| > Baybanks helpful response was that if you suspect that an error may
> occur, you should close your account and open a new one.
Well, even that might not work. I once had a problem where a health club
continued to deduct payments from my account for 5 months after they should
have stopped. They were extremely apologetic and promptly refunded my money
(they claimed their bank was making the error and there was nothing they could
do about it; they offered to pay any service charges that I incurred as a
result, but there weren't any), but it went on month after month.
Eventually, I decided to be clever. I closed the account. I mentioned to the
bank that there had been this erroneous deduction for many months and I
couldn't rule out the possibility of another one. The teller earnestly noted
it, but I could tell he wasn't planning to do anything with the information.
Two weeks later, sure enough the withdrawal came through. The bank
*reactivated my account* by transferring in funds from a line of credit that I
had also cancelled. They later explained that when you close an account, it
isn't really closed until it has had a zero balance and no activity for 30
days.
It eventually got straightened out, with the bank and the health club splitting
the tab, but what a pain!
This was at People's Savings Bank. I've gotten the impression that banks have
quite similar procedures to one another, either because they all get software
from the same place or because their procedures are elaborately regulated. It
seems unconscionable that there is no way to revoke an authorization for
automatic withdrawal, but I was also told that it was only possible to stop
payment for a limited period and not to cancel it.
|
|
We have two ways of paying automatically
Standing order, where I authorise the bank to deduct and send the
amount I say, and when I say, and I can change/stop it at any time.
Direct debit, where I authorise x to deduct an amount at a certain time,
and X tell the bank each month, how much and when, it has a rider that
the amount can change.
With Direct Debits, I never used to be able to change/stop, only X
could.
However we have had additional legislation enacted, which says that
if I tell the bank to stop paying, they must.
Direct Debits are cheaper for both the bank and X.
With Direct debits, it means you don't have to keep writing to the bank
each time mortgage rates increase, to change the amount, X just ask
for the new amount.
Many X's refuse to be paid by standing order, and insist on Direct
Debit.
It sounds like you're running the Direct Debit scheme, without the
ability to cancel.
Heather
|
| Maybe .0's $15.00 charge is a "bounce check charge". We had this auto
withdrawal at a bank and emptied the account so it couldn't be paid due
to time constraints and such, much like .01. We were charged for a
bounced check.
These auto withdrawels are dangerous. Are you aware that if the $
isn't in the account on the day a loan (in this case) is due, then you
are considered in default? However, if you had been paying this same
loan via the usual methods, check in mail etc., then you would have
your grace period to make the payment and not be in default.
|
| > Maybe .0's $15.00 charge is a "bounce check charge". We had this auto
Nope, it was a "stop payment" charge. I pointed out that they weren't
supposed to charge for that when you are putting in a permanent stop. They
waffled for a while, but finally looked up the correct rule and agreed with
me and refunded the charge.
There have been no unauthorized auto-withdrawals since I cancelled them.
---Phil
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