Paid the bill twice

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am on o2 pay monthly plan. I recently wanted my o2 bill cleared so i paid o2 via my debit card before the date of direct debit. Now i have got my bank statement showing two transactions for o2 for same month. Can anyone help me what to do next as they have charged me twice for the month.

Thank you

[jonsie]

You need to speak to cusyomer service to have the balance credit paid into your account. Be prepared to wait a week though. You could just leave the money on the account to pay your next bill.

For future reference you need to leave around 6 workings days before you make payment otherwise the direct debit will also take payment.

[Anonymous]

Been there, done that.........not with O2 though. What I do now if I want to clear an account early is pay the balance by debit card and then cancell the direct debit before the due date. Might cause a bit of a headache if you want to keep a contract with O2, as you would have to go through setting the whole direct debit up again. If memory serves me correctly, I think you need to fill in a direct debit mandate when you take out a new contract anyway.?

[Anonymous]

dont cancel it as then you will have a black mark on your credit rating & you will have a very hard time of getting credit for things

[jonsie]

You don't need to cancel the direct debit, you have the option of suspending it for a month through your bank.

[Anonymous]

So if don't cancel anything, does that mean they won't deduct any amount from my account? or they will keep doing direct debit transactions and do nothing about the extra payment?

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

If your account is in credit the payment will come out of your credit. Only anything not in your account will come through DD. You could have, for example a £20 a month bill and £10 credit on your account and they would only request £10 from your bank.

[Anonymous]

I checked and at the moment the credit says £0... is there anything i should do now.. i am out of town so can't call them..

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

dont cancel it as then you will have a black mark on your credit rating & you will have a very hard time of getting credit for things

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I was talking about cancelling after the balance has been paid and the account cleared i.e. at the end of a contract. I am not advocating that people cancel a direct debit simply to stop payments part way through a contract. I have cancelled direct debits in the past, and set them up again with the same companies, without any detriment to my credit rating.