PhoneWatch Direct Debit Error

C

Crunchie

Registered User
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I'm wondering if I can instruct my bank to reverse a Direct Debit under the following circumstances.
On 30 December I was debited a year instead of a month’s monitoring charge by PhoneWatch. I phoned, received an apology and was assured it would be reversed immediately.
By 8 January I hadn’t received a refund and when I called was told the refund had been processed on 6 January. I was offered 3 months free monitoring by way of apology.
By Thursday morning, 15 January, still no refund so I made a formal email complaint through their website form that promises a 24 hour response. No response received.
I have now put a written complaint in the post but assuming they continue to ignore me, and bearing in mind that they do have a Direct Debit mandate from me, can I nonetheless instruct my bank to reverse the transaction?
 
Under SEPA direct debit rules, you can recall a DD up to 8 weeks after payment.



(info towards the end of the page linked above)
 
Interesting! I got a bill for a year instead of a month too in November last. The billing period was wrong too. The bill should have been from Nov 14 and instead was from July 14. (I wasn't in contract with them at that point nor was I a monitoring customer). I had to call Phonewatch and my bank 3 or 4 times and call to my branch in person. AIB put a block on the DD however, the bank tell me that the block is kind of like, forever. Even if this is wrong, and I attempt to set up the DD again, I don't trust Phonewatch now. They are clowns. I could set up a Standing Order but that would mean ringing to get their bank details and I really don't think I could go through all this on the phone again.....
 
Danmo said:
Interesting! I got a bill for a year instead of a month too in November last. The billing period was wrong too. The bill should have been from Nov 14 and instead was from July 14. (I wasn't in contract with them at that point nor was I a monitoring customer). I had to call Phonewatch and my bank 3 or 4 times and call to my branch in person. AIB put a block on the DD however, the bank tell me that the block is kind of like, forever. Even if this is wrong, and I attempt to set up the DD again, I don't trust Phonewatch now. They are clowns. I could set up a Standing Order but that would mean ringing to get their bank details and I really don't think I could go through all this on the phone again.....
Click to expand...

Thanks Danmo. I got a cheque from them this morning for the overpayment and a phone call in response to my letter. It seems they can't/don't/won't reverse DDs and make all their refunds by cheque. I accept mistakes happen, even if they are a pain, but the most annoying thing about this crowd was the misinformation. Despite being assured that the refund would be processed on 30 December and then that it had been processed on 6 January, the cheque was dated 12 January and posted on the 15th. It will be interesting to see if the 3 free months materialise or if that will be another argument.
 
Direct debits can only debit accounts as I understand it. So not possible to reverse an incorrect DD from the company side as they cannot credit an account. They could do a bank transfer but most companies not set up for this and resort to cheque instead.
 
Glad to hear you got your refund Crunchie. Dealing with PW is like banging your head off a wall. They are a private company, aren't they i.e. they are not regulated by anybody? If you had to complain about them there would be nowhere to go, would there?
 
As far as I know all alarm companies must be registered with the Private Security Authority [broken link removed] who are supposed to have a system of investigating complaints but I don't know if that extends to financial matters.
 
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