02 Took money out of my account that i dont owe!

[Anonymous]

02 Took £911.75 out of my account for an upgrade that was cancelled in my 14 day cool off period. They are at fault and have admitted they made a mistake and will refund the money within 5-10 working days! It took them seconds to take my money and put me into my unplanned overdraft days before buying a new car but will take a week or two to refund it.....

Basically is there any way I can claim on this as I'm going to get bank charges and they lawfully have no right to take money that isn't theres as the bill was disconnected which anyone could blatently see on their screen.

To be honest its pretty disgusting that they can leave people in this situation and for this amount of time!

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

Call your bank and ask them to recall the DD under the direct debit indemnity scheme.

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/howtoclaim.aspx

[Cleoriff]

Totally support your frustration @Anonymous This is always something that infuriates me. ie how quickly money can be debited from your account...and how slow the process is for returning it.

You could also complain via this link if you wish...http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

[MI5]

All big institutions are the same with money.
Once you get in "the system" it takes ages to come out again.

[Wa10]

Definitely worth speaking to your bank about an indemnity claim under the DD guarantee. In fact, that's what a lot of O2 advisors would also suggest in this kind of situation, as it has an immediacy which the standard refund route doesn't.

People are often against DD in general, although this really is one of the key benefits - we all know that mistakes happen and things go wrong, but customers shouldn't suffer because of an error and the immediate refund helps ensure that they don't.

Direct Debit Guarantee

• The Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits
• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the organisation will notify you (normally 10 working days) in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the organisation to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request
• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society
• If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to
• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify the organisation.

* The Guarantee covers Direct Debit payments. It cannot be used to address contractual disputes between you and the billing organisation.​

[Martin-O2]

Hi @Anonymous can you give us an update on this? Have your funds been returned yet? 

[Anonymous]

No its not been returned yet and the bank said they cant return it immediately as they have an indemnity team that deals with it and couldnt tell me if it would take longer than 02 so ive been left waiting still.

[MI5]

It always amazes me these days that you can hand over money in seconds yet it takes weeks to get it back!

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
It always amazes me these days that you can hand over money in seconds yet it takes weeks to get it back!

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Totally agree. In fact there's a saying my dear old dad used constantly many many years ago...Still relevant today...:smileysad:

"They can put men on the moon...but they still can't ......" (fill in blanks as required)

[Anonymous]

To make things worse, its now been 10 working days which i was promised i would be paid by then.

They havn't paid and said they will process it again and it will be another 10 working days "maybe sooner" which says to me they havn't done anything. I don't know why this company employs monkeys but its really not on messing around with peoples money, its almost a months wages that i've been left now possibly a month without. 02 You truely are scum.