Digi bill UDirect and more
Forum Member
If this isn't the correct forum for this - sorry in advance:
For the past several years I have been noticing a recurring charge on my credit card statement from a company called digi bill. The amounts are usually small circa £10. Several times over the years when I've been feeling diligent I've tried to track them down, to no avail. I even asked the bank to find out who or what the charges related to. Even they could not unearth the source or the reason for the charge.
To cut a very long story short, the credit card in question got lost and subsequently cancelled. Lo and behold I received a nasty letter from none other than digi bill, demanding seven quid or else.
It turns out that this all relates to UDirect (remember them?). Apparently when UDirect went bust, any credit card authorisation they had from me has been "rolled forward" to allow payment to be taken for services from other companies, such as Red Hot TV, this is despite the fact that UDirect no longer exists. I asked for a statement from Digi bill, who it appears are represented by MGt in Kirkaldy. The statement shows multiple buys using my Sky digibox within minutes of each other at various times over the past 4 years or so, none of which I recognise. So, I have some questions and if forum readers could help me out I'd be very grateful:
1. Has anyone else come across anything like this?
2. Does anyone know what I can do to get to the bottom of this?
3. Is it right that my card can be used in this way?
I am not in a position to absolutely dispute that the buys were ever made at all - just that they were not made by me or with my consent. In addition, once I had more info on digi bill, I searched the net for them and have found that lots more people have similar questions to me.
For the past several years I have been noticing a recurring charge on my credit card statement from a company called digi bill. The amounts are usually small circa £10. Several times over the years when I've been feeling diligent I've tried to track them down, to no avail. I even asked the bank to find out who or what the charges related to. Even they could not unearth the source or the reason for the charge.
To cut a very long story short, the credit card in question got lost and subsequently cancelled. Lo and behold I received a nasty letter from none other than digi bill, demanding seven quid or else.
It turns out that this all relates to UDirect (remember them?). Apparently when UDirect went bust, any credit card authorisation they had from me has been "rolled forward" to allow payment to be taken for services from other companies, such as Red Hot TV, this is despite the fact that UDirect no longer exists. I asked for a statement from Digi bill, who it appears are represented by MGt in Kirkaldy. The statement shows multiple buys using my Sky digibox within minutes of each other at various times over the past 4 years or so, none of which I recognise. So, I have some questions and if forum readers could help me out I'd be very grateful:
1. Has anyone else come across anything like this?
2. Does anyone know what I can do to get to the bottom of this?
3. Is it right that my card can be used in this way?
I am not in a position to absolutely dispute that the buys were ever made at all - just that they were not made by me or with my consent. In addition, once I had more info on digi bill, I searched the net for them and have found that lots more people have similar questions to me.
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Comments
If you had previously registered with the u>direct service (run by DBC) then this also registered you for Red Hot too.
Now none of that helps your predicament. Somebody probably has been buying Red Hot films from your digibox, whether you knew about it or not. To prevent this from happening again call RHF Productions Ltd (the broadcaster that took over from DBC) on 08708 481075.
How you deal with any disputed transactions is up to you. But, I doubt that the braodcaster has deliberately set out to con you.
I understand that Red Hot now offers 8 channels for £3.99 per night, which is probably the best deal in its genre.
I requested and received a statement, which makes for interesting reading in that on the dates when these transactions took place they tend to appear in clusters of two or three; usually within 1 or 2 minutes of each other. This has led me to conclude that someone has either been messing around deliberately or more likely just channel surfing without thinking of the consequences. The end result has been periodic charges to my card of circa £10.
I am more concerned with the fact that I had no idea what was going on as they don't appear to send out statements or invoices and the billing company leaves virtually no trace at all, not even HSBC could track them down. I agree that a deliberate con is unlikely, but their practices are in my opinion a little on the sharp side, they should be much more open and visible. In addition, I was unaware that Red Hot was a part of Udirect. That makes things a little clearer and would explain the underhand billing methods. I guess this is a cautionary tale. People should pay attention to their credit card statements, and what their teenage kids and their mates are up to.
U Direct service it was only when I got a letter from
RED Hot telling me that they are now renamed RHTV Ltd
that when I queried this with RHTV that when I registered with
U Direct I was also registered for the RHTV service so I know
that im sure many people were registered for the RHTV service
without realising this .
Jason
That would have prevented this mysterious 'someone' from spending your money so freely.