upc 2.99 direct debit charge

skyguy19

Im in credit with my bill with upc as i pay by the year upfront, but Im been charged €2.99 per month for not having a direct debit set up even though upc have never sent me a bill or are not supplying a service for the €2.99, is this legal and who can i report this too, would it be comreg,

and before someone says just set up a direct debit, i dont want to and shouldnt need to as I pay upfront.

Slozer

Where does this charge appear? I don't have a direct debit set up but I've never seen this charge.

Kess73

So over 12 months they are charging you an extra €35.88 just because you don't use direct debit to pay them? Might seem an obvious question from me, but have you conatcted them and been told that reason?

What is the €2.99 per month charge called on your statement?

skyguy19

Ive just spent the last hour on the phone to them, they wouldnt give a credit for the charge of 2.99 per month for the last 3 months and said to stop the 2.99 charge I would have to sign up for direct debit, even though they dont have to do anything for it, Ive just written away to the consumer assoc of Ireland to see what they say about it. all I have with them is the broadband and to make it worse again Im been charged 7.74 for a standalone charge for this as well. I knew about the 7.74 and accepted it because the upc bb service is great, but this 2.99 charge is really pissing me off, I told them its customers like me you want who pay 6 months in advance at a time, they said there is nothing they can do, either go dd or accept the 2.99 charge

here is what its says on my bill

Non Direct−Debit Charge 1 27/11/11 2.47 21.0% 2.99

LB6

my mother was on to them too about that in the last 2 weeks. She pays upfront and gets that 2.99 charge monthly also. They won't refund it. She doesn't want want to pay DD and is seriously just going with SKY. Looking forward to hearing how you get on with CA

skyguy19

Im leaving when my contract is up in Feb, i wanted to leave now but they said I was stuck in a contract till Feb, so Ill go to another provider then.

Clareman

Moving this to the Cable forum where I think it'll be a better fit.

MarkR

Is it a charge, or do you just not get a 2.99 discount that direct debit users get?

skyguy19

I paid 6 months in advanced and changed banks and dont want a dd for anything in the new bank account, my whole argument is why am i been charged for not having a dd when my account is in credit, they are getting 2.99 for nothing, if I was not in credit with them all the time i would understand that there was a cost to them but theres not any cost to them.

deanh

skyguy19 wrote: »

I paid 6 months in advanced and changed banks and dont want a dd for anything in the new bank account, my whole argument is why am i been charged for not having a dd when my account is in credit, they are getting 2.99 for nothing, if I was not in credit with them all the time i would understand that there was a cost to them but theres not any cost to them.

Can you sign up to sky without direct debit payments?

skyguy19

deanh wrote: »

Can you sign up to sky without direct debit payments?

do sky do broadband, just checked online they dont, anyone suggest a good broadband supplier,

F1ngers

skyguy19 wrote: »

do sky do broadband,

No.

brick tamland

skyguy19 wrote: »

do sky do broadband, just checked online they dont, anyone suggest a good broadband supplier,

Without being smart UPC have the best broadband package. Dont thnik you'll do better. Unless you already have an eircom land line already you may be able to bundle it but I'd still rather UPC tbh

skyguy19

brick tamland wrote: »

Without being smart UPC have the best broadband package. Dont thnik you'll do better. Unless you already have an eircom land line already you may be able to bundle it but I'd still rather UPC tbh

I agree with you their broadband is excellent, but i feel im been mugged with this 2.99 charge, i know its not much but it sure is pissing me off enought to change providers, I was wilth digiweb before I was with upc, think Ill give them a buzz, their broadband was not bad not as good as upc but I dont download anything so they will do me.

F1ngers

Have a read of your contract, I believe they inform you of the €2.99 charge if you do not use DD.
Why is it an issue now?
You agreed to it when you signed up for their service.

swampy353

They charge a fee for non dd user cause there are larger charges attached to the other methods of payments. E.g. Credit cards attract a 2% charge. AFAIK you can setup the dd and if your account is in credit it won't have any effect apart getting rid I of the charge

skyguy19

F1ngers wrote: »

Have a read of your contract, I believe they inform you of the €2.99 charge if you do not use DD.
Why is it an issue now?
You agreed to it when you signed up for their service.

your correct it was in the contract, my issue is why if you are in credit ALL THE TIME, should you be charged 2.99 for dd when they dont have to do anything for it, if they supplied a service for it id have no problem, I paid in advance so that I didnt have to go DD, they are still getting their money IN ADVANCE, so why charge someone a non dd fee , when they have the money already. even if they had to send me a bill in the post I would understand the payment but I even get the bill by ebill online

does this not seem unfair to you.

skyguy19

swampy353 wrote: »

They charge a fee for non dd user cause there are larger charges attached to the other methods of payments. E.g. Credit cards attract a 2% charge. AFAIK you can setup the dd and if your account is in credit it won't have any effect apart getting rid I of the charge

you are correct there but I dont want to set up a dd with any company, its too easy for them to take money even when they are not entitled to it. I got stung once (not by upc) with a dd and its not going to happen to me again.

snappieT

skyguy19 wrote: »

you are correct there but I dont want to set up a dd with any company, its too easy for them to take money even when they are not entitled to it. I got stung once (not by upc) with a dd and its not going to happen to me again.

So go setup a shell bank account that'll always be empty, and give them those details

Topcat31285

Yes it's one of UPCs rip-offs like charging 7 euro if your tv not same name as broadband and if you lower your speed they charge you 10 euros for customer service to tap a few keys on keyboard.

MOD EDIT: Can we keep it civil please.

r0qi4162fux9kg

Just sign up for a direct debit - if your account is in credit they won't charge you anything but will waive the 2.99 fee. Then cancel the DD with your bank.

Topcat31285

Nevaeh Strong Jar wrote: »

Just sign up for a direct debit - if your account is in credit they won't charge you anything but will waive the 2.99 fee. Then cancel the DD with your bank.

If you sign up for Direct Debit you will not charged but if you cancel you will be charged and if they go to get money out of account and no money the bank will charge you 12.99 euro . Keep away from direct debit it's a rip-off just like UPC

hightower1

Its an industry thing, you cant set up sky without DD, ESB charge you 300eur up front if your setting up non dd. There is EU legislation in the works aimed for 2014 as the providers costs dont seem to fall in line with the charges set by nearly every service provider so in short its not a UPC specific charge but industry wide, it is legal.

From askaboutmoney:

Section 48 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 would have prohibited these types of sucharges, except that Section 48 was exempted in the Act's Commencement Order. According to a statement in the Dáil by Micheál Martin (the relevant Minister at the time), this section and one other would have been contrary to EU law so they weren't brought in force.

Elbows22

Think of all household services around:
UPC - non direct debit - €2.99per month (€35.88 per year)
Sky - Do NOT give the option of paying in the post office or non direct debit
Airtricity/ESB - €300 non direct debit charge per year per account
Bord Gais - €200 non direct debit charge for gas per year and €200 for electricity

Simple maths shows you that you get away easy with it........

skyguy19

Elbows22 wrote: »

Think of all household services around:
UPC - non direct debit - €2.99per month (€35.88 per year)
Sky - Do NOT give the option of paying in the post office or non direct debit
Airtricity/ESB - €300 non direct debit charge per year per account
Bord Gais - €200 non direct debit charge for gas per year and €200 for electricity

Simple maths shows you that you get away easy with it........

simple maths says they are all ripping us off, a charge for no service, still doesnt make it right, I think the sooner sky come in with a decent broadband the sooner it will make upc out apprecite their customers,

anyway going back to digiweb after Feb, its the same price and no non dd charge.

http://www.digiweb.ie/home/broadband/metro/index.html

djimi

The ESB charge is a deposit rather than a charge is it not? As in you get it back at some stage?

Davy

djimi wrote: »

The ESB charge is a deposit rather than a charge is it not? As in you get it back at some stage?

Yes, all the utilities the same. It's a once off, not €300 a year ad above

djimi

I thought that alright.

Also, I was always under the impression that the 2.99 was a kind of bonus saving for using DD, rather than a charge for not using it? As in, your bill is the amount you would pay if you dont use DD, and paying by DD knocks 2.99 off that amount? Amounts to the same thing I suppose, but I guess thats how they get away with it.

ted1

Topcat31285 wrote: »

Yes it's one of UPCs rip-offs like charging 7 euro if your tv not same name as broadband and if you lower your speed they charge you 10 euros for customer service to tap a few keys on keyboard.

MOD EDIT: Can we keep it civil please.

Bit of a chip on the shoulder.The seven euro is for having one service and covers the cost of providing the service with multiple services this is recouped. Different names are different accounts. As regards being charged for not having funds available ,that makes sense your bank will also charge you for this.
Finally, although the op has credit on his account he could rack up extra charges by going over his limit. Upc need to be confident they can get this money so ask for a dd. This shows a lack of trust, however the op is shown them a lack of trust and is paying for this.

skyguy19

ted1 wrote: »

Bit of a chip on the shoulder.The seven euro is for having one service and covers the cost of providing the service with multiple services this is recouped. Different names are different accounts. As regards being charged for not having funds available ,that makes sense your bank will also charge you for this.
Finally, although the op has credit on his account he could rack up extra charges by going over his limit. Upc need to be confident they can get this money so ask for a dd. This shows a lack of trust, however the op is shown them a lack of trust and is paying for this.

how am I showing them a lack of trust and how can I rack up extra charges by going over my limit when I dont download anything, also lets say i do go over the limit, my account is in credit ALL THE TIME so the money is there to take.

anyway its going to be sorted in Feb so no need to worry about it, as I said the sooner sky do broadband the sooner it put manners on upc.

ted1

skyguy19 wrote: »

ted1 wrote: »

Bit of a chip on the shoulder.The seven euro is for having one service and covers the cost of providing the service with multiple services this is recouped. Different names are different accounts. As regards being charged for not having funds available ,that makes sense your bank will also charge you for this.
Finally, although the op has credit on his account he could rack up extra charges by going over his limit. Upc need to be confident they can get this money so ask for a dd. This shows a lack of trust, however the op is shown them a lack of trust and is paying for this.

how am I showing them a lack of trust and how can I rack up extra charges by going over my limit when I dont download anything, also lets say i do go over the limit, my account is in credit ALL THE TIME so the money is there to take.

anyway its going to be sorted in Feb so no need to worry about it, as I said the sooner sky do broadband the sooner it put manners on upc.

By not signing up to a dd. You lodged exactly the right amount, by going over your limit you will not have sufficient funds.

skyguy19

ted1 wrote: »

By not signing up to a dd. You lodged exactly the right amount, by going over your limit you will not have sufficient funds.

its 4 months in credit at the moment, would that cover it.

PeterDuggan

Try ringing them and say you're considering cancelling. They'll put you through to customer loyalty who'll try to talk you into staying and offer you some discounts. Then say well maybe if they dropped the dd charge and - maybe - refund the dd amount by which they've ripped you off to date.

skyguy19

I asked them already if they would refund it as Im in credit, they said they cant as its gone through that they could only do it for this month and that unles I set up a dd I will be charged for it in the future, i said but Im in credit, i dont see any logic in charging me 2.99 per month as you dont have to do anything as Im paid up and was going to put another 6 months money in in February, they said the only way to stop been charged for the DD was to sign up to it.

the next time I pnone them will be to cancel, i told them to send me a cheque for the money i have in credit and they said they will. it will take 10 days

ted1

skyguy19 wrote: »

its 4 months in credit at the moment, would that cover it.

techincally no. month 4 will be short, how will they get their money.

there's a lot of people out there not paying bills/ mortgages etc.

skyguy19

ted1 wrote: »

techincally no. month 4 will be short, how will they get their money.

there's a lot of people out there not paying bills/ mortgages etc.

and theres a lot of people still paying bill, im 1 of them, how do you mean "technically no", can you explain that, they will either be short or they wont, did you not read my last mail i said I would have been putting in 6 months payment in February and i have also said my account is always in credit, so technically how will they be short. Ive never been short a payment so how does that come into it.

ted1

you said you paid for 6 months upfront, and have 4 months worth on the account. if you have not put in a provision for extra charges then you may not have enough for the 4 months and as you have no dd they can not recoup the money.

skyguy19

ted1 wrote: »

you said you paid for 6 months upfront, and have 4 months worth on the account. if you have not put in a provision for extra charges then you may not have enough for the 4 months and as you have no dd they can not recoup the money.

I mean serious Ted are you for real, this is the kind of think I had to listen to when I phoned upc, look at post number 34, ok Ill go through it again for you this is December, this months is paid so I have 4 months left there that brings us up to april, because of the extra charges lets say March, in Feb i was going to put in another 6 months money because my contract would be up in February, that would bring us up to Sept, so lets say Aug because of the extra 2.99 per month charge, so how do you make out that " techincally no. month 4 will be short, how will they get their money" they would have been paid up to August so ahow would they be short in month 4 and as I have already said IM ALWAYS IN CREDIT so there is no question of them ever getting their money because they have it already, its called being in credit. do you get that, serious now,

djimi

skyguy19 wrote: »

the sooner sky do broadband the sooner it put manners on upc.

Unless Skys broadband over here when it comes out it a lot better than it is in the UK I really dont think it will be too much of a threat to UPC... Most people I talk to in the UK who have Sky broadband are not very impressed by it.

Nermal

skyguy19 wrote: »

I mean serious Ted are you for real, this is the kind of think I had to listen to when I phoned upc, look at post number 34, ok Ill go through it again for you this is December, this months is paid so I have 4 months left there that brings us up to april, because of the extra charges lets say March, in Feb i was going to put in another 6 months money because my contract would be up in February, that would bring us up to Sept, so lets say Aug because of the extra 2.99 per month charge, so how do you make out that " techincally no. month 4 will be short, how will they get their money" they would have been paid up to August so ahow would they be short in month 4 and as I have already said IM ALWAYS IN CREDIT so there is no question of them ever getting their money because they have it already, its called being in credit. do you get that, serious now,

Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through just to not pay by direct debit. What are you worried is going to happen?

Do you think you're sticking it to the man somehow by doing this? Effectively giving UPC an interest-fee loan and paying a fee to do so?

skyguy19

Nermal wrote: »

Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through just to not pay by direct debit. What are you worried is going to happen?

Do you think you're sticking it to the man somehow by doing this? Effectively giving UPC an interest-fee loan and paying a fee to do so?

whats hard about paying once evey 6 months, thats my choice. sticking it to the man, what age are you, pray tell.

campo

skyguy19 wrote: »

simple maths says they are all ripping us off, a charge for no service, still doesnt make it right, I think the sooner sky come in with a decent broadband the sooner it will make upc out apprecite their customers,

anyway going back to digiweb after Feb, its the same price and no non dd charge.

http://www.digiweb.ie/home/broadband/metro/index.html[/QUOTE

This looks very expensive to me for the lowest speed of 5mb it is 100e to install and 35,53pm where as UPC is 20mb lowest speed at even with stand alone fee would still only be about 36e, would think again about this one.
but you would save 100e install fee and have Broadband that is 4 times faster
I do agree with the non direct debit fee I think for long standing customers who are always in credit like yourself something should be done

skyguy19

I wont be surprised if upc are bust in a few years time, ok this is what happened, i phoned up upc and told them Im giving you a months notice to cancel my broadband,

heres how it went,

ME, Hi, i want to cancel my broadband subscription
UPC, why is that sir,
ME. read the previous conversations that are written on my accout and you can see why
UPC, oh I see you are paying a non dd charge even though your account is in credit, Is there anything we can do to keep you as a customer, we value your business.
ME, no im really pissed off with this Ive had this conversation with ye already twice and at this stage I just want to leave ye, I feel like im been mugged of 2,99 for the last few months and to make it worse ye didnt even inform me that ye snuck in the charge until I seen it online.
UPC, if you set up a dd this charge will go away,
ME, look please Im not goingt through this again to-day what do I have to do to stopped been mugged by upc, i want to leave, it kills me to give you a money for a non service, espectally when i pay ye up front all the time and my account is always in credit.
UPC, how about if we gave you a discount would you stay with us,
ME, how much of a discount,
UPC, give me a minute please sir.......... ok sir we can reduce your bill by 5e per month but you have to start a new 12 month contract with us.
ME, thinking to myself, wtf kind of a system is this, ok I'll take that deal

so were is the logic in what they done, by not turning off the non dd button, it cost UPC an extra 2e per month. if I owned that company Id be asking some serious questions about how can you have a happy customer that becomes fustrated because they wont turn off a non dd button ( and if it cant be done, why not) and then to keep him happy it costs the company money. unbelieveable system.

campo

skyguy19 wrote: »

I wont be surprised if upc are bust in a few years time, ok this is what happened, i phoned up upc and told them Im giving you a months notice to cancel my broadband,

heres how it went,

ME, Hi, i want to cancel my broadband subscription
UPC, why is that sir,
ME. read the previous conversations that are written on my accout and you can see why
UPC, oh I see you are paying a non dd charge even though your account is in credit, Is there anything we can do to keep you as a customer, we value your business.
ME, no im really pissed off with this Ive had this conversation with ye already twice and at this stage I just want to leave ye, I feel like im been mugged of 2,99 for the last few months and to make it worse ye didnt even inform me that ye snuck in the charge until I seen it online.
UPC, if you set up a dd this charge will go away,
ME, look please Im not goingt through this again to-day what do I have to do to stopped been mugged by upc, i want to leave, it kills me to give you a money for a non service, espectally when i pay ye up front all the time and my account is always in credit.
UPC, how about if we gave you a discount would you stay with us,
ME, how much of a discount,
UPC, give me a minute please sir.......... ok sir we can reduce your bill by 5e per month but you have to start a new 12 month contract with us.
ME, thinking to myself, wtf kind of a system is this, ok I'll take that deal

so were is the logic in what they done, by not turning off the non dd button, it cost UPC an extra 2e per month. if I owned that company Id be asking some serious questions about how can you have a happy customer that becomes fustrated because they wont turn off a non dd button ( and if it cant be done, why not) and then to keep him happy it costs the company money. unbelieveable system.

worked out better for you and suppose from UPC stand point they get to keep you as a customer for another year ok they are max 60e worst off but in the grand scheme of things that is not a lot considering what you are paying monthly every month for next 12 months, so win win

DuPLeX

Elbows22 wrote: »

Think of all household services around:
UPC - non direct debit - €2.99per month (€35.88 per year)
Sky - Do NOT give the option of paying in the post office or non direct debit
Airtricity/ESB - €300 non direct debit charge per year per account
Bord Gais - €200 non direct debit charge for gas per year and €200 for electricity

Simple maths shows you that you get away easy with it........

I'm with Bord gais for both Electricity and Gas and UPC I Don't
pay any by DD and don't pay any fees.

DuPLeX

Actually if you don't have a DD from the beginning and were not paying the charge then It's probably not in your T&C . What will most likely have happened is that they sent you a notice (which you probably binned) stating that they would be introducing this charge (the small print giving you 30 days to object) as you did not respond in 30 days you have tacitly agreed to this change in your T&Cs. The trick is to read the crap they send and respond quickly to stuff like this saying simply "No I do not agree to this"