Where exactly in the billing/collection process did the error occur? Incorrectly entered meter reading? Incorrectly set up tariff? Computers are highly obedient morons that are very very good at numbers and very very rarely make a mathematical mistake. Un-like humans bashing a keyboard or giving them the instructions to follow. You can't blame the DD system for cockups made by humans further back in the proceedures.
The local community wireless broadband co-op (as was) had the abilty to collect the monthly sub of it's 300 odd customers via DD. Not all of those 300 used the facilty though. It wasn't that hard to be compliant or setup.
The DD system is for regular, generally fixed, payments from many to one. One of the main reasons for a company to use DD is that they don't have to manually check that all payments requested have arrived. There are benefits to both sides, all be it with most being on the recipents side, which is why they offer better terms for those paying by DD.
Wonder if Jeff uses a credit or debit card? Both of those are far more open to fraud than DD. In some ways a Debit Card is an instant Direct Debit with none of the checks associated with a real DD. At least with a Credit Card you get to see the bill and can dispute transactions before the money disappears from your bank account.
If Jeff doesn't use CC or DC, that just leaves cash (which can be stolen or lost with absoluely no chance of a refund/compensation) or cheques which again are open to fairly simple fraud.
Well, it could be anywhere, of course. Yet the complainant seems specific that the problem was with the overcharged DD. I would have assumed the first thing he'd have checked was that the meter readings he'd given to the company were correct, and they'd transcribed them accurately. Unfortunately there seem to be no checks by energy companies when impossibly high meter readings are provided. They only seem to question it when the latest reading is lower than the previous one (real or estimated). But a "no charge" or refund is obviously to their disadvantage, which is why they would question it. In the other cases it's "act first, ask questions later". That is the primary problem with an incorrect DD; there is no check before the money disappears from your account, and it doesn't matter who's responsible - human or computer.
Quite likely if the previous ones have been estimated while the property is unoccupied and the latest one is real. I thought you got a bill for
000's of pounds as the system can't cope with negative figures and behaved like an odometer turned back past zero.
When you got a quarterly paper bill, did you check it carefully before paying? Or if your wife etc paid it, get her to check it carefully?
It is very easy to get a refund on a DD. Unlike a standing order.
I did once have a strange situation where I paid an estimated gas bill even though it was higher than it should have been, though not by much. Unfortunately, the boiler went wrong a couple of days later and it was two months before we could get a new one installed. It was summer, so there was no need for CH, and we used the immersion for hot water. The only gas used was a small amount for cooking on the hob. Even so, the total for the quarter was just under the estimated amount for the previous bill. To get round this problem I submitted my "customer read" amount as somewhat higher that the previous estimated reading. I assumed the system would be happy as long as the new reading was higher. It must have been as I was not questioned as to the reading being rather low.
Of course. It amuses my wife when the request comes in to read the meters, and I tell her the eventual bill will be £xxx (give or take depending on the calorific value of the gas). I've yet to get it wrong.
The refund on the DD is not the issue. It would amount to fraud or theft if an incorrect withdrawal was not repaid, and, of course, the DD guarantee deals adequately with that. It is compensation for possible consequential damage which is my concern. On that point, as mentioned in my earlier posting, I checked with Bacs Service the moneysavingexpert forum comment that "Any other consequential loss you wish to claim for, you will need to provide full details and evidence to your bank, as it will all form part of your claim under the direct debit guarantee. Hence it is your bank that will refund you consequential losses too." was at odds with what I had been told by them about 3 years ago. The confirmed their earlier advice still stood: "Any consequential loss should be dealt with by raising a complaint with the company who made the mistake on the Direct Debit, and if appropriate raising this to the financial ombudsmen if required."
As to errors with a Standing Order, I've had one once where my bank paid it to the wrong account (they got the account number wrong, not me). It was sorted out quickly after the original payee contacted me about lack of payment. I got an apology from the bank. I've no doubt that if there had been consequential losses, the bank would have accepted them as being caused by their error, and would have had to compensate me for the losses.
Out-of-interest, do you know how it was checked as being suitable for charging DDs? Or was it perhaps part of a country-wide broadband co-op which had already been deemed acceptable?
Indeed. I always find it interesting that, rather than a single fixed charge, it is based on a percentage of what is being paid.
I have both, but almost never use the debit card (its main use was to get cash from ATMs, but cash is disappearing fast). As you say, like a Direct Debit, it could be used to defraud your bank account if something goes wrong. A Credit Card is much better as there are several checks you can make on individual charges before the bill is paid to the CC company. Unless, of course, you use a DD to pay them... :-)
The CC company produces a statement at least 3 weeks before they take any amount you have agreed to pay by DD.
A lot of complaints about energy bills seem to be from people who are too lazy to check that their £10/month DD is not covering the £100/month usage and are surprised that 18 to 24 months later when the meter is read they owe £thousands and the DD is adjusted accordingly.
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