Positive Balance with EE

[DavidMeldrum]

Four years ago we started paying £15 a month for our £10 monthly account, supposedly to cover any unexpected extras.

We now have £220 in credit.

EE still asks us to pay £10 monthly.

Is there any way we can get our £220 used as payment of our bill for the next two years would be an idea.

If not is there any mechanism for getting a refund ?

[XRaySpeX]

With such a large balance you've no need to keep paying monthly until it runs out. It will be held as credit on your a/c to pay off your future bills. Alternatively you could call CS & request it be refunded to your normal means of payment.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @DavidMeldrum ,

You should be able to contact the service provider to request that they adjust the direct debit to pay only the amount owed instead of a fixed higher amount. This is certainly the way I currently pay for both my mobile phone contracts and with my previous service provider over 24 months.

I'm only aware that certain utility providers may fix a higher amount to avoid customers getting a effective interest free loan on their bill amount. I'm pretty sure all my other Direct Debits are right-sized to exactly what I owe each month. Similarly to when you have built up credit on your utility accounts, you should be able to request a refund leaving a little to cover a month or two to avoid any hiccups. Good luck!

[James_B]

Hi @DavidMeldrum,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

How are you making your payments? When paying monthly via direct debit, we wouldn't collect more than your bill total. Are you using a pay as you go plan with recurring top-ups?

James

[DavidMeldrum]

It was by automatic payments from my wife's Debit Card. It was set up 4 years ago and came to our notice when the card expired and was replaced with a new one

[Chris_B]

@mikeliuk   The service provider is EE and can say the company name or better still just say customer services as we all know this forum is for EE customers. 

[XRaySpeX]

@mikeliuk : EE (known only to you as "the service provider") does not invoice a fixed monthly amount but only the amount on each month's bill. It is the OP's doing to have set up or agreed a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA). It is equally in the OP's remit to undo it.

[mikeliuk]

Hi @DavidMeldrum ,

The key difference between a continuous payment authority and a Direct Debit is you can't cancel a CPA by the push of a button on a website or app but instead the cancellation needs to be done by requesting of the other party.

The good news is that the below link suggests the other party is legally obliged to cancel on request and refund on request.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-payments/

Personally I only use CPAs on credit cards for the convenience of making unplanned purchases. They are also put in place by payment intermediaries such as PayPal.

If you are on a pay monthly contract plan, it strikes me as a little unusual for a CPA to be chosen over a DD, as a DD would cover the extract amount, however much you would have exceeded the expected amount. A regular payment for PAYG would seem more reasonable as indicated above.

Continuous payment authorities, Direct Debits, and standing orders are all automatic payment methods.

https://www.money.co.uk/current-accounts/what-are-direct-debits-and-standing-orders.htm

CPA is mentioned in PAYG terms but all the documentation I see for pay monthly leans towards DD. Personally I wouldn't mind paying for my monthly plan by credit card CPA as I get cashback, but the only option I was presented with was DD. Good luck on getting it sorted with the service provider! 🤓

https://ee.co.uk/content/dam/everything-everywhere/documents/pay-as-you-go-card-payment-terms.pdf

[XRaySpeX]

---

@mikeliuk wrote:

the cancellation needs to be done by requesting of the other party.

Wrong! It may also be done by contacting the card provider & probably at the online push of a button. See the FOS article I posted. Can't you read? Also Continuous payment authorities: it is your right to cancel by FCA!

Why do you always post long, turgid, boring & misleading rehashes of what's already been said concisely by others? You just carry on pontificating & lecturing all over the place.

[DavidMeldrum · Accepted solution]

Thanks, I now understand what was going on.

A lady was given a present of an expensive smart phone. She only used the phone for very occasional calls or texts. It was suggested that a £10 PAYG would suit her well and she was led through the online process. It went OK to the point that a Direct Debit was requested. It appeared this was going to be open ended. At that time there had been stories of thousand of pounds being taken for unintentional viewing of movies etc., the client would not agree to that. She rang Customer Services, there was a long difficult conversation. The upshot was that a CPA was set up on her Debit Card. That debit card has now been cancelled and replaced by new one. 

I will watch what happens. Having £220 in the bank of EE will do no harm in these days of no interest. I think another long chat with CS may serve no purpose

Thanks for all your sensible help

David