Odd direct debit..

[XA04]

Checked my bank account online today and a comany called WEBBILING.COM LTD took out some money, around £20. Never heard of them before, and I certainly haven't signed a direct debit with them.

I rang my bank and they said they are going to try and find out what they can for me and try to get it refunded.. didn't sound too hopeful though. They should be getting back with me in 2 days (I'm guessing working days so probably Monday..)

Has anything similar happened to anyone else before? I'm always very careful with my bank details - the only DD i've set up online before is with PayPal and that was about 3 years ago!

[Vetro]

Could it be possible your details were sold on to a third party?

[XA04]

Could it be possible your details were sold on to a third party?

Not sure. Unless it was SpecSavers that sold them on then I'm lost because like I said I haven't gave out my details for a long time.

Surely they need my signature to set one up though?

[capt_cornflake]

Banks can be a bit dodgy about this.
According to the direct debit guarantee (of which there should be on every direct debit form), if you dispute a direct debit the bank should give you an immediate refund pending investigation.
Unless you actually quote it to them though they have a tendancy to try and shirk their obligations

[XA04]

I'm going to go and see them today and see if I can get my account closed/remade to change my details.. just in case.

I'll read up on that though, thanks.

[jim]

Yeah, just follow the bank's advice to be honest. At least it was a direct debit though, reasonably easy to get cancelled.

[XA04]

Well I went to see them. They think it was just a mispelled digit when the DD was setup online. He said that only the account number and sort are checked when doing it online but if you raise an issue with them then they look into the account name etc used. So hopefully in a couple of days I should get the money back. The DD has been cancelled and I asked them to ring me before accepting anymore DD's..

Edit: The woman I first saw at the bank was been very arsey though! Claiming that it's nothing to do with them and I should contact the people who charged me... finally managed to get to speak to someone behind a desk though. She didn't have an answer when I asked what if I couldn't get in contact with the person who took the money. She didn't really understand the fact that someone might have my details and be using them for multiple things either.

[mycarsavw]

Looks like a 3rd party online billing provider.

http://www.webbilling.com/

WEBBILLING.COM LIMITED
MITRE HOUSE
160 ALDERSGATE STREET
LONDON
EC1A 4DD
Company No. 05585179

Previous Names:

INTERCEDE 2083 LIMITED
SPORTSWIN LTD.

[LWA]

Looks a bit ominous...

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ng-131eur.html

[Brucelles]

Well I went to see them. They think it was just a mispelled digit when the DD was setup online. He said that only the account number and sort are checked when doing it online but if you raise an issue with them then they look into the account name etc used. So hopefully in a couple of days I should get the money back. The DD has been cancelled and I asked them to ring me before accepting anymore DD's..

Edit: The woman I first saw at the bank was been very arsey though! Claiming that it's nothing to do with them and I should contact the people who charged me... finally managed to get to speak to someone behind a desk though. She didn't have an answer when I asked what if I couldn't get in contact with the person who took the money. She didn't really understand the fact that someone might have my details and be using them for multiple things either.

This is identical to what happened to my daughter. The bank (NewtWet) were pretty poorly behaved and she, being a student, went into overdraft as a result and was charged 70 quid, in addition to the 35 or so that they had deducted by mistake. It was just an ordinary guy's telephone/Internet bill.

Eventually I got someone to check and they refunded the 35, but refused to refund the 70 until I kicked up a fuss and threatened them with small claims court, but who needs that sort of hassle?

[TheAnimus]

This is identical to what happened to my daughter. The bank (NewtWet) were pretty poorly behaved and she, being a student, went into overdraft as a result and was charged 70 quid, in addition to the 35 or so that they had deducted by mistake. It was just an ordinary guy's telephone/Internet bill.

Eventually I got someone to check and they refunded the 35, but refused to refund the 70 until I kicked up a fuss and threatened them with small claims court, but who needs that sort of hassle?

LloydsTSB are very good at messing up.

But when they do they are quick to admit it, normally refund the difference and give a gesture.

They blocked a standing order of mine once, leaving me with only £100 in my account, whilst i happened to be in some place on the continent that weekend. They gave me £65.

They froze my account by mistake, £65. They accidentally forgot to send me a replacement card £300.

I must be at almost £1k of comp for cockups over the last 12 years i've banked with them (started when i was 12!)

[Splash]

I'd suggest that if they're being arsey you could always ask to see the initial DD mandate - if they can't provide it then they really are going to struggle to pin it on you.

[XA04]

Yeah they were really good actually and I've got the money back so it's all good. The company who took the money got back to me via email but they insisted that I gave them the transaction ID.. even though I explained the situation and obviously don't have one!

Anyway has been sorted in the end. Just hope it doesn't happen again!

[dodgybob]

There's not always a direct debit mandate if it's an auddis (the newer kind of direct debits) direct debit provider, that's how things like these happen. The key thing with a direct debit is being able to insist on having a direct debit indemnity being filled in with the bank that has paid the money out, at which point they'll refund the money.