Refused entry on a direct debit

[fosters headband]

Get your grandson to check with his bank that the DD was actually requested by the club.

The last payment of last season, mine didn't go through because my bank wasn't asked for it.
The club contacted me that the payment had declined. I phoned them to pay it and they told me there would be an admin fee, though they didn't say how much.
I told them that there was no way I was going to pay it as it was their error, which they agreed.

They did contact you before the next game, which I think is correct thing to do. I wonder why he never heard from them and can I ask in which method they contacted you?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Get your grandson to check with his bank that the DD was actually requested by the club.

The last payment of last season, mine didn't go through because my bank wasn't asked for it.
The club contacted me that the payment had declined. I phoned them to pay it and they told me there would be an admin fee, though they didn't say how much.
I told them that there was no way I was going to pay it as it was their error, which they agreed.

I agree. I also think that if his DD had been refused, the bank would have contacted him re: bank charges.

 

[chaileyjem]

I didn't think you could buy tickets on the day

You've been able to buy tickets on the day/gate at the Amex now for a fair while now.

 

[Everest]

They did contact you before the next game, which I think is correct thing to do. I wonder why he never heard from them and can I ask in which method they contacted you?

It was by email

 

[Bold Seagull]

Come on - you must know that your Grandson is at fault here. He signed a contracted, then broke it.

Could the club do something about it? Sure, and if he approaches them with a "mea culpa, it won't happen again" approach, I'm sure they'll bend significantly. If however he takes the attitude that he's done nothing wrong and it's all the club's fault, I suspect they'll be less sympathetic.

[MENTION=827]fosters headband[/MENTION] hasn't for a second suggested it's not their own fault. I'm sympathetic that it seems they received no prior communication - hence actually turning up to the game, and then there could be no reasonable compromise on the day. That admin fee is outstanding whether they let him in to see the game having paid just the missing payment or not.

The outcome is a very upset fan and the club having received no money. So what would have been wrong with accepting the outstanding DD payment, making it clear the £50 would be due prior to the next game, or an agreed date, and still letting him in for the game? The same rules still apply, the club would actually have more in the bank from this than they currently do.

Unbending, uncompromising behaviour which to me seems totally unreasonable. I can be pretty lapse with my banking, but I've often had charges waived when I've explained a situation. If this guy has maintained his ST by DD for some time, then there should be an element of trust if this was a first offence.

Very poor from the club IMHO.

 

[Everest]

Come on - you must know that your Grandson is at fault here. He signed a contracted, then broke it.

Not necessarily. Mistakes do happen with banks etc.

 

[Goldstone1976]

[MENTION=827]fosters headband[/MENTION] hasn't for a second suggested it's not their own fault. He hasn't. However, his response to my first post ("Where's it say that they can collect fees and where's it say what happens to the "credit" left of the account") suggested to me that he was looking for a contractual solution to the problem. IMO, there simply isn't one.

I'm sympathetic that it seems they received no prior communication - hence actually turning up to the game, and then there could be no reasonable compromise on the day. That admin fee is outstanding whether they let him in to see the game having paid just the missing payment or not.

The outcome is a very upset fan and the club having received no money. So what would have been wrong with accepting the outstanding DD payment, making it clear the £50 would be due prior to the next game, or an agreed date, and still letting him in for the game? Agreed. However, that's not "the club" though really. That's an individual person, probably rather junior who absolutely wouldn't have the authority to bypass the automated computer system refusing him entry. A manager might have had the authority to do so.The same rules still apply, the club would actually have more in the bank from this than they currently do.

Unbending, uncompromising behaviour which to me seems totally unreasonable. I can be pretty lapse with my banking, but I've often had charges waived when I've explained a situation. If this guy has maintained his ST by DD for some time, then there should be an element of trust if this was a first offence. Agreed

Very poor from the club IMHO. Poor-ish, but understandable. Trying to get a find an authorised manager to overwrite the system rules on a matchday is always going to be tricky. Even if you do find one, they're going to be very busy and likely to be stressed to hell.

...

 

[Goldstone1976]

Not necessarily. Mistakes do happen with banks etc.

Very true. My statement was informed by the first sentence of the OP: "My Grandson who like many 18/19 year olds, is struggling to pay his adult priced season ticket on Direct Debit....". Doesn't preclude bank or club error, but if it's known that the ST holder is "struggling" financially, then on the balance of probabilities....

 

[LamieRobertson]

You've been able to buy tickets on the day/gate at the Amex now for a fair while now.

made easier with that lovely new ticket office

 

[Justice]

He didnt miss much.

 

[dingodan]

If a DD fails the bank will have contacted him, whether the club did or not.

I expect the club would send a letter, and if he didn't get the letter that the bank definitely will have sent for a failed DD, maybe he isn't getting his post?

Or maybe he did get a letter, pitched up anyway just hoping for the best, and is now pleading ignorance.

It happens.

But I think £50 is too much, a first offense and you should be allowed to pay your arrears at the club shop without charge. For a first offense.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

He could have bought any ticket for £30/36 he didn't have to buy his own...
It's probably his fault re his account balance, DD's run over a period of days and do so starting variably according to working days. A snapshot glance on the day YOU think is the correct one is not always accurate
£50 is too high nevertheless, but checking bank statements is a worthwhile task

I didn't think you could buy tickets on the day am I wrong and can I ask have you had a bank statement between the 1st and 20th September? I know I haven't

I check my Lloyds, TSB and Barclays accounts via phone apps every couple of days (they are 'busier' than most)

 

[clippedgull]

Fosters HeadBand:

I always meet him inside the ground so I was unaware of what had happened, otherwise I could have helped him at the club shop, where they demanded £86 for him to go into the ground to see the game, that was his missed payment of £36 + £50 administration fee. He obviously did not have that kind of cash on him or bank cards, so he missed the game and went back home.

In the assumed absence of mobile phone access, could he not have got a message to you via a steward/club shop with radio?

 

[fosters headband]

Point 1 of your response:

"If the Club attempts to use these details and a card or payment is declined: (i) the Direct Debit Ticket Holder's Smartcard shall be deactivated and the Stadium Access System will not permit the Direct Debit Ticket Holder entry to any Matches until the Club receives the relevant instalment payment(s) in full, or to purchase tickets on a match-by-match basis; and (ii) the Ticket Holder will be liable to pay a £10 administration charge, plus any resulting bank or other reasonable administrative charge or expense incurred or imposed by the Club."

Clause 3 of the DD T&Cs.

Point 2 of your response:

It was contained in one of the quotes in my first reply:

"In the event of such cancellation no refund will be paid in respect of any unexpired portion of the Season Ticket."

The club are contractually entitled to do what they've done, providing the £50 they are asking for contains at least £40 of "...bank or other reasonable administrative charge or expense incurred or imposed by the Club". Given that the phrase includes the word "imposed", you'd have to prove that the imposition (without necessarily being incurred) was unreasonable. I doubt you'd be able to do that.

Come on - you must know that your Grandson is at fault here. He signed a contracted, then broke it.

Could the club do something about it? Sure, and if he approaches them with a "mea culpa, it won't happen again" approach, I'm sure they'll bend significantly. If however he takes the attitude that he's done nothing wrong and it's all the club's fault, I suspect they'll be less sympathetic.

Unlike yourself I don't know he is in the wrong and if you read my last paragraph in my opening post, I did state with teenagers, which he is, there has to be doubt he had the funds.

I was in this post asking if others had suffered similar but received some kind of notification, as it appears Everest did and was informed in advance. In his case it was the clubs fault and they reimbursed him. And before you jump to the clubs defence at each opportunity they do have previous for this, at the start of this season and the very first DD they tried to take out early and that cost them a lot of money. A friend of mine and many other fans who was amongst this group had incurred bank charges due to the Albion trying to take the monthly payment when insufficient funds were available and the first he knew was a letter from the Bank informing him of these charges. The club ended up paying his bank charges. So why has my grandson not had a letter from the bank informing him for not having the funds to pay this DD back on the 1ST September?

 

[Goldstone1976]

Unlike yourself I don't know he is in the wrong and if you read my last paragraph in my opening post, I did state with teenagers, which he is, there has to be doubt he had the funds.

I was in this post asking if others had suffered similar but received some kind of notification, as it appears Everest did and was informed in advance. In his case it was the clubs fault and they reimbursed him. And before you jump to the clubs defence at each opportunity they do have previous for this, at the start of this season and the very first DD they tried to take out early and that cost them a lot of money. A friend of mine and many other fans who was amongst this group had incurred bank charges due to the Albion trying to take the monthly payment when insufficient funds were available and the first he knew was a letter from the Bank informing him of these charges. The club ended up paying his bank charges. So why has my grandson not had a letter from the bank informing him for not having the funds to pay this DD back on the 1ST September?

Again, I made the comment based on your opening phrase "My Grandson who like many 18/19 year olds, is struggling to pay his adult priced season ticket on Direct Debit...". It's not unreasonable to assume that he's the cause of the problem, but I agree that it's not impossible that the club or the bank(s) are the source of the problem. Just much less likely, that's all.

My intent has been to try to point out the contractual situation, since you appeared to be trying to find fault with the club there, is pretty clear. I've also suggested that if he approaches the club with a mea culpa approach, he's very likely to get a sympathetic response. However, you seem to me to be doggedly trying to "prove" that the club is at fault. Good luck with that. I'm out of this thread.

 

[fosters headband]

Fosters HeadBand:


In the assumed absence of mobile phone access, could he not have got a message to you via a steward/club shop with radio?

I did say he should have done so but he did not want to pull me out of the game. Which could have led to another possible problem if I had, as I understand you are not allowed re-entry.

 

[Gazwag]

but I find your last sentence a little strange, as a lot of people have mortgages who struggle to pay them, should they be allowed to have them. People try to manage there money to what they can afford and sometimes they have blips. Does this allow the likes of the Albion to cash in when they do?

My comment was because you yourself said he was struggling to pay for his monthly DD's - that suggests to me this will be an on-going problem and, like may people who have mortgages who struggle to pay them need to prioritise what is essential expenditure and what can be cut back on.

 

[fosters headband]

Again, I made the comment based on your opening phrase "My Grandson who like many 18/19 year olds, is struggling to pay his adult priced season ticket on Direct Debit...". It's not unreasonable to assume that he's the cause of the problem, but I agree that it's not impossible that the club or the bank(s) are the source of the problem. Just much less likely, that's all.

My intent has been to try to point out the contractual situation, since you appeared to be trying to find fault with the club there, is pretty clear. I've also suggested that if he approaches the club with a mea culpa approach, he's very likely to get a sympathetic response. However, you seem to me to be doggedly trying to "prove" that the club is at fault. Good luck with that. I'm out of this thread.

I think you are jumping to the wrong conclusions and I asked others if they received any notification from the club, now what is wrong with that. You have got all tied up in quoting legal process and not me, but if £50 is the administration fee plus the monthly payment why don't they publish this figure?

The bottom line to this is if the club had informed him then I would have come up with the payment and none of this would have happened that's all.

 

[Gazwag]

I have read through both the links supplied and unless I am blind I cannot see any mention of £50 fees and nor can I see any explanation of what happens to the £33 pounds he paid in excess to the £75's worth of Football he has watched so far?

I think that is because that is not considered until the second DD has been missed the card permanently cancelled


3. In the event that the payment of a Smartcard Season Ticket is by way of Direct Debit, the Direct Debit Ticket Holder must keep the Club informed of any changes to the bank account or payment card details provided when the Direct Debit was signed. If the Club attempts to use these details and a card or payment is declined: (i) the Direct Debit Ticket Holder's Smartcard shall be deactivated and the Stadium Access System will not permit the Direct Debit Ticket Holder entry to any Matches until the Club receives the relevant instalment payment(s) in full, or to purchase tickets on a match-by-match basis; and (ii) the Ticket Holder will be liable to pay a £10 administration charge, plus any resulting bank or other reasonable administrative charge or expense incurred or imposed by the Club.

4. If two or more Direct Debit payments have not been received by the Club for any reason, the Club may at its option: (i) suspend the use of the Direct Debit Ticket Holder’s Smartcard Season Ticket and all associated benefits (save for e-cash) for a period of time until all outstanding payments are paid in full; (ii) cancel of the Direct Debit Ticket Holder's Smartcard Season Ticket, following which the Ticket Holder's Smartcard Season Ticket shall be deactivated and the Stadium Access System will automatically deny the Ticket Holder entry to the Matches and recover any instalments due to the Club up to the date of such cancellation; and/or recover arrears or outstanding payments due to the Club from any e-cash alternative to that Ticket Holder. The Direct Debit Ticket Holder has a right of appeal against any such suspension and/or cancellation in accordance with paragraph 5.

 

[luppers]

Nothing to do with the thread but as a matter of interest I am an old git on an OAP ticket and my monthly payments are more than his full priced ticket. Which block is this in please?
Thanks for letting me hijack this thread!