Quick Question

benny79

Lads The secretary in my club is a right B*t*h,
anyway my membership is €800 agreed to be paid by DD €100 for first 8 months of year grand.

This year my second yr at club it was never taken out in Jan rang and she informed me very smartly by the way! I meant to ring her at the start of each yr to inform her that I wanted to continue my membership etc..
she didnt end up taking it to April as she kept forgetting and I had to keep ringing (she was saying it was nt her that I rang and she didnt get message!)

It was up last month for 2013 and I noticed they took €80 this month. so rang her, she said a email went out couple of months back that if she didnt hear back from people on DD it will be spread over 10 months of €80.

which would nt bother me only my membership was paid up end of last month so why take €80 for this month been only 1 month left in the yr! resulting in €880 for yr total instead of €800. her excuse was she was taking it early for next yr! but I mighten of continued my membership as you have to ring etc!

I live in a country town and the club is on my door step the rest are 20/30 min drive although its a lovely course seems to be run very badly wont drop prices or chase new memberships & are losing loads. but course is kept very well.
I was told loads of complaints went in about her (people have actually left) but she's there donkey yrs and part of the furniture and they would never get rid of her etc.

now I thinking is this illegal was she on the take or just a geninue mistake?

just looking for opinions?

PARlance

Maybe setting up a standing order with your bank is the best thing to do Benny.

A standing order gives you the power, you instruct the bank to take 100 out each month for 8 months (you only have to request this once per year, give them the period it covers and that's that)

Direct Debits give people the opportunity to take out whenever they want and I'm not a fan of them.

I'd be a bit worried if the club needs to be taking the sub a month earlier, not a good sign at all.

benny79

It seemed to me she was just making excuses with that!

sure how can she take it a month early when I was told you have to ring each year to give approval and to inform them you want to continue membership for the following yr.

but I did hear the club is struggling espeacally as they have a big mortage on the club house but they are defo not helping matters!

PARlance

benny79 wrote: »

It seemed to me she was just making excuses with that!

sure how can she take it a month early when I was told you have to ring each year to give approval and to inform them you want to continue membership for the following yr.

but I did hear the club is struggling espeacally as they have a big mortage on the club house but they are defo not helping matters!

Sometimes it's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission... I think this could be the case with the club here.
They get 80 early from all members and maybe only a handful will kick up a real fuss and get a refund.

It would cause me to be fairly worried about the short term future of the club to be honest... that carry on is a sign of distress.

benny79

To be honest I think if I didnt notice it, I'd still end up paying €800 next year! and them getting away with charging me €80 extra for 2013 sad I know but true I think.

all clubs in the area have lower membership are more friendlier but my club cant afford to drop any lower! petty its on my doorstep else I'd be gone too!!!

Russman

If you can, its probably easiest to suck it up and make sure you only pay the correct amount, ie don't pay your final month next year (if I'm reading it correctly).

You might get somewhere if you kick up a fuss, but to what avail ? I have a VERY vague recollection from lectures 20 years ago that not replying to something can't be taken as agreeing to it (or something like that !). Mind you, I could have that completely the wrong way round !:)

blackwhite

PARlance wrote: »

Maybe setting up a standing order with your bank is the best thing to do Benny.

A standing order gives you the power, you instruct the bank to take 100 out each month for 8 months (you only have to request this once per year, give them the period it covers and that's that)

Direct Debits give people the opportunity to take out whenever they want and I'm not a fan of them.

I'd be a bit worried if the club needs to be taking the sub a month earlier, not a good sign at all.

A bit off-topic, but there will be new Direct Debit rules in place from 1 February that give you the right to a no-questions-asked refund within 8 weeks of any direct debit being taken.
No good for this month, but it will give you some protection if they try to pull a similar stunt again in future.

benny79

The €80 extra has being refunded back into my account.

PARlance

blackwhite wrote: »

A bit off-topic, but there will be new Direct Debit rules in place from 1 February that give you the right to a no-questions-asked refund within 8 weeks of any direct debit being taken.
No good for this month, but it will give you some protection if they try to pull a similar stunt again in future.

As much a I am not a fan of DD's, that is crazy as it's wide open for abuse.
I wouldn't say the utility companies are a massive fan of that.
Short of a few bob this month?
Get last months ESB bill put back into your account.

Considering that the legal system and process here is so skewed in favour towards the person owing the money, I think it's an awful move.

Johnny pays his yearly sub over 12 months for 2014, then he decides not to renew in Jan 2015.... He can go and get refunded the previous 2 months with no questions asked.
It's then up to the club to chase him then and 12 months down the line after spending a small fortune chasing the money, Johnny may crack and pay up, or the club may just write it off.

PARlance

blackwhite wrote: »

A bit off-topic, but there will be new Direct Debit rules in place from 1 February that give you the right to a no-questions-asked refund within 8 weeks of any direct debit being taken.
No good for this month, but it will give you some protection if they try to pull a similar stunt again in future.

As much a I am not a fan of DD's, that is crazy as it's wide open for abuse.
I wouldn't say the utility companies are a massive fan of that.
Short of a few bob this month?
Get last months ESB bill put back into your account.

Considering that the legal system and process here is so skewed in favour towards the person owing the money, I think it's an awful move.

Johnny pays his yearly sub over 12 months for 2014, then he decides not to renew in Jan 2015.... He can go and get refunded the previous 2 months with no questions asked.
It's then up to the club to chase him then and 12 months down the line after spending a small fortune chasing the money, Johnny may crack and pay up, or the club may just write it off.

blackwhite

PARlance wrote: »

As much a I am not a fan of DD's, that is crazy as it's wide open for abuse.
I wouldn't say the utility companies are a massive fan of that.
Short of a few bob this month?
Get last months ESB bill put back into your account.

Considering that the legal system and process here is so skewed in favour towards the person owing the money, I think it's an awful move.

Johnny pays his yearly sub over 12 months for 2014, then he decides not to renew in Jan 2015.... He can go and get refunded the previous 2 months with no questions asked.
It's then up to the club to chase him then and 12 months down the line after spending a small fortune chasing the money, Johnny may crack and pay up, or the club may just write it off.

I work as a corporate treasurer. I've spent the last 12 months trying to find ways around this.
One of the businesses in our Group supplies fuel to retail petrol stations - imagine 8 weeks work of fuel payments being recalled :eek:

Thankfully the Central Bank forced the Irish banks (kicking and screaming) to participate in a scheme whereby business customers will no longer have the refund right, but it still applies to domestic customers.

It's expected that PSD2 will restrict the right to only apply in cases where the customer hasn't actually consumed the goods, but it'll be a few years before that comes in :rolleyes:

There aren't enough :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: in the world for how badly the EU have called this one.

PARlance

blackwhite wrote: »

There aren't enough :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: in the world for how badly the EU have called this one.

Sorry mods, this is the end:

This is all news to me, they didn't factor cute Irish (Spainish, Italian, Greek) whorism into it did they...
It mightn't be abused in the straight laced countries of Europe but boy is this going to be a nightmare in countries where...lets say, we're a bit more relaxed about things such as laws and such :eek: