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[UPC] Billing fiasco!!

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  • 26-01-2009 6:18pm
    #1
    Elessar
    Registered Users Posts: 5,251 ✭✭✭


    I never thought I'd say this but I believe I have found a company equal or greater to the incompetence and poor customer service of BT.

    I set up UPC account in November, direct debit, everything grand. 20mb/s connection, wasn't great peak times but that has much improved recently. Anyway, I get my first bill in December and think nothing of it, it's going to come out of my account directly.

    A few weeks later I get another letter saying they couldn't get money from my account and that I need to pay NOW. Plus I have to pay a non payment DD charge of €8.00 in my next bill.

    I ring, complain, pay my bill with credit card and the CSR tells me I can set up my DD again with them...so I give my details. Grand. All Sorted.
    So my next bill comes in today. On top of the €48 euro I owe, they've charged me the €8 non DD payment fee PLUS another €3.00 non payment charge.

    So I ring Comreg to see if they can advise me. They were nice enough and opened a case for me, saying I should ring UPC and complain and try to get it remedied and get a complaint ref number.

    First I ring my bank to check if UPC had made an attempt at least to set up the DD. Nope. Not a sign.

    So I get onto UPC. First girl I get onto tries to tell me UPC tried to take money from my account but couldn't and that they are charged by the bank everytime it fails. Clearly lies, my bank had no record of any mandate set up or attempt by anybody to take the money from my account. Then I say I want to complain and I need a complaint reference number for Comreg. She puts me on hold for a minute and gets back to me, clearly annoyed - "I can give you this reference number now....CLICK". She hung up!!

    I ring back, get a more helpful CSR who I had to argue with (calmly). She told me that the original person who took my order should never had taken my DD details because you need to be up and running first before the system will accept it (???). She admitted it was UPCs mistake and I got her to credit the charge to my account so the balance is back at €48. She then gave me the run around saying she cannot lodge a complaint or give me a complaint reference number because of various procedures and system things (more lies).

    They STILL don't have my DD details even though I gave them a second time when I paid the first bill. She explained (true or not?) that the "system" can't set up a direct debit until an account is at €0.00 - so now I have to pay this month's bill by another means!!!!!!

    They also got my address wrong and rang me to confirm it a separate time, but no call about my direct debit!

    I have never come across such lies and incompetence before from a company. This is actually worse than my BT experience. And I got rid of them. Thing is, I have very few choices for broadband so I want to keep UPC.

    Considering the amount of lies I was told and the rudeness of the staff, I doubt whether this will be sorted now or not. Only time will tell.

    EDIT: Maybe this is better off in consumer issues?


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    #2
    jor el
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,713 ✭✭✭✭jor el


    Elessar wrote: »
    They STILL don't have my DD details even though I gave them a second time when I paid the first bill. She explained (true or not?) that the "system" can't set up a direct debit until an account is at €0.00 - so now I have to pay this month's bill by another means!!!!!!

    That sounds like a lie anyway, unless their system is as useless as the CSR's appear to be.
    Elessar wrote: »
    EDIT: Maybe this is better off in consumer issues?

    Probably, since the issue is not with broadband, but with UPC's complaints and (lack of) customer service. I'll move it so.


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    #3
    Davy
    Registered Users Posts: 19,340 CMod ✭✭✭✭Davy


    A know someone who had a very similar problem with o2. They had set up DD at the start of a contract, but money was never taken, and went on for months. Despite contacting o2, and confirming all the details were correct, and o2 were trying to take the money but for some reason it just wasn't working.

    Im not sure if it was resolved or not yet, bt they had to pay with a visa card for pay the balance of the previous months. It was a Aib account.


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    #4
    foggy_lad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    davton wrote: »
    A know someone who had a very similar problem with o2. They had set up DD at the start of a contract, but money was never taken, and went on for months. Despite contacting o2, and confirming all the details were correct, and o2 were trying to take the money but for some reason it just wasn't working.

    Im not sure if it was resolved or not yet, bt they had to pay with a visa card for pay the balance of the previous months. It was a Aib account.
    some types of bank accounts will not allow direct debits until the customer contacts their bank to allow the debits, maybe this happened in this case?


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    #5
    the groutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,096 ✭✭✭✭the groutch


    why pay by DD at all, the only thing that anyone should ever have a DD for is thier credit card bill


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    #6
    Elessar
    Registered Users Posts: 5,251 ✭✭✭Elessar


    the groutch wrote: »
    why pay by DD at all, the only thing that anyone should ever have a DD for is thier credit card bill

    I was going to say "because there is an extra €3 charge for non DD payments".

    But thinking about it, maybe you're right. After a DD billing nightmare with BT, maybe I should pay by credit card, so only I control what I pay for. Maybe I should just swallow the extra €3 charge for peace of mind?


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    #7
    Davy
    Registered Users Posts: 19,340 CMod ✭✭✭✭Davy


    foggy_lad wrote: »
    some types of bank accounts will not allow direct debits until the customer contacts their bank to allow the debits, maybe this happened in this case?

    Well possibly but after contacting aib to see if they refused to pay out,,they said everything was fine, but yet the direct debit still wasn't working so i dont know what else it could be


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