Wrong advice from new broadband supplier

ALittleLost_3

In June I switched internet service providers from NTL (dial-up) to Homecall (Broadband).

I spoke with my new providers on the phone who confirmed not only the date of the switch but also that the old supplier would be notified and that I would receive no further bills (I made a note of the date, who I spoke with, and salient points covered). Foolishly I took their word for that.

I noticed on my bank statements that NTL have continued to charge me £15 per month and I have today been told by NTL that I should have notified them prior to changing supplier. Homecall Customer Relations first advised me today that NTL knew I'd changed supplier and shouldn't have been charging me, and subsequently (different operative) have said I should have contacted NTL myself. Unfortunately, whilst having a note that they confirmed with me by phone, the commencement date of my service, it seems the call centre operative didn't note his advice to me regarding my old isp.

NTL have taken instructions from me today to cancel my service with them commencing 9 Feb 2006. They tell me that they have also noted my complaint (but how can I know that they have actually done so??)

Have I lost the money taken by DD from NTL since June?

bettyr

ALittleLost wrote:

In June I switched internet service providers from NTL (dial-up) to Homecall (Broadband).

I spoke with my new providers on the phone who confirmed not only the date of the switch but also that the old supplier would be notified and that I would receive no further bills (I made a note of the date, who I spoke with, and salient points covered). Foolishly I took their word for that.

I noticed on my bank statements that NTL have continued to charge me £15 per month and I have today been told by NTL that I should have notified them prior to changing supplier. Homecall Customer Relations first advised me today that NTL knew I'd changed supplier and shouldn't have been charging me, and subsequently (different operative) have said I should have contacted NTL myself. Unfortunately, whilst having a note that they confirmed with me by phone, the commencement date of my service, it seems the call centre operative didn't note his advice to me regarding my old isp.

NTL have taken instructions from me today to cancel my service with them commencing 9 Feb 2006. They tell me that they have also noted my complaint (but how can I know that they have actually done so??)

Have I lost the money taken by DD from NTL since June?

Perhaps you could see what your bank says. :question:

mhendo

If you were of the understanding that payments to NTL should have stopped, then you should have asked your bank to cancel the Direct Debit agreement (this would have prevented NTL taking further payment, which in turn would have prompted them to contact you).

In terms of cancellation notice to NTL, you should have specifically told NTL that you wanted to cancel the service you have with them. By placing an order for ADSL, Homecall would not have alerted NTL to the fact you were leaving them (potentially, you may have wanted both ADSL and dial-up to continue). I expect Homecall have given you false advice because perhaps the person you spoke to assumed you were on NTL's ADSL service (which doesn't exist anyway, as they are cable!), and as such assumed you were going through the migration process - if this were the case, then you would have asked NTL for a MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) for you to supply to Homecall - this is the only process in place which results in an ISP knowning you have left their service.

Unfortunately for you, NTL are well within their rights to receive payment from you until you ask them to cancel the dial-up service, giving 1 month's notice.

GeoThermal

I had a billing problem with NTL. I wrote to them explaining my side and they refunded me and stopped any further payments being taken.

Might be worth a try.

MoneyMonkey

And the lesson:

Whenever you cancel anything, always delete the Direct Debit from your bank account manually. Never rely on a company not to continue withdrawing funds.

MM.

JohalaReewi

Unfortunately, behind the scenes, you don't switch from dial-up to broadband. You just get given a new broadband connection in addition to any dial-up accounts you already have. There is no need to cancel dial-up to get broadband so it is not surprising that Homecall broadband ISP didn't cancel your NTL dial-up for you. You will have to do that yourself.

The only time that a broadband ISP will contact another ISP to cancel a service is when you migrate your broadband connection from one supplier to another. Perhaps Homecall thought this is what you were asking for hence their reply.

A telephone line will support only one broadband connection so when you switch suppiers, they both have to get involved. In contrast, you can have many, many dial-up accounts on a single telephone line.