Esb cancelled my dd

velvet1989

hey all esb cancelled my dd due to housemates not giving me money on time so had no money in the account blah blah blah. But now they want the 300 deposit. Just wondering can I reset up the dd to avoid the deposit. Also started sending in the readings and now there billing me every 16days wtf??? its really worrying me now as I really want to pay the bill but cant afford the bill and the deposit together.I am moving soon so want to get it all done and dusted.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi velvet1989,

There shouldn't be any problem re-activating the direct debit previously set up, provided the cancellation mandate didn't come from the bank directly (if this is the case, you would first need to contact the bank to ensure the direct debit would go through unobstructed if set up again).

velvet1989 wrote:

...now they want the 300 deposit. Just wondering can I reset up the dd to avoid the deposit.

Yes, the security deposit request would be waived if a direct debit is in place (see here for further information on our credit terms).

The best thing to do would be to send me a PM with your details so I can look after it for you.

Thanks,

David.

the-geezer

Hi David ,
Is there any where i can send a meter reading for a house my son was renting . He left in november but he forgot to take his name off the bill. His friends who were renting with him stayed until about a month ago, he does not have the actual bill but a letter that was sent to him by ESB , the reading is a final reading of when his left the house.

Tony Day

Electric Ireland: David

the-geezer wrote:

Is there any where i can send a meter reading for a house my son was renting . He left in november but he forgot to take his name off the bill. His friends who were renting with him stayed until about a month ago, he does not have the actual bill but a letter that was sent to him by ESB , the reading is a final reading of when his left the house.

Where account closures are concerned, we are restricted in terms of how far back we can go; 2 months is usually the maximum. That said, can your son get in touch with me directly via PM so I could have a look? (For data protection reasons, we can only discuss account details with the registered account holder. Apologies if this causes any inconvenience)

Thanks,

David.

Brian.D

Hello David, I pay my esb bill through Direct Debit which is due this Thursday(July 7th) but I might not be able to get money in to my bank account untill wedensday(July 13th) next week & was wondering is there any way I get get the direct debit to be collected by the esb on that day instead so I wont get charged extra by the bank for a returned unpaid direct debit.
Cheers Brian

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Brian,

I've just responded to your PM.

Thanks,

David.

dub45

In relation to the above post from Brian D the ESB have their own charge of 6 euro (at least it was last time I had an issue) in relation to unpaid direct debits. I have asked the the ESB several times why do they not advise this charge to customers when they are signing up for direct debits and have never got a satisfactory answer.

It is basic dishonesty as far as I am concerned not to advise customers of this charge. Can anyone on here explain why this charge is not advised to customers on sign up for direct debit?

booboo88

dub45 wrote: »

In relation to the above post from Brian D the ESB have their own charge of 6 euro (at least it was last time I had an issue) in relation to unpaid direct debits. I have asked the the ESB several times why do they not advise this charge to customers when they are signing up for direct debits and have never got a satisfactory answer.

It is basic dishonesty as far as I am concerned not to advise customers of this charge. Can anyone on here explain why this charge is not advised to customers on sign up for direct debit?

its standard for companies to charge unpaid dd. sky do it if the money isnt there.
its assumed that the money is to be collected on the date, which is printed on the bill, so if you get a bill wud it not be an idea to ring up if you know its not going to be there?

dub45

booboo88 wrote: »

its standard for companies to charge unpaid dd. sky do it if the money isnt there.
its assumed that the money is to be collected on the date, which is printed on the bill, so if you get a bill wud it not be an idea to ring up if you know its not going to be there?

Simply because something is "standard" doesn't make it right!

There is no provision in the direct debit system itself for companies to charge customers if a direct debit is not met.

I believe that a customer is entitled to know all potential charges up front.

The only ones who are ever penalised under the direct debit system are bill payers. No matter what a company does they can get away with it.


The direct debit scheme clearly states:

The essence of such an arrangement is that of the total integrity of and trust in the Scheme. All
Participants must work together to ensure that such integrity and trust is maintained.

How can there be integrity and trust if the Company doesn't tell you explicitly up front about potential charges?

Why would an honest company not consider it essential to tell customers about such charges?

Electric Ireland: David

Hi dub45,

I understand and can appreciate your point. In our General Terms and Conditions of Supply (Section 5e) however, we do outline situations where extra charges may be incurred (relevant condition highlighted):

We will be entitled to make extra charges which may include:

• charges arising from extra services we provide to you, at your request;
• our extra costs in enforcing this agreement, including the costs of collecting payments;
• the costs we have to pay to the DSO or anyone else;
  and
• charges relating to the tariff or the regulatory charges that are set by the Commission for Energy Regulation.

When a direct debit is returned unpaid we are charged by the bank in question, and such costs are passed back to the customer in the form of a €6 fee (per returned direct debit). 14 days notice is provided to the customer prior to the due date of any direct debit payment, allowing (we believe) sufficient time to ensure the relevant funds are in place.

Thanks,

David.

Priori

Electric Ireland: David wrote:

When a direct debit is returned unpaid we are charged by the bank in question, and such costs are passed back to the customer in the form of a €6 fee (per returned direct debit).

Afaik Airtricity charge €20 for bounced direct debits.

dub45

Priori wrote: »

Afaik Airtricity charge €20 for bounced direct debits.

So what? No matter what a company may charge in this respect a customer is entitled to know in advance what charges they may incur.

dub45

Electric Ireland: David wrote: »

Hi dub45,

I understand and can appreciate your point. In our General Terms and Conditions of Supply (Section 5e) however, we do outline situations where extra charges may be incurred (relevant condition highlighted):


When a direct debit is returned unpaid we are charged by the bank in question, and such costs are passed back to the customer in the form of a €6 fee (per returned direct debit). 14 days notice is provided to the customer prior to the due date of any direct debit payment, allowing (we believe) sufficient time to ensure the relevant funds are in place.

Thanks,

David.

So could you please tell me why if the ESB participate in the Direct Debit system and thereby accept the quote above (from the Direct Debit scheme rules) and I will repeat if for your benefit, why are customers not told when they are signing up for a direct debit of the possible charge if they miss one. (And by the way you are required under the direct debit scheme rules to give customers 14 days notice so its not as if you are being generous in that respect)

The essence of such an arrangement is that of the total integrity of and trust in the Scheme.

All Participants must work together to ensure that such integrity and trust is maintained.

Nobody could possibly know from the Terms you quote that they could end up paying six euros if they miss a direct debit. How can any customer commit to paying unspecified charges and in any event those terms are not available to a customer when they are signing a direct debit mandate.

I presume for instance that when a customer is signing up for a direct debit over the phone they are not referred to those Terms and Conditons?

Also you say the charges made by the bank when returning the dd to you are passed on to the customer. It appears that my bank charges the originator approx one euro when returning a dd unpaid so where does the rest of the 6 euro charge come from?

Electric Ireland: Sonia

Hi dub45,

We appreciate all of your opinions and thoughts regarding this matter. Of course, the ESB prides itself on Customer Care and Service. You will be happy to know that we have brought this to the attention of our Management and they have decided to review our general Terms and Conditions due the paper that CER recently issued in relation to Debt Flagging. We intend revisiting this charge within that review.

Hope this is of help to you.

Thanks,
Sonia

dub45

Electric Ireland: Sonia wrote: »

Hi dub45,

We appreciate all of your opinions and thoughts regarding this matter. Of course, the ESB prides itself on Customer Care and Service. You will be happy to know that we have brought this to the attention of our Management and they have decided to review our general Terms and Conditions due the paper that CER recently issued in relation to Debt Flagging. We intend revisiting this charge within that review.

Hope this is of help to you.

Thanks,
Sonia

This is not of any "help" to me or the many people affected by the ESB's lack of candour in respect of a charge that people are deliberately not told about.

Sonia with all due respect to your goodself this it just more PR waffle. If the ESB were honest they would simply tell people upfront about the charge there is absolutely no excuse for not doing so.

Words like "review' and "revisit" are classic examples of non speak. They have nothing whatsoever to do with this issue and are just waffle.

(I am informed by banking sources (as they say in the newspapers) that up to 10% of dds fail so a considerable amount of people are affected by such charges and a considerable amount of money is collected via the charges)

Can you please tell me in simple non PR speak why the ESB do not tell people up front about this charge?

booboo88

dub45 wrote: »

This is not of any "help" to me or the many people affected by the ESB's lack of candour in respect of a charge that people are deliberately not told about.

Sonia with all due respect to your goodself this it just more PR waffle. If the ESB were honest they would simply tell people upfront about the charge there is absolutely no excuse for not doing so.

Words like "review' and "revisit" are classic examples of non speak. They have nothing whatsoever to do with this issue and are just waffle.

(I am informed by banking sources (as they say in the newspapers) that up to 10% of dds fail so a considerable amount of people are affected by such charges and a considerable amount of money is collected via the charges)

Can you please tell me in simple non PR speak why the ESB do not tell people up front about this charge?

banks charge for companies for an unpaid direct debit, so thats past on to the customer.
ive said it before ill say it again, if this is all that troubles you, you have an easy life

Leane

Hi, 

[font=arial, sans-serif]On the 11th of April I received a letter outlining that my last direct debit was returned marked Not Specified Reason Agent Generated. The reason this was returned was due to double payment made on my behalf and it so happened that the direct debit was returned to me.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]I do not understand why I now need to pay the €300 security deposit as this bill was paid and I am not in debt. As I will be moving out of the apartment on the 31st of May, I feel there is no need for this anyway as a my bills have been paid on time and one simple mix up is causing me undue stress as I cannot afford this payment as my main occupation is a student.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]I would appreciate any help on this matter as soon as possible as I am very worried about this matter and my problem seems similar to velvet1989's.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Leane,

Thanks for your post.

Leane wrote:

I do not understand why I now need to pay the €300 security deposit as this bill was paid and I am not in debt... one simple mix up is causing me undue stress as I cannot afford this payment

If your direct debit mandate was cancelled for any reason a security deposit would be automatically re-applied. Once we reactivate the direct debit for you the security deposit would be immediately removed.

Please feel free to send us your Electric Ireland account details by PM and we can look into this further.

Leane wrote:

I will be moving out of the apartment on the 31st of May

Just for your own information, we have a section on our website which you might find useful in this regard:

All About Moving Out

If there's anything else we can help with don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
David