Direct debit guarantee advice

[bungler]

Without going into too much detail I left a company late 2004. I had been paying these by direct debit. When I cancelled I did this through the company, not the bank. All was well until August last year when they decided to reopen my account and bill me even though I was not at that address anymore and did not request this.

I called about this and told them to stop the payment and they said they would but they didn't and the same happened the next month. I went to the bank and stopped them from taking any more money out. They keep telling me they will send the money they took back but have not.

As I am fed up with this I went to the bank to get the money back using the direct debit guarantee. I read up on this before I went and saw this:

The direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. It says that:

If the originator or the bank/building society makes an error, the customer is guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid.

As there had been an error I expected to be given a refund there and then but the bank said as they had not made an error they had to contact the company (the originator) to see what they say. I wasn't happy with this as I don't have any confidence in this company to approve the refund and wanted the money back there and then and if they had a problem with that to come back to me (as they said they would the last time I called them but they didn't).

Can anyone who knows about this confirm if I should have been given an immediate refund or not. If I should have been I will be going back tomorrow and will not be happy.

Thanks

 

[bungler]

I did today. I even quoted what I said in the op, but they wouldn't do it. I guess I'll be going back tomorrow morning. I would normally wait until they got back to the bank with a reply but I could really do with this money (over £100) now.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[bungler]

Lloyds TSB. I let them know I wasn't happy but didn't go too far as I wasn't 100% sure if I was right. I looked online briefly before I went but when they said because it wasn't their fault they couldn't do it I thought I might have made a mistake.

When I left I decided to check here and go back tomorrow