Quote:
Originally Posted by Deskisamess
We will not sign up for auto-withdrawal from any utility. A few years back, we upgraded our DirecTV receiver to HD. The next bill they sent was for $650, as the single upgrade was put through 3 or 4 times. It took 3 months and 20 hours on the phone to get it correctly straightened out. If they had my money, I'm sure it would have taken months to get that money returned to us.
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It depends on the consumer protection laws in your country.
In the UK, the rules for direct debits (automated withdrawal from main account) are very consumer-friendly.
It either has to be for a fixed amount every month, or the company has to inform you of the amount they plan to withdraw a certain number of days before the withdrawal. You can cancel the plan at any time, and if you dispute any payment your bank will credit you with the disputed amount immediately, then investigate the matter.
We do anything that can be done by direct debit that way, and have never had an incorrect withdrawal. Most companies/utilities offer a discount for direct debit.
Conversely in the UK it is a bad idea to sign up for any recurring payments on a credit card, as they are very hard to cancel if the company claims a payment.
Here, single payments: prefer credit card, recurring payments: prefer direct debit.