i could understand, a mistaken automated letter been sent, but the threatening letter, after we fianly closed the account, normaly if the account was meant to be closed, and wasnt, although a note says it shoulve been, you shouldnt pay for that extra month, you shouldve been refunded and account closed. So im not sure what happened there.
NOTE TO ALL: CANCEL YOUR DIRECT DEBIT ASAP WHEN YOU CLOSE ACCOUNT WITH THEM - THEY DO NOT NEED IT TO GIVE YOU REFUNDS!!!!!
I got my refund through after cancelling direct debit!
You were lucky then
The bank usually refuses any cancelled DD's, either ingoing or outgoing. It's possible the refund was being processed when you cancelled it, so you got it, but i'd really really not recommend cancelling any DD's until after it's all done.
[Yep, i had to deal with a hell of a lot of cancelled DD issues in my time at Wanadoo.. it can cause more issues than it resolves, as there are accounts where refunds have never been processed due to the calcellation of DD when they close the account.]
_________________ -----------------------
Ex-Wanadoo Employee as of beginning of 2006
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My Disclamer:
Information given as Goodwill, and is not binding in ANY form.
NOTE TO ALL: CANCEL YOUR DIRECT DEBIT ASAP WHEN YOU CLOSE ACCOUNT WITH THEM - THEY DO NOT NEED IT TO GIVE YOU REFUNDS!!!!!
I got my refund through after cancelling direct debit!
You were lucky then
The bank usually refuses any cancelled DD's, either ingoing or outgoing. It's possible the refund was being processed when you cancelled it, so you got it, but i'd really really not recommend cancelling any DD's until after it's all done.
[Yep, i had to deal with a hell of a lot of cancelled DD issues in my time at Wanadoo.. it can cause more issues than it resolves, as there are accounts where refunds have never been processed due to the calcellation of DD when they close the account.]
Eh?? You say that you used to deal with cancelled Direct Debits but you appear to have never read the direct debit guarantee which states "You can cancell a direct debit at any time by writing to your bank or building society". Are you sure you are an EX employee??? And I have spoken to my bank who have confirmed that a Direct DEBIT is just that - used for DEBITS not CREDITS!!!
The Direct Debit garuntee states you can cancel it at any time at the bank or building society, and yes, by all means, cancel... and notify us so we can arrange alternate payment method.
I don't unfortunatly have the document to hand to quote exactly from it, but a general gist :
" This is an agreement to have the money leave the bank up to and including 10 to 14 working days after your billing date. You may cancel a DD at any time by notifying the Bank/building society. Please also notify us so we can arrange an alternative payment method"
You can stop permission at the bank for Wanadoo to take cash, but you don't stop the wanadoo billing account by doing that. the account then would fall into arrears, and it gets messy from there. Also, as I said, I've seen accounts which have failed to have refunds placed in the bank as the DD details have been cancelled, and the bank has refused to accept the payment.
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Ex-Wanadoo Employee as of beginning of 2006
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My Disclamer:
Information given as Goodwill, and is not binding in ANY form.
Joined: 21 Apr 2006Posts: 94Location: Fallowfield, Manchester
Well Wanadoo's promised refund didn't appear This is so aggravating! Even after I left them, they won't leave me (or at least my money) alone. They're by far the most incompetent company I've ever had to deal with.
Have you confirmed with the agent there is a refundable amount on the Wanadoo biling account?
Sometimes there may be a note on the account, but for whatever reason, the refund isn't on the billing part..
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Ex-Wanadoo Employee as of beginning of 2006
----
My Disclamer:
Information given as Goodwill, and is not binding in ANY form.
The Direct Debit garuntee states you can cancel it at any time at the bank or building society, and yes, by all means, cancel... and notify us so we can arrange alternate payment method.
I don't unfortunatly have the document to hand to quote exactly from it, but a general gist :
" This is an agreement to have the money leave the bank up to and including 10 to 14 working days after your billing date. You may cancel a DD at any time by notifying the Bank/building society. Please also notify us so we can arrange an alternative payment method"
You can stop permission at the bank for Wanadoo to take cash, but you don't stop the wanadoo billing account by doing that. the account then would fall into arrears, and it gets messy from there. Also, as I said, I've seen accounts which have failed to have refunds placed in the bank as the DD details have been cancelled, and the bank has refused to accept the payment.
What?? You said in your last post that I was lucky to have been able to cancel my DD as banks dont usually let you!!! AND if you read what these posts are about you will see that we are talking about Wanadoo taking money from our bank accounts when we have closed our account with them and they continue to charge us the monthly fee. You seem to be exactly the sort of person wanadoo employs - unable to read and understand simple facts! Oh and alot of contracdictions to boot!! You say you are an ex-employee - but you refer to "us" when you say "by all means, cancel... and notify us so we can arrange alternate payment method."
I suggest you READ and UNDERSTAND what is being said before posting in future! This sort of incompetence is just the problem I have with Wanadoo - they employ idiots who dont care!
The Direct Debit garuntee states you can cancel it at any time at the bank or building society, and yes, by all means, cancel... and notify us so we can arrange alternate payment method.
I don't unfortunatly have the document to hand to quote exactly from it, but a general gist :
" This is an agreement to have the money leave the bank up to and including 10 to 14 working days after your billing date. You may cancel a DD at any time by notifying the Bank/building society. Please also notify us so we can arrange an alternative payment method"
You can stop permission at the bank for Wanadoo to take cash, but you don't stop the wanadoo billing account by doing that. the account then would fall into arrears, and it gets messy from there. Also, as I said, I've seen accounts which have failed to have refunds placed in the bank as the DD details have been cancelled, and the bank has refused to accept the payment.
What?? You said in your last post that I was lucky to have been able to cancel my DD as banks dont usually let you!!! AND if you read what these posts are about you will see that we are talking about Wanadoo taking money from our bank accounts when we have closed our account with them and they continue to charge us the monthly fee. You seem to be exactly the sort of person wanadoo employs - unable to read and understand simple facts! Oh and alot of contracdictions to boot!! You say you are an ex-employee - but you refer to "us" when you say "by all means, cancel... and notify us so we can arrange alternate payment method."
I suggest you READ and UNDERSTAND what is being said before posting in future! This sort of incompetence is just the problem I have with Wanadoo - they employ idiots who dont care!
Try reading it again. Slowly. Maybe take a teabreak beforehand.
Quote:
The bank usually refuses any cancelled DD's,
Referring to the bank refusing a payment to be processed on a cancelled Direct debit refernece number. NOT referring to anything else.
The Payments coming out after the cancellation of a DD is a fault either at the banks side, or the billing system not being notified, or a payment was being processed at the time, or possibly a fault in the closing of the wanadoo account.
Also The "us" comment was referring to the Direct Debit Garuntee SCRIPT. the thing that is read out when someone agrees to set up a direct Debit..
I have Read and fully understood what has been posted, and With all due respect, I'm only visiting here to try and help where I was unable to as an employee. I'm posting in my own free time, of my own free will, and you have the cheek to say I'm an idiot who doesn't care?
I hope you enjoy your stay here, as I sure as hell won't be giving you any more advice or assistance Davenbex, and I'll be stepping out of this debate to avoid it turning into a Flame the ex-employee.
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Ex-Wanadoo Employee as of beginning of 2006
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My Disclamer:
Information given as Goodwill, and is not binding in ANY form.
Joined: 21 Apr 2006Posts: 94Location: Fallowfield, Manchester
[quote="Myles"]Have you confirmed with the agent there is a refundable amount on the Wanadoo biling account?
Sometimes there may be a note on the account, but for whatever reason, the refund isn't on the billing part..[/quote]
I know you're trying to help but how is a customer (or ex-customer in my case) meant to guess the different Wanadoo databases and to get the agent to check the appropriate ones? I'm not being sarcastic, it's a genuine question.
As Wanadoo don't seem to have the necessary inter-database integrity checks, couldn't they at least amend the agent's script to make them check all the relevant databases?
Also, doesn't anyone at Wanadoo realise that, from a commercial POV, having inconsistent databases is dangerous for them? There are very interesting, as in "may you live in interesting times", simulations of inconsistency percolation and cascading between databses.
There is only 1 database that bills you. The Billing system. They recently (End of last year) did some work on the system to "improve" it. If it has or hasn't, I'm not sure.
Unfortunatly, the only thing thats feasable is having customers complain about the issues they are having with Agents not using systems correctly / not trained correctly before any remedial action is taken (Contracts with certain callcenters terminated, retraining existing staff, ect..)
The problem with the systems is that you have to follow certain paths. There is no way anyone can "Cut corners" .. and the problem with Billing is the major issue of Data Protection. Wanadoo Agents themselves cannot call up the bank and speak to a teller about your account. It's all automated between Wanadoo and Bank. Now sometimes the Bank doesn't contact Wanadoo, and sometimes The wanadoo systems don't seem to contact the bank. There are faults in this, as with almost every electronic system..
All you as a (ex) customer can do is speak to agents, supervisors, and get the information that way, then confirming it with the bank..
Commercially, in my opinion, they're committing * anyway by re-branding 2x in as many years... but to be honest, the only things you can do is complain or quit them..
A little tip though. If you have been overcharged and you know this for certain.. you may be able to commit a "Chargeback" from your bank, advising them the payment had been taken without permisson.. Be warned tho, doing that could cause more hell that it fixes...
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Ex-Wanadoo Employee as of beginning of 2006
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My Disclamer:
Information given as Goodwill, and is not binding in ANY form.
Joined: 21 Apr 2006Posts: 94Location: Fallowfield, Manchester
Well I rang up Wanadoo again today and spoke to someone in the billing department. He said that they had had lots of problems with "people not doing their job correctly" wrt the payments. He claimed that I'll now get my refund within 24 hours. My account hadn't even been properly closed at the billing end and they seemed to have none of the correct details, apart from the username/password for my ex-account. For example, they didn't know when my MAC was requested, issued or used.
I still don't see how customers are meant to know if they are talking to the right person. The original bod claimed that he had set everything in motion to get my refund within 7 days. How was I meant to know he was "not doing his job correctly"?
wrt your "the only things you can do is complain or quit them". I already quit them and the billing bod was doing more complaining about the customer support than I was. I felt quite sorry for him as he seemed to be trying to do his best to sort out problems that weren't of his making using systems that aren't really fit for purpose.
This thread fills me with joy as I am leaving wanadoo on the 30/05 if they try to take another payment then trouble will be forthcoming. Direct debits are easier to stop than credit card payments
Joined: 21 Apr 2006Posts: 94Location: Fallowfield, Manchester
Well what a surprise - the refund didn't arrive. So I'm off to write a letter giving them seven days or I'll take legal action.
The idiot I spoke to this time said he was in the billing department but it then turned out he couldn't actually do anything wrt billing. He didn't even have the authority to authorize a refund and thought that sending an e-mail to his supervisor would be the answer. He gave as a possible reason for the lack of refund, that a supervisor hadn't been reading their e-mails.
Same problems.
WE cancelld our account 2 years ago!!!! and Wanadoo still took money from our account for all these years. Stupidly we were too busy to see it.
The worse thing is they EVEN took money twice a month in certain months. It is amaizing that no authority as Ofcom reacts to such a fraud. If so many people complain that means something. Ofcourse they refuse to give the money back.
Any ideas for help!!!
Joined: 01 Jun 2006Posts: 5Location: West Yorkshire
To everyone having problems stopping Wanadoo taking money from their bank accounts, may I suggest taking Wanadoo (sorry, Orange, I keep forgetting!), to the Small Claims Court. You don't need to employ a solicitor for this, you can do it yourself.
My father did this when he had a similar problem with Wanadoo, and he got all his money back before the case even went to court.
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This is so aggravating! Even after I left them, they won't leave me (or at least my money) alone. They're by far the most incompetent company I've ever had to deal with.
but how is a customer (or ex-customer in my case) meant to guess the different Wanadoo databases and to get the agent to check the appropriate ones? I'm not being sarcastic, it's a genuine question.
and the billing bod was doing more complaining about the customer support than I was. I felt quite sorry for him as he seemed to be trying to do his best to sort out problems that weren't of his making using systems that aren't really fit for purpose.
as I am leaving wanadoo on the 30/05 if they try to take another payment then trouble will be forthcoming. Direct debits are easier to stop than credit card payments 
