Unapproved debit card charge

Arbie

A relative of mine recently changed from bill pay to prepay on an Irish mobile network. The bills were always taken automatically from my credit card.

Since he changed to prepay he has used both his debit card and my credit card to top up.

This week a large sum was taken unexpectedly from his debit card by the mobile company. When he contacted them they said it was his final bill amount. He asked why it was taken from that card and why he had not received a final bill. He had not received a final bill and he never had a direct debit set up. They said it was a system error.

I see a few issues:
- no final bill sent
- money deducted from debit card without authorisation (he was left with less than €2 in the account as a result!)
- they have declined to reverse the charge

I think it is a serious matter. Does it break any financial regulations/legislation?

I have suggested he should ask for the charge to be reversed and for the final bill to be waived. Any other advice on what he should do next?

L1011

He can request (well, demand actually), under SEPA, that his bank reverse the transaction. It's up to him and the operator to sort it out then.

njs030

He can ask his bank to reverse the charge, however he used the service and will have to pay a final bill at some point. All mobile phone bills are available to view online so unfortunately they aren't going to take much notice of the "not getting it" reason.

Why don't you just give him the money as you say you normally pay it?

Arbie

notjustsweet wrote: »

He can ask his bank to reverse the charge, however he used the service and will have to pay a final bill at some point. All mobile phone bills are available to view online so unfortunately they aren't going to take much notice of the "not getting it" reason.

Why don't you just give him the money as you say you normally pay it?

We would have no problem settling a final bill but they never sent one and it was never available online. They admitted this and said it was a systems error but haven't given any further details. We have never seen a final bill so we have no idea if the money debited was the correct amount. In fact the amount taken was a multiple of previous bills and is likely incorrect.

The issue isn't settling the bill, it's the fact that without any notice the company made an unauthorised charge to a bank account that never had a direct debit set up on it.

njs030

Arbie wrote: »

We would have no problem settling a final bill but they never sent one and it was never available online. They admitted this and said it was a systems error but haven't given any further details. We have never seen a final bill so we have no idea if the money debited was the correct amount. In fact the amount taken was a multiple of previous bills and is likely incorrect.

The issue isn't settling the bill, it's the fact that without any notice the company made an unauthorised charge to a bank account that never had a direct debit set up on it.

He needs to go into his bank tomorrow and explain that and ask them to reverse the charge. If he hasn't set up a DD the company won't have any proof of the agreement.
I'd also send the company a complaint in writing. Maybe ask in the forum on boards for that company and they might help?

jahalpin

notjustsweet wrote: »

He needs to go into his bank tomorrow and explain that and ask them to reverse the charge. If he hasn't set up a DD the company won't have any proof of the agreement.
I'd also send the company a complaint in writing. Maybe ask in the forum on boards for that company and they might help?

Under SEPA he doesn't have to explain it to the bank as you are entitled to a "no questions asked" reversal of direct debits within 8 weeks of the direct debit date, if it is more than 8 weeks then he may have to justify the reversal to his bank

whomitconcerns

How did they have his debit card details if he presumably just paid ad hoc when bill was received?

Arbie

jahalpin wrote: »

Under SEPA he doesn't have to explain it to the bank as you are entitled to a "no questions asked" reversal of direct debits within 8 weeks of the direct debit date, if it is more than 8 weeks then he may have to justify the reversal to his bank

It wasn't a direct debit charge, it was just a regular payment put through like a point of sale or other unscheduled charge. The company and bank confirmed this.

Arbie

whomitconcerns wrote: »

How did they have his debit card details if he presumably just paid ad hoc when bill was received?

While he was on bill pay the company had my credit card on file and the bill was always automatically charged to my credit card. That was what we expected would happen with the final bill. There was no reason to expect otherwise.

When he changed to pay as you go he registered a debit card for top-ups and that was the card they took the money from.

VincePP

Arbie wrote: »

While he was on bill pay the company had my credit card on file and the bill was always automatically charged to my credit card. That was what we expected would happen with the final bill. There was no reason to expect otherwise.

When he changed to pay as you go he registered a debit card for top-ups and that was the card they took the money from.

The systems don't recognise the relationship of payment method and user, its simply the payment method for the account. When he switched to prepay and added his debit card, the system just saw this as the default payment method for the account.
Seems the post pay account wasn't closed off, it was just switched to prepay and that allowed him kee the number the same.

The alternative was to open a new account with a new number and then port the old number over - but there would have been no real reason to go to that hassle

xabi

Most likely the high final bill was because you exited the contract early.

Arbie

VincePP wrote: »

The systems don't recognise the relationship of payment method and user, its simply the payment method for the account. When he switched to prepay and added his debit card, the system just saw this as the default payment method for the account.
Seems the post pay account wasn't closed off, it was just switched to prepay and that allowed him kee the number the same.

The alternative was to open a new account with a new number and then port the old number over - but there would have been no real reason to go to that hassle

My credit card is set up as the card on the prepay account for recurring payments (it automatically tops up by X amount each month so he gets free minutes). The debit card is only used now & then for extra credit. I would have thought the credit card which gets charged monthly would be considered the default card rather than the debit card which is used only occasionally.

Arbie

xabi wrote: »

Most likely the high final bill was because you exited the contract early.

He was out of contract.

njs030

Has he contacted his bank today and asked for the charge to be reversed?

goldenhoarde

notjustsweet wrote: »

Has he contacted his bank today and asked for the charge to be reversed?

Get this done above asap and remove the cards from the account and then ask for the final bill and sort it out from there. Do the topups manually as needed until its resolved

if he signed up for any offers over the phone he may have started a new contract

jjjd

Arbie wrote: »

He was out of contract.

Was it a rolling contract? You still have to give notice, otherwise it auto-renews.

goz83

jjjd wrote: »

Was it a rolling contract? You still have to give notice, otherwise it auto-renews.

It only auto renews on a monthly basis.