Direct Debit Failure

[amiaspden1]

Got a message today that my direct debit had failed. It looked so much like a scam I nearly ignored it, but thought I'd check my bank account. Money hadn't gone out - but there's enough money and the direct debit is active. Looks like TalkTalk haven't requested the payment.

The email said I'm going to be charged an extra £12.50. This will be a deal breaker for me after many years as a customer,  if you fail to take payment and then charge me for that failure. 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Thank you for the update, Im sorry for any confusion caused last month.

[Pal353]

I am pleased to report that the direct debit was taken correctly today. An apology for the TalkTalk system error on 17 May and in  particular for the threatening email sent subsequently would be welcome, but I don't suppose it will be forthcoming. 

[Gliwmaeden2]

If you need support, please start your own thread, @BruceN31.

[BruceN31]

Some compensation from Talk Talk for the inconvenience caused ( I've just come off a long call from my bank who confirmed that there was no problem with their systems or my account) would be good - how about the £12.50 you were going to be charging me for not paying on time? 

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Keep us updated.

[Pal353]

Thank you Arne. This is welcome news. I will be checking my bank statement on 17th June in the hope that the next direct debit has been requested by TalkTalk and actioned by my bank: in other words that normal service has been resumed.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi 

As you have paid, the balance  is zero so there wont be a second request when the issue is fixed. 

The billing team are saying that there will be no extra charges on the next bill, when they expect the problem to be resolved. 

Once again sorry for any inconvenience caused by this .

[Gliwmaeden2]

Yes, @amiaspden1, Talktalk has a very irritating habit of sending out generic emails, causing unnecessary anxiety. 

Let's hope they learn something from this. 

Even if they can't stop the original glitch, they should be able to avoid subsequent gaffs.

As you say, it's quite some time since they failed to take the money by their supposedly preferred method that we are all encouraged to use.

[amiaspden1]

Hi @alexinstitches, now that they know there's a fault I don't expect the charge to be applied. Just keep an eye on your account for the next billing cycle.

What I suspect happened was that a billing run crashed out before it was completed, leaving multiple accounts unpaid. No-one spotted the error (that's bad - software will generally fail at some point but it should be spotted). Then a fortnight later a report ran, looking for all the accounts that were overdue payment, and sent us a standard email.

[alexinstitches]

THE  SAME   HAS  HAPPENED TO ME, what is the best  way forward i paid immediately but we  should not be penalised     financially for this,chat bot  doesnt understand

[Pal353]

Thank you Arne. I did not log into Community until after I had spoken to Customer Services but I now see that the problem affects several others.

As TalkTalk is aware of the fault, it should have warned affected customers rather than send emails threatening a surcharge for non-payment. Of course, this would have meant a human being intervening rather than leaving the system on autopilot but it would have averted ill-feeling towards the company with at least one customer threatening to leave. I hope this point will be passed up the chain to the management. I, like many others, are very pleased with the much improved service we get from the company but it can still do better.

I trust that I and others who have now paid last month’s bill with a debit or credit card or by some other means will not be debited again for this bill when the system has been fixed.

Incidentally it is a while since I logged into the Community and I appreciate the new system to log in with a code sent by email. But far from the code lasting ten minutes as stated, in the space of five minutes I received three codes!

[Arne-TalkTalk]

There has been a failure in one of our systems which has been identified and will be fixed ASAP.

[Pal353]

I have had exactly the same experience and received the same email with the £12.50 surcharge on my next bill. I logged into my account and paid the bill by debit card.  After a call to Customer Services yesterday, I was told that the fault lay with my bank.  So I took a trip to my bank only to find that TalkTalk had not asked for the direct debit to be taken. So this morning I have spent nearly an hour on the phone to Customer Services. I thought the problem may have occurred because I renewed my contract a few weeks ago. But not so....there has been a problem with the collection of direct debits.

After 50 minutes, I have negotiated the following:

1. The £12.50 surcharge on my next bill will be cancelled.

2. The June direct debit will be taken on the due date (17th in my case). BUT I WILL CHECK THAT IT HAS BEEN.

3. My account with £5 compensation for the inconvenience caused to me by this TalkTalk fault.

I did say to  the helpful operator at Customer Services (whose name I have) that TalkTalk ought to have informed customers like me and "amiaspdent" above that there had been this problem.

[Arne-TalkTalk]

Hi amiaspden1

Thanks for raising this 

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

Because of this there will not be extra charges 

[Gliwmaeden2]

There does seem to be a cluster of these DDs that Talktalk appears not to have actioned correctly  and are now warning  that you will be charged for late payment. 

There is plenty of time ahead of the next billing cycle for any wrong charges to be remedied before the next bill is produced. 

Hopefully staff will pick up the issue and address it in the next few days and give everyone peace of mind!

They reply during the day, Monday to Friday.