Charges on account not paid as I got a new debit card

karlf

I set up an acc with eflow over the phone and used my debit card to do so. A few months later I then had to get a new card as I lost the one I signed up with. As a result eflow never got to take the money out of my account. I got a phone call today saying I owed them over €1000 in late fees. I complained saying as I was receiving an email every month saying my bill was available to view online that I assumed it was being paid. I don't live at the address where my car is registered so never received the letters that they sent informing me that the tolls had not been paid.
My argument with them is that they never sent me an email to say there was a problem with my acc or why they waited almost a year to ring me about it (its going back to sept 2010) They also said that there was a note on the acc to say I called last january and was supposed to call back with my new debit card details. I don't remember this.
I have a few questions as a result.
1. If I don't know that my acc is not being paid can they still apply late fees?
2. They don't have my new address so even if they try to go further with this they won't be able to contact me. What happens in those situations?
3. Does anyone know of anyone that has been taking to court over this? I know a lad that never paid a toll since it went barrier free and he never went to court.
Any advice on this would be appreciated. I did offer to pay the toll charges owed but I would pay any late fees as I didn't know there was a problem with the acc. Eflow said that it was too late for that.

Ste.phen

karlf wrote: »

1. If I don't know that my acc is not being paid can they still apply late fees?

Rephrase this as 'if i don't pay them on time, can they apply late fees?' - it's not their fault you didnt' pay the bill - it sounds like they've both emailed and wrote letters to you

2. They don't have my new address so even if they try to go further with this they won't be able to contact me. What happens in those situations?

Unsure, do they have the ability to block you renewing your car tax? If they wanted to persure you through the courts it's probably worth enough money and they have enough information about you

3. Does anyone know of anyone that has been taking to court over this? I know a lad that never paid a toll since it went barrier free and he never went to court.
Any advice on this would be appreciated. I did offer to pay the toll charges owed but I would pay any late fees as I didn't know there was a problem with the acc. Eflow said that it was too late for that.

Not sure, but good luck

Victor

It would seem that you really haven't helped your self.

I would try to strike an agreement with them. the risk is that it goes to court, you get fined, you don't pay fine and get arrested.

corktina

you had to get a new card, but presumably this would be on the same account so I can't see how this would cause the payments not to be made .

Losty Dublin

corktina wrote: »

you had to get a new card, but presumably this would be on the same account so I can't see how this would cause the payments not to be made .

Some companies debit your account via your laser card number rather than a direct debit as there are no mandate forms to deal with plus it's a good bit cheaper for them.

OP, in all fairness to you but you surely must have seen that they were not debiting you monthly for the service; this much you have only yourself at fault here. That said, upon noticing that your card wasn't coughing up they must surely must have come looking for their lucre a long time before this. I'd find it surprising if you didn't get a letter but as you said it may have gotten misplaced or not send if you were between houses.

Back a while ago, my bank account was empty and straight away I got a letter from them about a missed payment. A quick phone call to give them a new card number was all it took for me to get sorted at the time with no penalty. You really need to call them up and sort this out ASAP; hopefully it will work out for you just fine.

karlf

I didn't notice it not coming out of my account because I rarely use the toll bridge so it wouldn't come out very often. I've only made 8 trips in about 14 or 15 months. They are probably double trips (ie over and back same day) and made months apart so it's not a regular payment or for large amounts at most €5 every other month. It's not something I kept track of, the reason for signing up for dd is so I don't have worry about payment. Ie it's done automatically.
I didn't receive an email saying it wasn't being paid. I got an email saying my bill was available to view online.
After speaking with eflow I have another question. The girl wanted me to give her my new card details to take the toll fees I owed. I wouldn't give it to her as I didn't want them taking out the €1000+ in late fees as well. She said they need my permission to use my card and cannot take out more than the €2.50 she told me I had to pay.
If that is the case how come they could use my card details every month before that without me agreeing to it? Do they need me to sign something to agree to this or is me giving my details over the phone giving them permission to use it when ever they like?
She also said that it was in the terms and conditions I read. I never read or received any terms and conditions because this was set up over the phone.
It also states on the details for the benefits of a video acc that there is no penalty fees with this account type. I would assume a late fee is a penalty.

cast_iron

karlf wrote: »

I didn't notice it not coming out of my account because I rarely use the toll bridge so it wouldn't come out very often. I've only made 8 trips in about 14 or 15 months. They are probably double trips (ie over and back same day) and made months apart so it's not a regular payment or for large amounts at most €5 every other month. It's not something I kept track of, the reason for signing up for dd is so I don't have worry about payment. Ie it's done automatically.
I didn't receive an email saying it wasn't being paid. I got an email saying my bill was available to view online.
After speaking with eflow I have another question. The girl wanted me to give her my new card details to take the toll fees I owed. I wouldn't give it to her as I didn't want them taking out the €1000+ in late fees as well. She said they need my permission to use my card and cannot take out more than the €2.50 she told me I had to pay.
If that is the case how come they could use my card details every month before that without me agreeing to it? Do they need me to sign something to agree to this or is me giving my details over the phone giving them permission to use it when ever they like?
She also said that it was in the terms and conditions I read. I never read or received any terms and conditions because this was set up over the phone.
It also states on the details for the benefits of a video acc that there is no penalty fees with this account type. I would assume a late fee is a penalty.

That conversation only confuses the situation. I wouldn't give her your new card details until an agreement is reached about the current money owed.

They will have to come to some agreement with you as it's not really very fair of them to let an account that usually charges €1.50 per transaction to accumulate €1000 in charges before they bother to contact you directly on your phone.

That has to be the crux of your argument, as you have not much of a leg to stand on really.

Victor

karlf wrote: »

She also said that it was in the terms and conditions I read. I never read or received any terms and conditions because this was set up over the phone.

https://csc.eflow.ie/newaccount/newaccount.aspx

It also states on the details for the benefits of a video acc that there is no penalty fees with this account type. I would assume a late fee is a penalty.

I think the kinda depends on you actually having paid.

karlf

It's 8 journeys I owe for and €144 each after fines applied. I know that I changed addresses but my point was they had an email address and a phone number to contact me on and they didnt.
I said I'd pay the tolls I owed for but that was it and they weren't happy to do that. I wouldn't even be able to remember if I made the trips, someone else had my car or what ever after over a year.

karlf

Victor wrote: »

https://csc.eflow.ie/newaccount/newaccount.aspx



I think the kinda depends on you actually having paid.

I did it over the phone. Therefore I didn't agree to any terms and conditions nor was I informed of any.

corktina

it seems you have messed up big time and if you are going to ever get that figure reduced (or stop it climbing furrther) you are going to have to humbly approach them to seek a compromise.

It seems they have been writing to the address where your car is registered, I don't think you can use the the fact you don't live there as any form of defence

-Chris-

You're probably better off asking in the eFlow forum, they'll tell you exactly what your situation is.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1496

n97 mini

Personally I would pay for the journeys and leave it at that.

I had a row recently with a fuel card provider in similar circumstances and they tried to sting me with a €30 penalty. I wrote to them enclosing a cheque for what I owed (€28) and told them nowhere did I agree to this penalty. I also told them they had lost a customer of 5 years and where to shove their fuel card.

I heard no more about it.

coffeepls

Just ring them and explain the situation - I doubt they are ogres. I've heard other such cases where they do agreeably listen to what the person has had to say.

daddydick

OP the exact same thing happened to me about one year ago.

I think fines were up around €650. I rang them and explained the situation and they kindly agreed to charge me €6 for every toll across the M50 which is the initial penalty if you don't pay within 2 days.

Offer them this it seems reasonable enough. Feel free to use my example. PM me if you want my account number to quote on the phone.

eFlow: Ciaran

Hi karlf,

If you would like to PM me your details (name, full address, a/c no and your contact number) we would be happy to look into this for you.

Please also confirm that you are the a/c holder

Regards,

Ciaran.