it and was assured the invoice would be cancelled and a
> new one issued in 3-5 working days.
>
> So with nothing arriving today, I phoned up, and instead of cancelling
> the invoice they put a credit totalling the incorrect overcharge on my
> account and seemed quite reluctant to offer a refund but if they did
> would only be by cheque or to a credit card - even though I don't pay by
> CC. And the CC refund would take 15 working days(!) to process. With
> Christmas and New Year that's the best part of a month.
Tell Demon you're going to invoke the DD guarantee if they take the
incorrect amount from the bank.
Tell them that credits on the account or protracted refunds don't cut
it. The reason the DD system requires that they notify you in advance is
so that you can challenge incorrect amounts in advance. If they don't
fix it despite acknowledging the error, then you're entitled to trigger
the DD guarantee when they take the payment.
If they try and tell you that the DD guarantee doesn't apply to business
accounts, tell them that according to the DD website, it doesn't make
any difference.
http://www.thesmartwaytopay.co.uk/family-life/direct-debit-guarantee.asp
The guarantee applies to all direct debits.
If they take more than is due, especially if they do so due to an error
in their accounting systems, you are entitled to trigger the guarantee.
Rgds
Denis McMahon
Jeremy Nicoll - news posts
> On 2009-12-15, Denis McMahon <denis.m....@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > If Demon did not notify you of the amount 10 days in advance, then
> > contact the bank and invoke the DD guarantee.
>
> They notified me, with that wacked out invoice last Tuesday.
I got sent an invoice around a week ago too. I don't know why; I think it's
the first invoice I've seen in 10-15 years with them. It didn't tell me
anything I didn't already know - no unusual amount or other incorrect
details.
--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.
Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to newsre...@wingsandbeaks.org.uk replacing "nnn" by "284".
Pedt
on Tue, 15 Dec 2009, Soruk <so...@bitbucket.eridani.co.uk> wibbled
>Following the discussions back in October and November, I upgraded from
>my (old) HomeOffice 2+ account to Business 2+ (not the Pro, I can't sync
>high enough to get the benefit). Free router, free set-up,
>�19+vat/month.
>
>So I get the invoice.
>
>(Free) setup: �50+vat
That reminds me, I haven't had my free router yet.
>For a bill that should have worked out at just under �20inc vat, it came
>in at over �164.
Not good :-(
>Oh, and apparently since it's a business tariff the direct
>debit guarantee doesn't apply.
That's a load of round objects. When I had my own business, one of my
suppliers (not Demon) took a yearly payment three times as a DD out
of my business bank account, it took one quick call to the bank to get
two of them reversed.
>Check your invoices, those of you who also took the upgrade.
>
Mine was correct and the credit had come through before the next invoice
arrived. Though I'll be looking carefully when my free router finally
appears :)
Mind you, after that DD cockup ages ago (4 years?) when they took two
payments out of a lot of accounts[1] I got Demon's bank details from
them and paid monthly by BACS, and now by FPS since it has come in, with
both my Demon account number and nodename in the Reference field without
any problems.
[1] I wasn't working at the time and although Demon refunded the second
one immediately direct into my account, it took my bank nearly a month
to refund all the bank charges they then applied as the second one had
taken me into the red on that account which is why I changed to BACS/FPS
or to SO for everything I could. Only one DD left.
--
Pedt
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