Direct Debit set up - Charged a late payment fee!!

[goody1]

Direct Debit set up - charged a late payment fee!!

I set up a new direct debit with another bank around early December. 

10th December is the bill date stating Direct Debit date is 28th December

Recent bill states a Late Payment Charge as the DD was not paid

Virgin state they requested the funds to be released by the bank on 26th December(although the chap I spoke to initally said the 13th December) The DD payment date is always at the end of the month. I hate ringing up Virgin!!!

The bank said the DD has been active since I set it up from 15th December, and that Virgin have not requested funds.

I am surprised that Virgin did not send me an email confirming the lack of payment instead of charging me a Late Payment Charge fee 12 days later. I am sure it does not actually cost them anything!

I can not say I am impressed with Virgin especially after the intial sales phone call promising me a specific monthly payment, then to find find out after the first month that the amount had gone up £3.25!! ! I should have cancelled stright away! Instead they applied a Discount Correction

The bank have just rang me to ask Virgin to cancel and reset up the DD as it must ne a problem with Virgin's system!! That means I have to ring them up again!! Arrggghhh!!

Anyone else have this problem?

[Kain_W]

Hi there goody1,

Thanks for your post and welcome back to the community.

Apologies for any issues faced with this, to clarify were the details changed before the produced bill?

Also was that month you're advising not paid?
Regards,

[goody1]

Hi Kain

The details were changed after the previous bill was paid, around 26th-28th November

The next bill was dated 10th December, "You've chosen to pay your bill by Direct Debit. There is nothing more for you to do, and we will request £40.50 from your bank or building society on or immediately after 28th December 2022."

I had email' Confirmation of Direct Debit set up" from Virgin on 14th December

On 12th January, I had the recent bill from Virgin, " Action required - your last bill remains unpaid.This bill may seem higher than expected due to an amount owing from last month which included a non payment charge"

So in answer to your question, yes, maybe. I would have changed the bank details after the November bill was paid for and before the next bill was to be paid. Due to me having confirmation from Virgin stating the DD confirmation and they said "nothing more for you to do", I did not give the bill another thought.

The thing that has annoyed me quite a lot, is the attiutude of the chap I spoke to, arrogant and not listening, using the phrase 'that's it then' when it clearly 'was not it!' After being on the phone for over an hour i just had to hang up as he was just ignorant and not listening to what the bank had told me

Thanks

[Adri_G]

Thanks for this reply and for sharing more on this, goody1.

We're sorry to hear of this experience you had over your previous call with our team.
Could you please confirm if the balance has now been cleared and if your Direct Debit has been set up for payments on your preferred dates to avoid issues with with this in the future?

We'd love to help with any previous bills and charges as well where possible, is there anything you'd need rectified at this point?
Do let us know and we're eager to assist.

[goody1]

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, the Direct Debit was set up after the last bill date 26th December and before the next bill date 28th December as confirmed by Virgin and Nationwide. Both have confirmed the DD is active and has been since 14th December !

The balance has not been cleared as it says on the most recent bill that the bill date is 26th January and I only received it two days ago, and I do not want to get billed twice especially as Virgin seem to be not able to efficiently charge people the correct amount.

To rectify this problem the late payment charge needs to be dropped not just for me but for everyone! Afterwards they need to check their system and find out why they could not take the money from my bank and then on DD date (26th Jan) take the funds and if it does not work contact me, before issuing an overpayment charge 

As far as the bank are concerned there is nothing wrong with their banking system . Perhaps Virgin should immediately attempt to take out last months bill minus the overpayment charge and see if they can obtain the funds 

[Adri_G]

Thanks for confirming all these for us, goody1.

We're sorry to read of this experience following your Direct Debit change.
We'd need to have a closer look into things for you so we can see how to help.

For this reason, I will send you a PM here shortly.
Please check the top-right corner of our forum and you should see a purple envelope. Click this and you'll see my message.

[goody1]

My bank have just rang me to say they received the DD from Virgin on 15th December which was two weeks before the stated DD payment date. They said the mandate was set up and was also fine which allows Virgin to take whatever payment was required. They stated that VIRGIN HAD NOT ATTEMPTED TO TAKE PAYMENT and they wondered if Virgin had attempted to take DD payment from my old bank. The chap also said he had had problems with Virgin taking double payments a few weeks ago 

Why does it take so long for Virgin to sort this out !?!?!

[goody1]

Dear Virgin

I have just noticed you sent me a message:

"I see your direct debit was requested to be amended on 11/11 and as it takes 30 days to be amended on the account and so it was
accepted on our end on 12/12 and so the bill for December was not taken out and a late payment charge is added to the bill of GBp7.50.
I did check with my supervisor as well however it is a valid charge and we will not be able to remove it from our end."

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A valid charge!!!

Why is it a valid charge for Virgin's incompetence!!!!

I received an email from Virgin stating the 'confirmation of direct debit set up"!!

Account number: ******* Area reference: ** Payment reference number: ****** Hi MR ***************, Thanks for choosing to pay your Virgin Media bills by Direct Debit. Here are the bank details we've got for you: Bank account holder's name: *********** Bank account number: ******** Bank sort code: ********* It's important to make sure these details are correct. If anything doesn't look right, please call our team as soon as possible on 150 from your Virgin Media phone, or 0345 454 1111* from any other network. If your details are all ok, then you don't need to do anything else - you're all ready to go! Your Direct Debit will be set up and effective from the date agreed when you signed up. You have the right to cancel your Direct Debit at any time. A copy of the Direct Debit Guarantee is at the bottom of this email. Yours sincerely Chloe Wood Director of Payment Operations Virgin Media Payments Limited The Direct Debit Guarantee •   This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits •   If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Virgin Media Payments Limited will notify you 5 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Virgin Media Payments Limited to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request •   If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by Virgin Media Payments Limited or your bank or building society you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society •   If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when Virgin Media Payments Limited asks you to •   You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us. * For details about how much it costs to call our team, see our callcosts. Privacy | About Us Virgin Media Payments Ltd. Registered Office: 500 Brook Drive, Reading, RG26UU. Registered in England and Wales No. 6024812. Remember, Virgin Media will never ask you for personal information via email. Please do not reply to this email. DDR

The bank have stated that the DD was sent from Virgin to the bank on 15ht December and the mandate was correctly set up to recieve requests for fund from Virgin. They did not receive any requests for funds from Virgin at all

Surely this indicates that there is a problem within Virgin's computer sysatem if it states "you don't need to do anything else"  and then a few weeks later does not `attempt to take the payment from the bank and then decides to overcharge me, for a payment that Virgin decides not to take

Where is the logic in that?

From what you have stated in your message, that means, that if anyone changes thewir DD details they will be charged and late payment fee due to Virgin's poor accounting system, unless you can explain otherwise

Please fully explain Virgins method of working with Direct Debits

This is not acceptable and I wish to escalate this outrageous, dishonest practice to your complaints/disputes department if you have one, although, I suspect this will take weeks for that to be transferred if it is anything like the rest of the departments, I have had to contact, to get this simple false overcharging problem recitfied

Ridiculous!

[Adri_G]

Hey goody1, please be aware you're posting this info in public.

I have replied to you in private, please check my latest message and we will take it from there.
Cheers

[Andrew-G]

Well, maybe the forum staff would like to sort this out, and add a say £50 goodwill payment?

If they won't, read and follow the VM Consumer Complaints Code of Practice. I always recommend putting complaints in writing and sending by recorded post given VM's ineptitude with web forms, technology in general and telephone calls. If VM can't sort your complaint out to your complete satisfaction (quite likely) you can escalate to Ombudsman Services but do read the ombudsman's guidance on what you have to have done before they can accept the complaint.  

Make sure your complaint is clear, starts from the beginning, includes as much detail as possible on the contacts you've had with VM, including (if relevant) any rudeness or being cut off or disconnected. It should also specify exactly what you want: Correct charging in future, refund of previous over-charges, and a generous "goodwill gesture" (compensation) for the hassle and general inconvenience of the whole thing.