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Hi,
I'm having some problems with M&S Energy and would be grateful for some advice. The background is as follows:
- I had an account with M&S energy for my gas and electric. The account is in my name but the Direct Debit was in the name of my friend, a fellow tenant at the time.
- My friend subsequently decided to leave the tenancy early (leaving me picking up all of the bills so we didn't park on good terms!) but as all bills were in his name, I agreed to transfer money to his account until the end of the contract so the existing direct debits could be honoured. He has subsequently left the U.K. and moved abroad and I have no way of contacting him.
- I requested a refund from SSE earlier this month to cover the credit balance outstanding on the account which was around £400.00.
· As the account holder, I informed the customer service representative that the bank account used to pay the DD was a historic account used for bills and belonged to a tenant who has left the property and therefore I requested that the refund was sent by cheque to myself.
- The customer representative informed me that this would be actioned and I subsequently received a cheque for the electricity refund.
- However, I did not receive a cheque for the gas refund totalling £255, and when I called M&S to enquire, I was informed that it had been sent to the bank account on file, and therefore they could not send me a cheque as the money has already been sent.
- When I questioned this and asked why this had been done, I was informed that it would have to be returned to the bank account on file, as the DD was not in my name and the DD Guarantee requires M&S to return the money to the account that paid it.
- I explained to your representatives that I no longer was in contact with the owner of the account who had been paying the DD, and had clearly instructed them of Thai and therefore was now out of pocket by £255 but they say there is nothing they can do.
Does anyone think I have a case against them? A few questions:
1. As the account holder, do I have a right to request the money to be returned in the method I prescribe? Surely M&S have a contractual obligation to action my request?
2. The DD was setup with the account owners permission but payments have been coming from his account. Am I within my rights to ask for the payment to be sent by cheque considering the circumstances even without getting confirmation from the friend whose account payments were sent from? They claim
3. M&S claim they can't sent it due to the Direct Debit Guarantee but have already sent one of the payments by cheque to me which invalidates this point. Can I use that against them?
4. M&S have said they might try and claim back the electric cheque from me? Around £137 - do they have any grounds to do this?
5. They claim they have an obligation to the DD holder but surely they also have a contractual obligation to myself? Would the DD guarantee supersede the contractual obligation or vice versa? If I hadn't of paid then I would have ended up in court/bailiffs would have ended up at my house so surely the money has to be returned where I request?
6. What avenues are available to me please? Does anyone have any legislation or case law that I can rely on please?
I would really appreciate any advice that you can offer as I've just bought a house and I was banking on having this money to help with the first few months with all of the costs involved. Any advice would be greatly received.
Thank you very much for your help!
I'm having some problems with M&S Energy and would be grateful for some advice. The background is as follows:
- I had an account with M&S energy for my gas and electric. The account is in my name but the Direct Debit was in the name of my friend, a fellow tenant at the time.
- My friend subsequently decided to leave the tenancy early (leaving me picking up all of the bills so we didn't park on good terms!) but as all bills were in his name, I agreed to transfer money to his account until the end of the contract so the existing direct debits could be honoured. He has subsequently left the U.K. and moved abroad and I have no way of contacting him.
- I requested a refund from SSE earlier this month to cover the credit balance outstanding on the account which was around £400.00.
· As the account holder, I informed the customer service representative that the bank account used to pay the DD was a historic account used for bills and belonged to a tenant who has left the property and therefore I requested that the refund was sent by cheque to myself.
- The customer representative informed me that this would be actioned and I subsequently received a cheque for the electricity refund.
- However, I did not receive a cheque for the gas refund totalling £255, and when I called M&S to enquire, I was informed that it had been sent to the bank account on file, and therefore they could not send me a cheque as the money has already been sent.
- When I questioned this and asked why this had been done, I was informed that it would have to be returned to the bank account on file, as the DD was not in my name and the DD Guarantee requires M&S to return the money to the account that paid it.
- I explained to your representatives that I no longer was in contact with the owner of the account who had been paying the DD, and had clearly instructed them of Thai and therefore was now out of pocket by £255 but they say there is nothing they can do.
Does anyone think I have a case against them? A few questions:
1. As the account holder, do I have a right to request the money to be returned in the method I prescribe? Surely M&S have a contractual obligation to action my request?
2. The DD was setup with the account owners permission but payments have been coming from his account. Am I within my rights to ask for the payment to be sent by cheque considering the circumstances even without getting confirmation from the friend whose account payments were sent from? They claim
3. M&S claim they can't sent it due to the Direct Debit Guarantee but have already sent one of the payments by cheque to me which invalidates this point. Can I use that against them?
4. M&S have said they might try and claim back the electric cheque from me? Around £137 - do they have any grounds to do this?
5. They claim they have an obligation to the DD holder but surely they also have a contractual obligation to myself? Would the DD guarantee supersede the contractual obligation or vice versa? If I hadn't of paid then I would have ended up in court/bailiffs would have ended up at my house so surely the money has to be returned where I request?
6. What avenues are available to me please? Does anyone have any legislation or case law that I can rely on please?
I would really appreciate any advice that you can offer as I've just bought a house and I was banking on having this money to help with the first few months with all of the costs involved. Any advice would be greatly received.
Thank you very much for your help!
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