Charged twice for phone line saver

[#1]

Hi all,

We're really sorry about the issues you have encountered and hope this information helps.

If a duplicate payment is taken, you can enforce a refund for a duplicate direct debit in two ways:

1). We will refund as part of our internal process and this can take anywhere up to 14 working days to take place.
2). You can contact your bank and request a 'direct debit indemnity claim' as part of the direct debit guarantee. This is usually actioned immediately and the funds made available in line with your banks own timescales (usually quite quickly).

With some customers bills being duplicates of line rental saver it probably is worth speaking directly with your bank to lessen the financial blow as they can remedy the loss sooner.

[#2]

Same problem here, second charge for annual line rental in the latest bill. 30min wait on the phone but a ticket raised at the end of it. I'll try the DD refund route at the bank if the charge is actually taken, although I don't have much faith in Barclays admin either. All very well to blame the billing system changes, but someone has got it wrong somewhere. 

[#3]

We've absolutely got it wrong, I'm really sorry that you've been charged twice. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

[#4]

Thanks, but already this a.m. had a useful chat (yes, without much delay!) with the PlusNet person who suggested cancelling the DD and re establishing it in Oct ready for the next invoice. Strange that the current invoice listed new charges then set them off with a balancing payment that effectively bought the first debit in line with the actual start date of service rather  than the date of application.

[#5]

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@Jonpe wrote:

I've only had to invoke it once and they refused, despite being presented with written evidence of the overcharge.  It seems to depend on the bank.

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Change your bank (and consider reporting them to the ombudsman too).

The direct debit guarantee doesn't require the bank to see any evidence at all, it's supposed to act on your say-so alone and in the event of the refund being in error it's up to you then to sort it out with the company concerned.

[#6]

Try telling that to the bank that used to say "Because life's complicated enough".  The guy in the branch didn't have a clue what the DD guarantee was and denied its existence even after I'd asked him to get me an application form for one of their products that could be paid by DD where the guarantee was clearly printed on the back.  He came up with stupid arguments like, "If it was £300 you wouldn't expect us to refund it, would you?"  I was then put through to the call centre, but they were no better informed, and simply put me through to the organisation that had overcharged me, who by the way only offered to cancel my subscription.

After leaving the bank empty-handed, I emailed the ombudsman saying that because the amount was so small, it wasn't worth going through lengthy correspondence and form filling.  I got a more or less immediate response from the ombudsman's office followed by a letter from the bank saying ... guess what ... that's right, "Training will be given".  An amount several times the tiny DD overcharge was also credited my account.

This is the same bank that deducted tax from the interst on my ISA one year.  Understandably I no longer have an ISA with them.

[#7]

I managed to get the money back from my bank using the direct debit guarantee.

This morning I got a text message from plus.net "We haven't received payment for your monthly service - please login to pay now https://www.plus.net/pay"

I hope this isn't going to cause more hassle or any disruption to my service, I haven't got the patience to be in hold for 20 plus mins to customer services again.

Not a good start for a new customer.

[#8]

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@Jonpe wrote:

The guy in the branch didn't have a clue what the DD guarantee was and denied its existence...

This is the same bank that deducted tax from the interst on my ISA one year.  Understandably I no longer have an ISA with them.

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I know which bank you are referring to and agree that about 10 years ago its customer service & IT systems were a complete shambles. I remember the story about tax being deducted from some ISAs and a catalogue of other shocking stories that I believe to be true.

I think you would be very unlucky to encounter such a response today. And while reports about ombudsman services vary, my own experience of a modest dispute was positive. Months after switching energy suppliers my £12 closing credit had not been returned. For the sake of a couple of emails, one phone conversation, and a bit of patience the ombudsman awarded £50 on top of the £12 owed.

[#9]

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@sellers01_uk wrote:
I managed to get the money back from my bank using the direct debit guarantee.

This morning I got a text message from plus.net "We haven't received payment for your monthly service -

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I don't know if Plusnet report missed payments to the Credit Reference Agencies but if they do it might be helpful if a member of staff could give some assurance that either reporting is suspended until the billing system is straightened out or there are robust procedures in place to ensure that missing payments arising from issues with the billing system are not reported.

[#10]

As advised in  mechanic123 Friday 14 Sept 2018

I had cancelled my DD to stop hassle of refunds, but like sellers01 have today rcd  3 emails from PN ref payment in 14 days or else!

This advance line rental payment was taken from my acnt 11 days before the start of service, so I owe them nothing.

Billing dept need to sort this out now - sorry they don't work weekends, even when there is a major problem. 

[#11]

Hi All,

I've just taken some time to read through this thread and get up to speed with the various issues therein.

I can confirm that we do not 'footprint' any credit files for missed bills (real or imagined) and that any emails/texts that have been generated in error (where a balance has actually been paid) can be ignored. The advice that my colleague Ollie provided re: DD guarantee, is sound and I would encourage anyone who has been double-billed to explore that avenue if possible. We will (and are) of course happy to resolve things from our side, but in the interest of open and honest communication, I feel that the DD indemnity route (and the equivalent for debit card payments) is a viable alternative.

If anyone still as an outstanding issue that is not being resolved by the DD process, a colleague or an open ticket on the member centre could you please respond below and I'll be happy to take a look?

Best wishes,

Dave

[#12]

@RandallFlagg

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the firm response on this matter.  Is this now the "master topic" for this issue?

If yes, should this topic be used for...

1. LRS having been paid (during sign-up) and then being billed for again?
2. LRS having been paid and then MONTHLY line rental also being billed?
3. Both?
4. Can the mods please make this a sticky and remove the fix marker (until the cause of the issue is fixed)?

Thank you.

[#13]

I mistakenly paid twice via Credit card, not direct debit.

I have had a message that the credit card is being refunded (not seeing it yet)

And a day after that I had a message that I still owed the ~£200!

View Payments on the website shows no details of the extra payments or refund, and now the additional request for payment which does not give me confidence that this is under control at all.

This is so bad it's hard to know where to start but the following would be a start:

1. I would like a statement showing all account interactions since I opened my account, including details of mischarges, and refunds.

2. I would like a guarantee from senior management that this will be resolved before the next bill.  A public apology wouldn't go amiss too.

As a new customer, I am very happy with the internet connection we are getting but customer service and accounts have been terrible.

Ian Blackburn

[#14]

Hi IanBlackburn,

Firstly I would like to apologise for the bad experience you have had with us so far. We pride ourselves on our Customer Service and this is not what we expect any of our customers to experience.

Upon checking your account I have created a ticket for you to view in full here. I hope this sheds some light on the situation for you.

Best wishes.

[#15]

Thanks for the response.

I have responded to the ticket which is inadequate.  Offering to send a cheque that I will receive at the END of the month is laughable and I expect payment in my account this week via some other means.

You have not addressed the issue of an accourate statement of account - and the current web site is failing even to show the basic and incomplete information it had yesterday (see attached)

Is this really the level of service you "Pride yourself on"?