I recently had a case of switching mobile company and the old company continued to take around £1.50 from account every month for texts to friends (I recognised the numbers) even though the contract was ended, the SIM card destroyed and I had documentation to prove it - i.e. the texts never happened. Not a lot of money, but I was annoyed because of the principle. Again, I had to cancel the direct debit with the bank. So I have some sympathy if he hadn't realised it was an annual fee he was signing up to and not a one off payment with a request for a renewal. Hopefully it gets sorted through the bank.