New Account - Direct Debit Not Showing At Bank

[#1]

Hi @EmilyD,

Thanks for the response, however...

It's possible that this issue was caused by the payment reference that original started with PNET and now starts with PLUS.

To be clear, this new reference was generated this afternoon after I re-submitted my bank details in an attempt to create a new direct debit mandate. The original attempt at collecting from the direct debit failed this morning, so it has nothing to do with the new reference number - the failure occurred before this new reference even existed.

However, if the direct debit instruction does fail again I would recommend that you contact your bank to determine why they are not accepting this instruction.

I think at this point it's clear why it didn't go through - my bank has no knowledge of the direct debit. I have spoken to them on the phone and they have confirmed that they have no record of a direct debit on my bank account from Plusnet, and the direct debit has never appeared in the list of direct debits in my online banking. This suggests that Plusnet did not set up the direct debit properly / at all.

In this case:

1. I have provided Plusnet with valid bank details.
2. Plusnet set up the direct debit with the bank.
3. Plusnet's billing system flags my account as having an active DD instruction.
4. Plusnet attempt to take funds using this new DD instruction.
5. The bank tells Plusnet that no DD instruction exists.

In this scenario, my responsibility ended at (1). Steps (2) through (5) are Plusnet's responsibility and this is where the problem seems to exist. Plusnet are the party setting up the mandate and requesting payment from the mandate, not me. If something goes wrong with this part of the process, it's Plusnet's responsibility to investigate and liaise with the various stakeholders, not mine.

I must say, what's becoming the most frustrating part of this whole affair is that Plusnet staff seem unable to actually look into this issue in detail and pinpoint precisely why the setting up of the original direct debit failed and what remedial steps can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again. Surely there must be a team within Plusnet who has the requisite authority / system access / expertise that can do this?!

[#2]

Fair enough @danielgrant

Ok - can rule out the reference number being a problem.

I can see what a nightmare it has been for you.

Maybe someone with failed billing experience experience can look into it.

It sounds like the bank are unaware that you are even a customer of PlusNet, which I suppose means their DD instruction has not reached them?

[#3]

@EmilyD  I totally agree with Danielgrant that after supplying valid Bank details to PlusNet any problem after that is PlusNet's responsibility. PlusNet need to do the work to find out why the DD has failed rather than passing it back to the customer and saying set up a new DD and hope it works next month. In fact your response is hopelessly inadequate, someone within PlusNet should be able to find out what is going wrong and correct it.

[#4]

Hi @danielgrant

Sorry to hear of the problems you're having with your direct debit.

From what I can see there's no paying instruction with your bank but there was with us. I've spoken with one of my colleagues in our billing team about this, and due to way our billing system works they can't see anything more either.

I've been advised that there could be a number of issues but the most relevant one in your situation could be that the bank doesn't recognise the direct debit reference.

From experience there's not much we can do short of resubmitting the instruction which I can see you've done.

My team will keep an eye on your account and update you when the direct debit is active again over here, once that's done so you should see an active instruction on your banks side.

[#5]

Quick update: after re-submitting the direct debit instruction on Monday afternoon, I can now see the new direct debit has appeared in the list of direct debits on my online banking with the new reference number matching what is shown in my Plusnet account.

This is what didn't happen last time, so I'm fairly confident that the next payment will go through as a direct debit payment now.

[#6]

Hi @danielgrant,

I'm really sorry to hear of the issues you have experienced with our billing system.

On checking your account, the DD isn't showing as active from our end just yet. However, it can take up to 10 working days to reflect as active. If we have any further issues with the activation of the DD we will let you know.

Let us know if you need any further assistance.