I was recently sorting through bank statements of an account that used to be my main current account but over the past 5yrs i have been slowly transferring al my direct debits and standing orders over to my other current account.
It was only because there were no payments coming in or out of the account that i noticed a direct debit to the Carphone Warehouse for £25.
Thinking that they were mistakenly still charging me for my mobile phone bill (i switched to paying O2 directly a year previously) i Called the Carphone Warehouse to enquire.
I was told that it was a quarterly payment for an insurance policy covering a sony ericson T630 i had taken out with my contract when i bought the phone in 2004. When i said that i had no recollection of taking out the insurance or receiving any paperwork confirming its renewal AND that i hadn't owned that phone in 6 years they said they would look in to my complaint.
A few months later i received a letter with an illegible photocopy of the policy contract dated 2004 where you can just make out my 19yr old signature. They said they were very sorry i wasn't aware of the insurance but that they would not be able to offer me any sort of refund, even though they had records of me changing my phone and contract with O2 numerous times over the years, as they had no record of me asking about the payments until now. They have now however canceled the insurance policy for me.
Is it me or is this ridiculous? How can they take £100 a year for a phone that i haven't owned for over 6 years without sending me some sort of notification that the policy was going to be automatically renewed? All my other insurance policies - contents insurance for example send me an annual letter, at least this gives me the opportunity to cancel if i wish.
You might argue that the direct debit payments were notification enough and yes i agree i should know what is coming in and out of my account. However for some reason this payment was missed. Perhaps because i used to pay my mobile phone bill to the Carphone Warehouse and on my statement this payment looks identical.
Would anyone be able to give me any advice on the matter? The letter form the Carphone Warehouse made me feel stupid for not checking my payments but i still feel it was sneaky and therefore wrong of them to continue taking money in this way.
Any comments will be greatly appreciated!
It was only because there were no payments coming in or out of the account that i noticed a direct debit to the Carphone Warehouse for £25.
Thinking that they were mistakenly still charging me for my mobile phone bill (i switched to paying O2 directly a year previously) i Called the Carphone Warehouse to enquire.
I was told that it was a quarterly payment for an insurance policy covering a sony ericson T630 i had taken out with my contract when i bought the phone in 2004. When i said that i had no recollection of taking out the insurance or receiving any paperwork confirming its renewal AND that i hadn't owned that phone in 6 years they said they would look in to my complaint.
A few months later i received a letter with an illegible photocopy of the policy contract dated 2004 where you can just make out my 19yr old signature. They said they were very sorry i wasn't aware of the insurance but that they would not be able to offer me any sort of refund, even though they had records of me changing my phone and contract with O2 numerous times over the years, as they had no record of me asking about the payments until now. They have now however canceled the insurance policy for me.
Is it me or is this ridiculous? How can they take £100 a year for a phone that i haven't owned for over 6 years without sending me some sort of notification that the policy was going to be automatically renewed? All my other insurance policies - contents insurance for example send me an annual letter, at least this gives me the opportunity to cancel if i wish.
You might argue that the direct debit payments were notification enough and yes i agree i should know what is coming in and out of my account. However for some reason this payment was missed. Perhaps because i used to pay my mobile phone bill to the Carphone Warehouse and on my statement this payment looks identical.
Would anyone be able to give me any advice on the matter? The letter form the Carphone Warehouse made me feel stupid for not checking my payments but i still feel it was sneaky and therefore wrong of them to continue taking money in this way.
Any comments will be greatly appreciated!