A direct debit has been taken from my account which does not belong to me - how can I

mdc

I am currently on holidays until the end of August. A vodafone direct debit has been added to my Fermoy account. I am not a vodafone customer. 

Please advise me.

Legislator

mdc wrote: »

I am currently on holidays until the end of August. A vodafone direct debit has been added to my Fermoy account. I am not a vodafone customer.

Please advise me.

You should request an immediate refund from your bank for an unauthorised transaction.

Bank of Ireland: Sean

Hi mdc,

If you have a Direct Debit set up on your account from Vodafone and you have no dealings with them you should cancel it straight away.  If you are a Banking 365 customer you may be able to cancel it online, if you are unable to do it through Banking 365, you can contact your branch and a representative will be happy to assist you.  You can find the details for your branch here.

We understand you are on holidays but you should also contact Vodafone to see why the Direct Debit was set up in the first place.

Thanks for posting

Seán

SpaceTime

It's most likely a keying error by somebody signing up for Vodafone.

When the banks switch to BIC and IBAN this kind of thing will no longer happen as there are check digits in those numbers that make keying errors difficult to happen.

There's a small chance it could be malicious though so check it out with Vodafone too.

It would be better if your bank did that via its Direct Debit dept though because it's unlikely that Vodafone will talk to you if you're not a customer.

Ring 1907 for Vodafone and follow billing and ask for someone who deals with fraud.

Vodafone:
> Customer Care Freefone: 1907
> From abroad: 00 353 1 203 8232

Vodafone Ireland Talk to forum on Boards
http://www.boards.ie/ttforum/1270

The reps on boards might be the fastest way if you are abroad. Start a thread over there too!

mdc

Bank of Ireland: Sean wrote: »

Hi mdc,

If you have a Direct Debit set up on your account from Vodafone and you have no dealings with them you should cancel it straight away.  If you are a Banking 365 customer you may be able to cancel it online, if you are unable to do it through Banking 365, you can contact your branch and a representative will be happy to assist you.  You can find the details for your branch here.

We understand you are on holidays but you should also contact Vodafone to see why the Direct Debit was set up in the first place.

Thanks for posting

Seán

Hi Seán,

Thanks for your response. 32 euro has already been withdrawn from my account. This is the second time in the past few months that I have been in this situation. At least the last time I could justify it. I had made changes to my E-mobile direct debit and someone elses Meteor bill was being paid out of my account. As I was an E-mobile customer they were able to help me rectify the situation.

However, I am really annoyed with this situation. How is it that a third party can be allowed take money from my account without my authorisation?

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Máire

mdc

SpaceTime wrote: »

It's most likely a keying error by somebody signing up for Vodafone.

When the banks switch to BIC and IBAN this kind of thing will no longer happen as there are check digits in those numbers that make keying errors difficult to happen.

There's a small chance it could be malicious though so check it out with Vodafone too.

It would be better if your bank did that via its Direct Debit dept though because it's unlikely that Vodafone will talk to you if you're not a customer.

Ring 1907 for Vodafone and follow billing and ask for someone who deals with fraud.

Vodafone:
> Customer Care Freefone: 1907
> From abroad: 00 353 1 203 8232

Vodafone Ireland Talk to forum on Boards
http://www.boards.ie/ttforum/1270

The reps on boards might be the fastest way if you are abroad. Start a thread over there too!

Thank you for the link and explanation :-) I'll give the vodafone forum a go myself first!

Bank of Ireland: Sean

mdc wrote: »

Thank you for the link and explanation :-) I'll give the vodafone forum a go myself first!

Hi Maire,

The Direct Debit may be Originator Plus.  This type of Direct Debit does not require a signed mandate as it is set up over a recorded phone call.  

What SpaceTime said is correct, you are best contacting Vodafone first.  If you are concerned about your account details at all, contact your branch as soon as possible to report it.

I hope this is resolved for you as soon as possible.

Seán

mdc

Bank of Ireland: Sean wrote: »

Hi Maire,

The Direct Debit may be Originator Plus.  This type of Direct Debit does not require a signed mandate as it is set up over a recorded phone call.  

What SpaceTime said is correct, you are best contacting Vodafone first.  If you are concerned about your account details at all, contact your branch as soon as possible to report it.

I hope this is resolved for you as soon as possible.

Seán

Hi Seán,

I have contacted Vodafone and they are working on it from their end. Apparently under the direct debit guarantee I should be able to get a refund immediately.

http://www.ipso.ie/section/DirectDebitComplaintsProcedure

I have cancelled the direct debit using 365online. 

Vodafone have asked for a transaction reference so I gave them what came up on my statement which did in fact start with OP which correlates with your Originator Plus theory. 

Can you organise the money to be refunded to my account? Please let me know if you need further information.

Kind regards,

Máire

SpaceTime

I've actually found with DD errors sometimes calling into the branch works best if you happen to be near by.

Bank of Ireland: Paula H

Hi Maire

We dont have account access here Maire but if you go to your branch, they will be able to follow this up for you.

Thanks for posting. 

Paula H