Charged For Two Installation Fees

[Rigsby]

Has anyone else had a problem with Ripwire taking more than one installation fee via direct debit?
I'm currently in month six of my 'Home Option 1' contract and Ripwire have suddenly decided to take another installation fee from my bank account. This means that my usual direct debit of £16.50 has become £100.34 for December 2011. They could have warned me or something!
After leaving several messages with receptionists and waiting over 48 hours for a response, I managed to get through to someone at Ripwire who was able to deal with billing issues. They claimed that their third-party accounts people had refused my first installation payment so had taken payment again (!). If I wanted to apply for a refund, I would have to provide a bank statement proving that the first installation payment had left my account. Needless to say, I've double-checked things at my end and they definitely got paid in July 2011, without any subsequent refunds or returns being made.

[SpencerUk]

Hi Rigsby,
I didn't have an issue like that when I started..I didn't get billed for 3 months though which was baffling..I ended up chasing them up and not the other way round!.
If they have not made you aware of a change in the amount I believe under the Direct Debit guarantee, they have to give you notice, you can immediately get that refunded.
I would claim a Direct Debit Indemnity on it so they don't get it at all until you get a reasonable explanation as you have proof it has been taken out ..Speak to your bank on how to do this.
Hope this helps.

[Rigsby]

Thanks for the advice Spencer.
I'm happy supporting a local firm like Ripwire but I worry about any company that can't respond to customer messages or keep track of its own accounts! It just feels very unprofessional.
I'll keep you posted with how this pans out.

[SpencerUk]

Rigsby, I totally agree.
I'm hoping to have a RipWire rep present themselves on here to offer support but I'm still in the process of building a case for it.

[Rigsby]

Well, it's been a month and Ripwire haven't bothered contacting me. I thought that I'd give them chance to put things right but I've had no response to emails and I'm tired of speaking to receptionists. Luckily, my bank offer brilliant customer service and have sorted the issue out for me in a matter of seconds. Thanks again for your advice Spencer.

[SpencerUk]

No worries Rigsby.
I've got a RiPWiRE rep to now sign onto the forums so hopefully, they can contact you and shed some light on this.

[mirdragon]

even though I've left Ripwire and told them to raise a credit for the invoice they sent me and that my direct debit has been cancelled, they still applied for the money from my account

[SpencerUk]

I'm more surprised that RiPWiRE hasn't tried to contact Rigsby,

[mirdragon]

yeh, i'm surprised as well - i've managed to get mine sorted so it may be best for Rigsby to open up a ticket regarding this. Hopefully Rigsby's bank will pull back the money and take this matter up with Ripwire directly

[Rigsby]

Cheers guys. My bank has already sorted it out. Ripwire will need to contact me now and I'm sure I'll give them a quicker response than they gave me