DIRECT DEBIT FAILURE

[stevesurrey]

My regular monthly broadband bill was due to be paid by direct debit on 17th May but for some reason failed. My bank say TalkTalk did not attempt to take the payment and payment was not refused or rejected by them. Today I received an email from TalkTalk asking me to make a card payment to cover the outstanding bill which I did today via My Account.

However, the email states my next bill will include a £12.50 admin fee regarding this late payment. Since I believe neither myself nor my bank were at fault I object to this charge. For the record, for the dozen or more years I have had broadband with TalkTalk my bill has always been paid by Direct Debit and from the same bank account. I am also concerned that next month's bill might similarly fail to be paid by direct debit for unknown reasons.

Please look into this matter for me,

Many thanks.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Thanks for the update, will pass on your feedback. 

[stevesurrey]

I am pleased to report this month's bill has been processed correctly for the usual amount without any late payment fee arising from last month's problems. My thanks to the forum support staff for their efforts in resolving this widespread issue.

However, this direct debit failure should have been handled much better by TT back office staff. Why were emails allowed to go out on 28 May demanding immediate payment and imposing a £12.50 late payment fee? TT must have known many days before of the issue with 17 May payments. I myself knew it had failed on 16 May! Why weren't they more proactive in dealing with it after it was brought to the attention of this forum by myself and others? Couldn't they send all those affected a simple email apologising and stating the actions they were taking? How much time has been wasted by god knows how many customers contacting their banks and TT to resolve a problem of TTs making is any ones guess. Rant over!

[Arne-TalkTalk]

You will not be charged the admin fee, we are aware of the issue the emails are automated.

[stuart_uns]

Hi

I have also noticed that my direct debit due 17May was not taken, and I have also been told I will have to pay an extra 12.50 GBP because of this problem (despite there being more than enough money in the account to cover my bill).

What is the plan to resolve the system issue preventing this?
Will the "admin charge" be removed?

Thank you!

(Another Pipex refugee!)

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Sorry not at this time, im hopeful it will be resolved before the next bill is ready.  All effected account are being monitored by the billing team so should the issue still persist we will notify you. 

[stevesurrey]

@Arne-TalkTalk have you had confirmation that the system fault has been resolved or will we suffer the same problem in a fortnight?

[Arne-TalkTalk]

I think the system that is broken is the same one that will auto send the emails out.  I can confirm that your payment was successful. 

[stevesurrey]

Thanks @Arne-TalkTalk thats comforting.

Incidentally, when I made my online payment yesterday via My Account I believe it said on-screen that the payment would be confirmed by email. I have not received this email though the payment has been taken from my Creditcard and shows in Transaction History in My Account. Is the lack of email another system fault?

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi @stevesurrey 

Thanks for raising this 

This has been raised to the billing team as a fault in our systems, 

Because of this there will not be extra charges 

[Gliwmaeden2]

Yes, I'll alert staff, @stevesurrey.

They reply on here during the day, Monday to Friday. 

I suspect that the charge won't show until the next billing cycle, so if this is sorted well ahead of that, it won't even show up at all.

You had me checking my own payments and, fortunately, it went through OK on the 16th.

It seems to be the 17th that's hit a glitch.

If Talktalk ever does take money in error it will be credited back to your account and show in Transaction History in My Account. 

[stevesurrey]

Looks like at least 3 of us have had unwarranted direct debit failures on or about the same date. Coincidence? I think not.

Edit: Make that 4 now!

[Gliwmaeden2]

Make sure that you start your own topic for this, @amiaspden1.

You need to return to the message board and click start a topic. 

This is to avoid confusion between accounts etc. 

[amiaspden1]

The same has happened to me, my direct debit is still active and was taken in April. I too object strongly to the charge!