Can I sue the 407 and my bank over this?

Question

So I take the 407 ETR highway sometimes, and I was tired of having to wait for a teller at the bank to pay my bill. So I had my bank add the 407 payment option to my bank card so that I can pay 407 bills at the ATM.

Well for the past few bills, the 407 people would send me a bill, and then send me a statement saying the bill had been paid and thanking me for my payment, even though I didn't pay it!

This means they have either been taking the money from my bank account or credit card even though I never signed anything stating they could take pre-authorized payments from me.

Is this something I could sue my bank and the 407 over?

Answer 1

First off, check to make sure that the money is actually leaving your account.  It could just be an accounting error at the 407 - wouldn't be the first time, but usually it's the other way around, thinking they're still owed money that's been paid, etc.  (When a private corporation has the power to have somebody's license suspended for unpaid invoices, they like sending out invoices.)

If they have actually been taking the money, then check very carefully as to what you did when you added the option to the ATM.  The easiest thing to do would be to ask your banker how it happened.  A teller may not be particularly helpful; you may have to speak to a CSR or a manager to get to the bottom of it.

If you didn't actually authorize automatic withdrawals (and even if you did), then just have the bank correct it.  If the ETR hasn't taken more than you owe them, then you'd have a hard time establishing any loss.  There may or may not be a cause of action, and you'd have to consult a lawyer to know for sure, but it probably wouldn't be worth the expense or effort of a law suit if there's no financial loss.

However, knowing the nature of the ETR, I'd be pretty uncomfortable with any automatic withdrawal arrangement, and I'd be checking over my banking very carefully.