In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Sounds like that one place had a strange setup. Were they actually managing to take money on d/d, or was that the problem - they couldn't?

They only reason they couldn't actually take the money was because they hit a previously cancelled DD with the same originator code and reference. My bank never saw the new DD mandate.

Gosh this is a weird thread! Like others who have posted, any DD I set up, by whatever means, online, paper, within a few days, without exception, appears on my account online and I can monitor exactly what happens to it, cancel it if I want to, etc. I believe they drop off if not used for 13 months, although I'm perfectly happy for my bank to have an archive record of it in case of any query. Not having DDs would be an inconvenience to me as well as the organisations that I pay using them.

In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Sounds like that one place had a strange setup. Were they actually managing to take money on d/d, or was that the problem - they couldn't?

They only reason they couldn't actually take the money was because they hit a previously cancelled DD with the same originator code and reference. My bank never saw the new DD mandate.

Well there's the explanation.

A little true story from about a month ago.

A couple of years ago M & S opened a "Simply Food" near here, which we use quite a lot. They also have the main daily papers.

We have a Times subscription and get our paper from the small newsagent round the corner, using the coupon. They are a bit daffy and no longer keep papers for regular buyers, so sometimes they are sold out. M & S, when asked a few times of different staff, said they didn't take the coupons so we had to go a bit further to Sainsbury's.

But a month ago this happened, and with the Christmas traffic I decided to pay up at M & S. Just on the off-chance I asked if they took the coupons these days, and the answer was "Yes". Great.

I then watched the till-girl tear up the coupon and bin it after crediting the shopping total. (Which you may or may not know is what they do with their own Reward Vouchers, to prevent re-use by anyone).

When I said to her that she shouldn't be doing that as it had to be reclaimed, she repeatedly assured me they didn't bother, just did the same as with the Reward ones.

Last week I used another Times coupon there and it was duly put in the till. I queried the earlier episode with him, (a fairly senior member of staff), and he was quite taken aback. The other girl was wrong.

Apply the story to what you just described. You probably spoke to the person that binned the lost mandate. They must have sent the original one.

one case where there was a DD that went out of my account every 6 months that I had not spotted, it had been going on for nearly 2 years and they did a charge back all the way to the start

You certainly need to check were Plus is concerned in the last round of sending out notices for the DD to be taken they managed to double the amount and actually take it where debit card customers were concerned.

10 days notice, if only.....Plus give three days, much against the industry standard of 10 working days.

Been with them 3.5 years and always paid by DD with no problems.

I check my accounts as a matter of course and not because I'm worried about any specific supplier.