Cineworld direct debit

Morpork

Hi guys,

I signed up for unlimited cards for me and my girlfriend with Cineworld by direct debit, with the first payment due in August. The first 2 months had to be paid by credit card and for that purpose we used my girlfriends as I don't have one.

August rolls around and I get a letter from Cineworld stating that the fee was "returned unpaid" and I should contact them. I called their customer service line which is based in England and I explained the problem. He said "I don't know why that happened" and that he would set up my account for a double payment in September. I said OK that's fine, but will it go through and he said again "yes, I don't know why that happened". I figured it would be fine, as it seemed like a problem on their end.

In September I got the same letter so I called again and the lady said they need a payment before they can fix my problem and they can't let me use the card until then. I asked what I should do as it's not my fault it didn't go through at which point she snapped "It's not our fault, go talk to the bank".

So I went to the bank and the super nice bank teller discovered that the sort code I provided was wrong. When I called the bank initially and asked for the sort code they gave me the wrong one. The branch was merged with another and they have 2 sort codes.
More my fault for not checking properly, I'll admit.

Anyway I called bank and told them I found the problem that it was the sort code. The new lady I was talking to was anything but polite. Right from the get go she was short with me and cut me off mid sentences and even raised her voice. I was honestly being as polite as I could. I told her I don't have a credit card (my girlfriend's CC is Japanese so she doesn't want to use it again as she will incur charges) and if she could take the money directly from the bank. A bank transfer or postal order. She said no to it all, only a credit card.

"How about a triple payment" I asked? "We know the problem now".
"No."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean why not?" she said.
I explained (and this is where I have the issue) is that if the first lad I talked to analysed the issue at the time of the first call rather than an explanation of "I don't know" we wouldn't have this problem. She said that's just my view on it and that I'm not a paying customer so she can't help me.

Now I have a couple of weeks before they move it to debt collection to find a card to pay with. I was left feeling very frustrated after the whole thing as I couldn't use the service which I was trying to pay for and I had to do their jobs for them; while also dealing with poor customer service.

I've not had much experience with customer service, but on the flip side I called Tesco directly after and the difference was night and day. Super polite, and they instantly took the blame and offered me vouchers. Made me feel better that's for sure.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the super long post, but what do you think I should do? I was thinking of calling them again and asking to speak to a supervisor and explaining again. I honestly don't know where I could get a credit card to pay. I do know one guy who might pay on my behalf, but it's unfair to him and it's embarrassing for me to ask.

Thanks for reading.

Cheshire Cat

Why don't you get a prepaid CC? Something like the O2 money card should sort your problem and it is handy to have.

Morpork

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

Why don't you get a prepaid CC? Something like the O2 money card should sort your problem and it is handy to have.

Aye, that is an option alright, but I was more asking the question should I have to go through that inconvenience? Do you feel their customer service was poor or am I to blame for the problem?

Cheers.