Paid bill and direct debit still due

[Chris11521]

So, my Sky bill is due on the 3rd of each month and I have been paying it manually when I get paid each month on the 23rd of the month before hand leaving me with a zero balance

I've been doing this for over a year now with no issues at all. I feel that by paying it when I get paid then I don't have to worry about it.

However, this month I paid my bill on 23rd September as usual and my balance went to zero and showed paid and now I see there's a direct debit due out on the 3rd October for the same amount which would put me credit.

I'm in no position to pay double this month for my sky!

As its been paid can I cancel the direct debit so it's not taken and there's no balance due and set it up again or can sky cancel it their end? 

[SKY1992bf]

@Chris11521  You are contractural obliged to have a continuous payment setup therefore the following process applies 

If you have a continuous payment method setup you should never need to make a manual payment as it won’t stop the automatic payment process if you make the manual payment 4 days before payment due date as the payment request has already been submitted

For direct debits if first attempt fails sky try again 10 calendar days later automatically and if second attempt fails your service will be restricted and that's the point to make a manual payment

you need to let sky take payment as normal because your payment has been applied to next month's bill not the bill that is due to be paid now

You can now either leave the overpayment on your account as credit to use against a future bill or contact Sky and request a refund which will take 3-5 working days to complete

For future reference if you want to make a manual payment to prevent the automatic payment being taken you need to make sure that the total bill amount is showing as credit on your Sky account 4 working days before your payment due date

[Chris11521]

It was showing as credit on my account and marked as paid and as I did it on the 23rd September this is more than the number of working days that is suggested. 

[Daniel0210]

@Chris11521 

Edit- apologies I see the 3rd is in fact Friday.

Its making an unnecessary manual payment that has caused this. If you have a continuous payment method set up (which you should have), you never need to make a manual payment. 

[SKY1992bf]

@Chris11521  I've no idea why it hasn't worked this time but all you can do is allow the payment to be taken and once the credit is showing contact and request a refund 

[Chris11521]

 

[Daniel0210]

@Chris11521 

Your image is unusual. Sky may have requested the payment to be made on the 3rd but I can't see that your bank will have released the funds 2 days early? 

[Chris11521]

As my account is now £39 in credit.

Can I call and ask for this to be refunded then let the direct debit come out as usual?

[SKY1992bf]

@Chris11521 

Something has definitely gone wrong with the direct debit request this month for some reason 

my understanding of how the direct debit process works taking the dates shown on your image is this 

30th September sky update your account as paid on  3rd October 

1st October sky send payment request to bank

2nd October bank processed the request 

3rd October bank debits your account and sends to sky

as you made the manual payment on the 23rd September exactly a.week before the above timeline started I'm struggling to understand why the automatic payment process started as to my knowledge it shouldn't have 

all I can think of is that it's a one off glitch which won't happen again but it's worth keeping an eye out 

in the meantime the advice I've given above about letting sky take the payment and then asking for the credit refund this still stands 

[Daniel0210]

@Chris11521 

By all means contact Sky to discuss. I know I wouldn't be happy with my bank if they were allowing payment to leave my account two days before it was due. 

[SKY1992bf]

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@Chris11521 wrote:

As my account is now £39 in credit.

Can I call and ask for this to be refunded then let the direct debit come out as usual?

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@Chris11521  not until the direct debit has come out of your account on Friday 

[Chris11521]

Thank you all for your help 🙂 

[SKY1992bf]

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@Daniel0210 wrote:

@Chris11521 

By all means contact Sky to discuss. I know I wouldn't be happy with my bank if they were allowing payment to leave my account two days before it was due. 

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@Daniel0210  I don't believe it's been taken as I've noted above it's just how Skys billing system shows everything but @Chris11521 can check their bank account to see if it has left the account already but shouldn't have 

[caesarome]

If you manage to get this sorted wouldn't it be easier if you change your billing date to the 23rd of the month if that is when you are manually paying it ?

[Chris11521]

I can see on my Monzo account that it's a pending direct debit due out on Friday