Direct Debit Theft

[Rovimax]

I am wondering if anyone can tell me how to deal with Virgin Mobile.
The case was, I recently asked for a PAC code because of the erratic charges on my bills [Bill no. 1522302795] and I was told that the early termination fee would be £205.00 to which I agreed to.
Virginmedia later that month took out £367.90 from my bank a/c without notice. This I consider as theft!
I have since called virgin mobile team several times for someone to give me a breakdown of how this figure was arrived at. No one in your call centre seems to know what to do or care.
I subsequently wrote to both your addresses in Trowbridge and Swansea, still to no avail.
Apparently there is no means to complain to Virgin Mobile. Can I report this to the police or Financial Ombudsman?

[Russ]

Cable Forum is not owned or controlled by Virgin Media.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Direct Debit guarantee - if money has incorrectly been taken from your account, your bank should be able to ensure it's refund. Have you contacted them?

If you cannot get any resolution to your complaint from Virgin Media, then contact OFCOM as the regulator.

VM aren't good at paper. Unless your letters were recorded delivery so you can p[rove a receipt they probably ended up in a black hole somewhere. You may first wish to try the CEO's office at Virgin Media to see if they can cut through to the problem neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk

[iateallthepies]

As Rob said use the direct debit guarantee. Contact your bank and get the payment returned.

Contact your bank, tell them you dispute the amount and want it reversing.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Rob

Direct Debit guarantee - if money has incorrectly been taken from your account, your bank should be able to ensure it's refund. Have you contacted them?

If you cannot get any resolution to your complaint from Virgin Media, then contact OFCOM as the regulator.

VM aren't good at paper. Unless your letters were recorded delivery so you can p[rove a receipt they probably ended up in a black hole somewhere. You may first wish to try the CEO's office at Virgin Media to see if they can cut through to the problem neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk

I agree that the CEO's office is the best place to start and that it is tempting for staff to "lose" paper correspondence.

I'm confused though, are members now allowed to give out VM email addresses for people to contact if they have problems, as I was asked not to do it by a moderator

[Russ]

Berkett has given out his email address online in the past therefore it's a reasonable assumption that he is ok with it being used in public.

In your case you did not seek permission from that VM employee to post their email address on here.

Back on topic.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

I agree that the CEO's office is the best place to start and that it is tempting for staff to "lose" paper correspondence.

I'm confused though, are members now allowed to give out VM email addresses for people to contact if they have problems, as I was asked not to do it by a moderator

Neil Berkett's email address is allowed as it goes to the CEO's office not him personally.

Also the CEO's office is likely to refer the OP back to Customer Services as a first port of call and very likely the bill is prorated and correct.

Your can get your bank to do an Indemnity for you but if the payment is correct it will always be repaid to the claiming company at which point you may incur bank charges, that is also part of the Direct Debit Guarantee as the company will never be out of pocket if the payment is rightly theirs.

This is why i don't have DD's for sky ,virgin mobile or any other service company .Giving them access to take what they like is only asking for trouble

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by Peter_

Also the CEO's office is likely to refer the OP back to Customer Services as a first port of call and very likely the bill is prorated and correct.

If you re-read the OP's post you'll see that Customer Services have failed to explain the charges when asked.

Money can only be taken by DD only if it is properly justified and accounted for. If the customer is not provided with proper billing, especially if they have demanded it, then there are legitimate grounds for complaint escalation.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Rob

If you re-read the OP's post you'll see that Customer Services have failed to explain the charges when asked.

Money can only be taken by DD only if it is properly justified and accounted for. If the customer is not provided with proper billing, especially if they have demanded it, then there are legitimate grounds for complaint escalation.

I have read it actually on the first day it was posted, but if the payment is legitimate and an Indemnity claim is made which proves to be incorrect the payee can demand payment back in full without warning which can leave you short of money and potentially overdrawn because an Indemnity claim does not mean the money claimed back is actually yours even though it is now back in your account.

As for the CEO's Office it will be unlikely they will become involved apart from possibly getting a call from a Customer Services manager who would explain the charges but that would be it as far as them taking ownership of the issue.

The agents spoken to originally should have explained any charges in full rather than dodging the issue if the OP's original post is request as that is unwarranted and unprofessional.

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by Peter_

Neil Berkett's email address is allowed as it goes to the CEO's office not him personally.

No it goes to him, but is also managed by CEOs

Originally Posted by Peter_

I have read it actually on the first day it was posted, but if the payment is legitimate and an Indemnity claim is made which proves to be incorrect the payee can demand payment back in full without warning which can leave you short of money and potentially overdrawn because an Indemnity claim does not mean the money claimed back is actually yours even though it is now back in your account.

That isn't how it works. If you do an Idemnity claim that is successfull you get the money back. However it then becomes a debt with the company the D/D was for

They can't then reverse the claim, they would have to bill it to the customer the same as any other charge

As the OP says they weren't notified of the D/D amount, then that would be valid claim as the D/D rules haven't been followed. If they had been notified it wouldn't be valid claim as the process itself had been followed

[MovedGoalPosts]

Originally Posted by Peter_

As for the CEO's Office it will be unlikely they will become involved apart from possibly getting a call from a Customer Services manager who would explain the charges but that would be it as far as them taking ownership of the issue.

By implication you are saying the issue shouldn't be escalated to the CEO office as a complaint. But the OP has, as posted, tried to get Customer Services to provide him with a proper account, both by calling and by writing. If Customer Services refuse / simply will not / are incapable of dealing with the issue, when should the CEO office get involved?

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

No it goes to him, but is also managed by CEOs

You actually believe that he reads all those emails, get real it is not his personal email address and he will never see the inbox for that email address.

Originally Posted by BenMcr

That isn't how it works. If you do an Idemnity claim that is successfull you get the money back. However it then becomes a debt with the company the D/D was for

They can't then reverse the claim, they would have to bill it to the customer the same as any other charge

Of course not the banks just let the claim get reversed and forget about it, whoever gave you that information is wrong but you think that you know know better.

Originally Posted by Peter_

Of course not the banks just let the claim get reversed and forget about it, whoever gave you that information is wrong but you think that you know know better.

If the bank reverses the claim and the op gets all his money back ,any money owed due to the cancellation of his contract then becomes a debt to VM which hopefully the next time they try to collect will be billed correctly with a breakdown of the costs.

If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society.

• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

http://www.thesmartwaytopay.co.uk/di...guarantee.aspx