Refund not issued after 23 weeks

bruschi

Looking for some advise.

I am having a long standing problem with a mobile phone network provider. Basically, I topped up online, but whilst they took the money, they never topped up my phone. they acknowledged the problem, and I was told I'd be refunded.

Fast forward months of emails and phone calls and no refunds, I got comreg involved and I was told by the phone company that the refund was issued and to allow 21 working days for it to go into my bank (third time though I have been told it was issued). It has not gone into my bank however, and I am 100% certain of this.

I emailed them back again, and they said sorry, but the finance department want to see my bank account records for the last 3 months before they will investigate.

Now, my issue here is I am not at all comfortable issuing my bank account records to some random person in a poorly organised company just because they cant do their job properly. Surely they have records, and they should not be requesting such a demand on me. I told them I was not prepared to do that, as I dont want personal banking details going to them, and I cant exactly blank everything out as they are trying to prove something was entered, yet it wasnt.

any advise as to what I should do? This has been one of the most annoying and terrible customer service relations I have ever had to deal with. The level of incompetence and absolutely shocking customer service has been horrendous. It has taken far too much time and effort to get back money they took off me.

slimjimmc

How about reverse the table and put the onus on them to prove that they refunded you, e,g. transaction id, date & time of when this was transmitted to your bank. Your bank should then be able to check if the transaction was received at their end.

hfallada

Have you contact Comreg to report this? They might advise you

mikey767

Something similar happened to me when I topped up my leap card at a luas machine. Don't know what they did but the refund didn't appear as a lodgement, the debit just disappeared from my statement. Is the debit still on yours?

amber2

I agree they should if the payment was processed, be able to refer to their bank and put a trace on the item to your account, do they have a transaction I.D. For the transaction.

Was the payment processed in a different bank from yours therefore the transaction would take between 3 and 5 working days to hit your account once through both bank clearing systems, so ask what date they processed it and if all comes to all send them a screen shot of day 3 to day 5 after. if the same institution is used it will reflect instantly or at least by end of day on the date of processing as some large companies process transactions in bulk.

AngryLips

Did you pay by credit card? Because you could just dispute the transaction with the CC company

Tippex

tbf after 23 weeks I would be looking for a gesture of goodwill for them taking the almighty piss. Would you be within your rights of applying a service charge / interst for them witholding your money? especially as it has cost you money (phone calls etc) to reclaim the money.

And yes mistakes happen all the time and I would not normally condone the above but 23 weeks seriously

Pawwed Rig

Comreg is the only way to go really. The finance mechanisms of these companies tends to be chaotic and they do not seem to be able to do much other than receive direct debits. I would guess this is done purposely to maximise profits where people just give up in the end. If you look at the talk to forums here you will find numerous examples of overcharging through direct debit, lies to people signing up for contracts, poor customer service etc etc

dudara

Ask them to provide details of the payment to your account so that you can trace the payment with your bank. They have zero rights to ask to see your personal financial details.

bruschi

Thanks for the replies.

To answer some of the above:

I paid by internet banking, and the debit was taken was not returned. It was a known issue (obviously not to me) that day and there were other multiple complaints at the time that there was a fault. They have my bank details to issue the refund.

I have contacted comreg. Comreg contacted them, and I got an email from a head guy in their complaints or finance saying the refund was issued, and it was kinda left then. I contacted comreg again on Friday after the latest update but as of yet have had no response.

I left this mobile provider about 3 weeks after this problem happened. They tried just put the money into my account 4 weeks after, but as I was no longer with them, that wasnt an acceptable term, obviously. In any case, beacuse of the pay as you go plan, one way or another this wasnt an acceptable outcome for me even if I was still with them.

As mentioned, there should be a gesture of goodwill. I've probably spent far far more in work time with emails and calls trying to sort it (luckily I'm not self employed). But at this stage, on the last count I had, I reckon I've made 12 calls, about 30 emails, 2 online chat things, and a load of posts on their forum. Its scandalous how useless they are. I also had an issue where they way overcharged my a week or so after this on roaming when I was abroad, about €15 worth, but it was so hard to get a straight forward return on the debit money that I just could not be bothered fighting with them over that too.

As for the advise above, I'm going to ask them for proof it was processed and take it from there.

Thanks!

bruschi

well, a month later and still no response other than being told it was forwarded to another department and they are looking into it. This is really shambolic stuff. To not be able refund €30 after over 6 months of constantly onto them about it is dreadful customer service. its gone past wanting or needing the money, its more now about the point of the matter and being fobbed off every time.

bruschi

Finally got the refund. Got sent a letter saying I didnt have to send in anything, a very brief apology and that the money would be in my account within 2 days, which it was.

Why Meteor couldnt have done that last November I dont know.

Teagwee

bruschi wrote: »

Finally got the refund. Got sent a letter saying I didnt have to send in anything, a very brief apology and that the money would be in my account within 2 days, which it was.

Why Meteor couldnt have done that last November I dont know.

Fair play for keeping on at this. I think sometimes it's about hoping you'll give up and go away, but the bad publicity here is certainly not in their interests.

Pawwed Rig

I always cancel my direct debits with these companies soon after signing up with them. Then when Meteor decide I owe them money in error they don't get it.

Teagwee

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I always cancel my direct debits with these companies soon after signing up with them. Then when Meteor decide I owe them money in error they don't get it.

I do exactly the same - far easier to prevent them getting it in the first place than soul-destroyingly hounding them to get it back. Even if there's still a final amount owing, the calculation and remittance of it is under your control rather than theirs.

bruschi

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I always cancel my direct debits with these companies soon after signing up with them. Then when Meteor decide I owe them money in error they don't get it.

yeah but this was a PAYG account. I topped up, they took the money but never topped up the phone.

Took some serious amount of emails and calls to get this sorted though, wouldnt even want to count how many times I had to email and ring them. Just glad I'm not self employed!

Teagwee

bruschi wrote: »

yeah but this was a PAYG account. I topped up, they took the money but never topped up the phone.

Took some serious amount of emails and calls to get this sorted though, wouldnt even want to count how many times I had to email and ring them. Just glad I'm not self employed!

Yes, you're right, your situation was different and I'm glad you got it sorted in the end. It's very draining having to keep on keeping on, but worth the battle not to allow them get the better of you.

bruschi

Teagwee wrote: »

Yes, you're right, your situation was different and I'm glad you got it sorted in the end. It's very draining having to keep on keeping on, but worth the battle not to allow them get the better of you.

it had got to the stage where it was more about the point of the matter than actually getting the money back. the tone of the email they sent claiming they issued payment and that I had to send in bank statements for the previous 6 months to prove it really annoyed me.

Pawwed Rig

Unfortunately Meteor are the better of the mobile phone companies I've dealt with so far. It seems to be a fairly shady industry