Regular payments on debit cards are useful tools to either pay for an item via instalments or to pay for a regularly provided service such as a utility. However many people don’t like using this service because regular payments using debit cards have the reputation of being hard to cancel.
When cancelling debit card payments it must be remembered that the good or service being paid for may have to be returned, paid for in full, or discontinued. This is because these payments are designed as a convenience for both the customer and the provider, and not as a means of cheating the provider out of payment.
The first thing to be done when cancelling a regular payment is to call the provider and ask for the payment to be cancelled. If the cessation of the payment is agreed then this should be followed by an email or a formal letter from the debit card holder to the provider, which only needs to be a few lines long but which refers to the telephone call. Most such scheduled payments should stop following the call, but it’s a good idea to keep a paper trail so that if there is a dispute later then the customer can document their actions.
If the payment’s cessation is not agreed, then there should be an email or letter sent by the debit card holder immediately, asking them to reconsider and reserving to right to go to the debit card provider and to the state authorities. A deadline should be given in this letter, such as seven days, before further actions will be taken.
Usually at this point there will be an agreement to stop the payments and the matter should end, although goods may need to be returned and the bank statement should be watched. If additional payments are made, then this can be judged as an unauthorised payment. If the provider does not reverse this charge then it can be judged as an unauthorised transaction, which should be covered by the card’s zero liability guarantee.
If there is no satisfaction then the complaint should be taken to the debit card provider and also to the state or territory’s Consumer Affairs Agency. It is a good idea to also forward copies of all correspondence. It must be remembered that this may slow the process of receiving a refund, and talking to the provider directly is usually likely to be faster.
