Concern Worldwide (UK) error results in donors being charged 100 times what they pledged

Howard Lake | 30 April 2016 | News

• Tagged with:
• direct debit
• finance
• Individual giving
• Northern Ireland

A direct debit processing error by Concern Worldwide in the UK has resulted in some donors being charged 100 times the amount that they had pledged this month, according to The Guardian.
In a statement of apology published on its website the charity explained that as a result of the error:

“we have requested a larger amount than their normal monthly donation. On discovering this error we did our absolute utmost to stop the payments but unfortunately this was not possible”.

It “deeply regretted” the mistake and said that it would be contacting all the donors affected. It will also be investigating how this happened to ensure it does not happen again.
It has already published a prominent message of “reassurance to our supporters” on its website’s front page.
The charity has undertaken to:

• refund the full amount, by Friday 6 May if possible
• refund any charges supporters might have incurred as a direct result of the overcharge

The statement added:

“The correct value will now be collected on week commencing 16 May and any future Direct Debits will be collected on the first day of the month as previously advised.”

To avoid the chance of scammers taking advantage of this, the statement also advised supporters that the charity “will not be asking for any bank details”.
The Guardian’s report refers to nearly 25,000 direct debit transactions being affected.
The charity’s chief executive Rose Caldwell invited donors with any questions or problems to contact her directly via telephone or email. The error affected some donors in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Concern Worldwide has processed regular direct debit gifts for over 10 years

Full responsibility

In a FAQ section added this morning to the statement, the charity explains:

“It was an administrative error. It is not an error made by the bank. We take full responsibility for the mistake.   We cannot apologise enough to those who are affected.”

It goes on to answer a dozen or specific questions affected donors might have. For example, it confirms that in more than 10 years of operating direct debit monthly giving it has not made this mistake before.

Responding to donors

The charity has also this morning been apologising and responding to individual donors on Twitter.

We would like apologise to supporters affected by a direct debit error – more information is now available here: https://t.co/WnBDv27wpw

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) April 30, 2016

 
https://twitter.com/ConcernUK/status/726328266458562561
 

For information regarding direct debits please see this page: https://t.co/WnBDv1PV0W

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) April 29, 2016

@Tessabelle94 we're very sorry about this – more information is available here https://t.co/WnBDv27wpw our helpline is open 0800 032 4001

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) April 30, 2016

@DanielaGabor we're really sorry about this – we are working to return money as soon as we possibly can and will reimburse any costs

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) April 30, 2016

@klararebecca we're really sorry about this – we are working to return money as soon as we possibly can and will reimburse any costs

— Concern Worldwide UK (@ConcernUK) April 30, 2016

As of midday, however, there was no mention of the issue or apology on the charity’s Facebook page or Instagram account.
While some donors were irritated others have expressed their continued support:

Ah well @ConcernUK mistakes will happen. I've been meaning to increase debit amount so this a helpful reminder.
Keep up the excellent work.

— Dónal Lyons (@DonalLyons) April 30, 2016

Similar error by Greenpeace UK

An error with the same result was committed by Greenpeace UK just before Christmas 2006. It affected about 10,000 supporters in the UK who gave by direct debit, each of whom found that 100 times their normal monthly gift had been debited.
Greenpeace similarly refunded all donors affected.
 
 

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.