Irish Broadband have robbed money from my account

LFC5Times

Around mid February i got onto Irish Broadband about getting Ripwave and was told by the guy there that it would be delivered to be in a couple of days and it will work as he did some test of some sort.

Anyway a couple of days later it arrived and i couldnt pick up a signal,i rang technical support and was told to move the aerial/box thing around the house and so i did and still no signal.
The lady then told me that my road was in fact a blackspot and i should never have been told i was elgible to get Ripwave.

I told her i hope my account wont be debited and she goes no it wont and she will make sure of it now. she said some guy will come out in a couple of days to collect the ripwave box.
The guy collected it and his comment to me was 'i suppose its not working,nothing new there'. Says it all to be honest.

Anyway my account was debited despite being told it wouldnt and that was over 5 weeks ago.I have phoned up 3/4 times and been told my account will be credited in a couple of days,this was 3 weeks ago.
I have emailed them and still there is repsonse is that it will take a few days to refund me but thats 2/3 weeks ago.

What is my next step ?
I really want to expose them for this fraud. what can i do ?

Sponge Bob

they are nowhere near as bad as eircom or BT, the bosses are name.surname@irishbroadband.ie , see this

jor el

Call your bank and tell them that you did not authorise that direct debit. Make sure that future DDs are stopped now too, you may need to write a letter to them to stop them.

If IBB don't refund your money now (as they should have done weeks ago) go to the small claims court. That should cop them on and get you your money back fairly quick.

Kimbot

Getting money they owe you is like drawing blood from a stone!!
I had a couple of months of hassle trying to get money back off them but they won't issue it to your bank they will see it as you have an account with them so will use that to offset the next payment!! Ring and ask for a manager of the accounts department!!

LFC5Times

I was talking to some punter in there today and he says he will pass it on to his manager and sees no reason why i shouldnt get a refund - thats obvious anybody can see i should get a refund.

Can Comreg do anything ?

Im not in the mood to wait 1/2 weeks in the hope that the Manager acted and put the money back in my account only to find he didnt and i have to ring again.

Would i not be waiting ages with the Small Claims court ?

LFC5Times

jonny24ie wrote:

Getting money they owe you is like drawing blood from a stone!!
I had a couple of months of hassle trying to get money back off them but they won't issue it to your bank they will see it as you have an account with them so will use that to offset the next payment!! Ring and ask for a manager of the accounts department!!

The thing is i wont be using therm again as the product never worked from the start and i have since got Eircom broadband in,so i just want me money back.

dub45

Sponge Bob wrote:

they are nowhere near as bad as eircom or BT, the bosses are name.surname@irishbroadband.ie , see this

In fairness to Eircom given the huge number of bb customers they have there are remarkably few complaints about their billing on here so you are being very unfair to them if only on that basis,

If the money was deducted by direct debit you should immediately contact your bank and tell them you want the payment charged back to your account. You have this guarantee under the direct debit scheme.

I dont know the drill if you paid by credit card but I would contact my credit card company anyways.

You can always tell them that you know someone who works behind the scenes on the Joe Dufffy show!!!

Complaints about misbehaviour under the direct debit scheme can also be made to IPSO they are the body who 'administer' the scheme. www.ipso.ie
or 6636740 - I have complained to them a few times and they always tell me they get very very few complaints about the scheme so the more they hear the better!!!!!!.

Sponge Bob

dub45 wrote:

In fairness to Eircom given the huge number of bb customers they have there are remarkably few complaints about their billing on here so you are being very unfair to them if only on that basis

eircom are not as bad as BT so I was a bit unfair to them there. BT are uniquely awful , I shall rephrase it to

"IBB are about as bad , nowadays , as eircom and a lot better than BT"

Mutant_Fruit

Just go to your bank and tell them that you want a reverse charge done for that DD as it was taken without your permission. You should get your money back within a few days (3-5 probably). You may need to sign forms in the bank to get it completed though.

If enough people did this after a reasonable wait for a refund as opposed to waiting months, IBB would have to clean up their act as banks may start to be wary about allowing IBB to DD someones account.

jor el

jor el wrote:

Call your bank and tell them that you did not authorise that direct debit.

Unfortunately he did authorise the DD, as he signed a form of consent allowing IBB to withdraw a certain amount every month. Thats the thing with direct debits, they are bloody evil. I worked in a bank for a while so I know that signing a direct debit mandate form basically allows a company to make withdrawals on their own time. The bank is only a middle man. They cant really refuse the money once the company (IBB) come looking for it.

OP, I presume you cancelled the DD with your bank?

The next step would be to call up IBB and calmly but firmly ask for a manager.
Making sensational threats wont get you anywhere. I can understand your frustration, but you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, if you catch my drift.

If that doesnt work I suppose you should post over on the legal discussion forum, and ask what the procedure is for small claims court.

jor el

Deleted User wrote:

Unfortunately he did authorise the DD, as he signed a form of consent allowing IBB to withdraw a certain amount every month.

But he withdrew his authorisation when he cancelled (and IBB accepted) the service.
http://www.ipso.ie/frames/documents/PayersGuide.pdf
The important parts of this document says:
"Your Direct Debit Originator will notify you in advance of the amounts to be debited to your account."
But he wasn't informed by IBB so they are in breach of the rules.
Also it says:
"If it is established that an unauthorised Direct Debit was charged to your account, you are guaranteed a prompt refund by your Bank of the amount so charged."
If LFC5Times contacts the bank he should be given a refund immediately. I would also report IBB to the IPSO or the Financial Regulator anyway for being in breach of DD rules and not refunding when it was pointed out to them.

It's true that Comreg should be all over this and BT's continual abuse of customers with over charging and non-refunds, but they're about as useful as a dry sponge in an empty bath.

People put up with far too much from these companies and if they just complained to the relevant body then something might happen. If BT or IBB lost their direct debit privilege (or even were threatened with it) you'd be guaranteed to see a change in their attitude fairly promptly.

edit:
Have a read of this too, it's the guide for DD originators.

* the issuance of correct advance notification as appropriate of amounts to be debited
* that Direct Debits as issued conform to Payer instructions and the Rules of the Scheme
* that disputed amounts are not debited
* that procedures for terminating the Direct Debit are put in place
* that the Originator will settle indemnity claims under or pursuant to the Scheme within 10 days
* that all other responsibilities of the Originator under or pursuant to the Scheme are adhered to.

IBB don't seem to be adhering to just about all of these rules. The third one about disputed claims not being debited should be noted by anyone using BT and having billing troubles (so that's everyone with BT then) as their policy is that the debit cannot be stopped and that a refund will follow "sometime later".

LFC5Times

I never actually signed anything it was done over phone.

Money was debited form my account a few days after i phoned them up to tell them it wasnt working depsite being told my account wouldnt be debited.

8 days ago in there a guy in there said my account would be credited in 2/3 working days.

I got back on today because no sign of my money and i shouted down for 5 mins the customer rep until she put me through to a manager which she finally did.

He said he will check it out and ring me back and it will defo be put back in my account.

So a quick question did they have authorisation to take money out of my account ?

When i first phoned up to order ripwave i knew i was signing up for 6 months and gave them my credit card but when it didnt work i cancelled it and was told my account wouldnt be debited.
At this stage money hadnt been taken out of my account but it was a few days/ a week later.

So i see it that i cancelled my contract due to it not working and that was accepted but my account was still debited.

jor el

LFC5Times wrote:

So a quick question did they have authorisation to take money out of my account ?

No they didn't. Ring your bank right now and tell them than IBB have made fraudulent charges to your card and ask them to reverse it. Don't wait around for IBB any longer, you've already given them weeks to sort this and they obviously aren't going to.

JNive

account would be credited

You need to make sure you are talking about the same account. They usually mean that they credit your account with them, meaning it is subtracted off your next bill. In relation to DD disputes, it should be a direct refund, and NOT a credit. Also the fact that they are not entitled to debit you for any disputed amounts means once they charge you, they are breaching the terms, and that in itself is refundable. Too many people treat Direct Debit as a sort or reverse standing order, or a Credit-Card Transaction from your Bank Account.

Esel

OP says it was a credit card charge, not a direct debit. Should be easy to repudiate this with his bank?

OTK

Ring IBB and ask for a refund to be credited to your card by pdq machine on the spot. If they refuse then write a letter to your credit card provider. List the charges on your credit card you wish to have refunded by date and amount. State that you wish to have a 'chargeback' made to your account as you did not receive the stated services. This should do it. No need to contact IBB again unless they choose to contest your chargeback which they would have to pay to do. This kind of problem arises usually not through malice but just because the company's admin section is a blackhole.