Contracts WITHOUT Direct Debit ...

[miffed]

Does such a beast still exist ?

Someone asked me today , and I had to be honest and say I didn't know ...

....But I said I knew some people that MIGHT know , so here I am !

Can you still do that ? ....Set up a contract with papered billing and a bill that you have to pay , rather than letting them help themselves (to whatever amount they feel like in Vodafones case ! :P )

And if so , which operators offer this ?

[Hands0n]

Certainly, Three do this but will charge an additional monthly fee of £4 for the pleasure. You are able to pay by Debit or Credit Card, Cheque, Postal Order, Internet or Telephone Banking or Cash using the Bank Giro slip from the bottom of the paper bill. Source: http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/Billing_payments

Vodafone charge £1.50 for a paper bill (its hidden away inside the Manage My Account section).

I think that all of them do this in truth but keep it well and truly hidden as DD benefits them greatly and the customer almost not at all.

I can't swear to this but I do have a notion that by law they must offer alternative to DD and at the simplest a paper bill payable by other means is required. Certainly, all of the call centres have the ability to take payment over the phone with a Debit or Credit card.

[hecatae]

you can have most contracts without direct debit, though you will be charged a non direct debit admin fee for the cost of processing it. Most contracts ask for a direct debit to be setup at point of sale as it's an easy way of credit checking you, the direct debit can be cancelled after

[chaikhosi]

When I was on O2 a couple of years ago, they insisted on a direct debit when you signed up, but i found out later you could cancel it and pay by credit or debit card with no extra charges. If you remembered to phone up on time every month, that is :-)

Not sure if they still allow that, but i do know as of 2008 they were the only major network not to charge a card payment fee.