Payment returned / fee on credit card

Quaderno

I have a problem that probably doesn't happen often, but it's still annoying. So may be you can help
The story so far: I have to use my credit card quite often for online purchases, but I don't like to actually borrow money. So I always pay the amount back quickly. Another reason for this is to keep the full limit of the card available. That never caused a problem, until this week.  

On Monday (17/02) I manually transferred all the outstanding debt from my current account to my credit card account via online banking. Most of it would have been payable after this month's 
statement and some in March. The credit card account was fully cleared after that payment and showed no (0) remaining debt and the full limit as available as of 17/02.
For Thursday (20/02) my online statement shows a line "DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT THANK YOU" and the amount matches the money that would have been payable in February, but had already been paid three days before. For the next day (21/02) it says "PAYT RETD INSUFFICIENT FUNDS" (since I didn't have enough money parked on the current account to pay the full amount twice) and then UNPAID FEE - 9.50. I can imagine how this has happened on close enough dates, but since I didn't actually owe the bank any money I don't think this is right. What I would like to know: What is the best course of action to 1) get the unjustified fee reversed, and more importantly 2) how can I make sure that this error on the side of the bank does not affect my credit rating?
Thanks in advance!

TL;DR: The bank tried to debit an amount from my current account to clear my credit card which I had already paid in full three working days before and then charged me €9.50 because this failed.

Bank of Ireland: Alison

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Hi Quaderno[/font]
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[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thank you for contacting us on Boards.[/font]
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[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We would first suggest contacting Card Services, a representative will look into this fee further for you. They could also advise how many days the direct debit maybe in transit prior to debiting the current account. [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Contact numbers are 0818 251 251 or from abroad on 00353 5677 57747.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]If you have any further queries, please let us know. We are happy to help.[/font]
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[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Alison[/font]

Quaderno

Thanks Alison,
just a quick follow up: I called the number and it was explained to me that the reason for the problem happening in the first place was the introduction of SEPA-Transfers, which in this case require a lead-in time of seven working days for the first  transaction and four days thereafter. The fee will be refunded. Thanks for your help!

Bank of Ireland: Alison

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Hi Quaderno[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We're delighted to hear the fee will be refunded and the representative has helped you with understanding how this occurred on your Credit Card.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks for coming back to let us know. We really appreciate it. If we can help with any queries in the future please come back to us.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Alison[/font]

 

Quaderno

The delight seems to have been premature. 
Now that I have received the credit card statement for the period in question I can see that that fee, contrary to what I had been told, had not been reversed. Furthermore I got hit with a second fee on my current account labelled "UnpaidFee20Feb 12.70" for the same payment, which means that I have now been charged €22.20 in penalties for a payment I sent off early. This is no way to conduct business. 
I ask you today to give me the details of the person/department to direct a formal complaint to, which will also be sent to the financial regulator.
Thanks in advance.

Bank of Ireland: Elaine

Hi Quaderno,

Thanks for coming back to us and we're very sorry to hear this.

As these fees are still outstanding we would like to look into this further for you. We have sent you a PM for more information. Just to add, please be careful not to include account information.

If after this, you still wish to make a formal complaint, please this link for information on our Complaints Process.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Elaine

Quaderno

Thanks for the quick reaction, PM sent.

And another update: I just received the call and the lady, after having explained the situation again, agreed to refund both fees to my credit card as a goodwill gesture. Thanks for that.
Just to conclude explaining my position: I fully understand that payment errors can occur and that - in part due to my own fault - the manual payment to my card was not yet visible at the time the DD was scheduled to happen. The steep fee for the alleged nonpayment however is something different, and should not kick in automatically when the payment in question has in fact happened fully and even earlier than necessary. I am happy this looks resolved now.
Thanks for your help!