ntl debt dispute

Supr3mo

Hi, i would appreciate it if someone could help me with my problem.

I had been an ntl cable customer for around two years when i decided to cancel it. When I called their customer services I asked them to cancel everything.
However I found out later that only the tv had been cancelled and not the telephone line. Despite calling their customer services I continued to get monthly line rental bills (even though I was not using it) which accumulated as I refused to pay them. A letter was sent to ntl but they failed to reply. I continued to get standard threatening letters and they eventually cut the line. However they are still pursuing the money and are now threatening to sell it to a debt recovery agency.

What can I do? I told them to cancel it and they hadn't and kept charging me, they did not respond to my letter and there telephone customer services was useless.

Please help me.

Thanks.

tair_bashir

Hi,

Have you contacted OFTEL (..if it's still around)...or an ombudsman for telecomms ?

Providing you can prove you called ntl: and specifically asked for all your services to be cancelled, then it should be plain sailing for you. If not, & they dispute taht you asked for your phone to be dicsonnected, then you could always get them to review your bills for the disputed periods (...i'm assuming you made NO calls during this period on their line). This should give you some leverage !

If you have letters, faxes or e-mails that you sent ntl: to request/confirm your decision to have all your services cancalled with them, these would prove invaluable in your dispute.

Hope this helps you...and best of luck!

:-)

Supr3mo

Hi,

Thanks for the reply tair_bashir. I have not yet contacted OFTEL yet but will now be doing so. I'm not sure how I can prove that when I called that I asked for it to be cancelled (which I did). There have been no calls made during the disputed period. I also have a letter which I sent to them.
But when speaking to their Customer Services, they did nothing and did not cancel it.
It seems like if they were trying to retain me as a customer after cancelling their tv service (telephone should also have been cancelled), but the way they seem to ignore me and sending threatening letters is annoying.
I'd appreciate it if someone could give me advice on what to do next.

Thanks.

districtline

I have had similar problems with NTL. I recently received an invoice for £20 which they said was outstanding for an internet dial up service I had diconnected 5 months ago. When I telephoned them they advised me that they had debited my credit card. Bizarre!!

They are also trying to claim £45 for telephone charges but consistently refuse to provide details of the services offered. they have sent the debt to their debt collectors Buchanan Clark and Wells who have to date not responded to my queries.

One point which may be of interest is that debt collectors of this kind can only successfully take you to court if they can establish that they own the debt. All you need to do is ask to see the document assigning the debt from ntl to the debt collector. The debt collector will generally refuse making the debt unenforceable in court. this of course doesn't do much for your credit rating but you could threaten to sue for defamation if they communicate negative information to a credit rating agency.

t_i_g_e_rr

I have had similar problems, as have far too many others. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=39537

Based on my experience, their customer service is very poor and responds slowly, so don't beat about the bush; get straight to the point. I would send them a letter telling them that you did request all contracts to be cancelled, but they only cancelled the TV. Ask them to produce documentary evidence to support the cancellation of the TV contract, and then ask them to prove that you didn't ask them to cancel the telephone, etc at the same time. Tell them that since you haven't used the phone since the date you said, it seems more likely they have made a mistake and that they should not be accusing you of lying, and that if they want to dispute this you will see them in court. If you have transferred your telephone number from them to another company, the other company will be able to confirm the date that they informed NTL of this, which would support your case. Give them a date that you expect an acknowledgement of the letter by. Should you need legal support, some home insurance's can provide help. Don't take any messing if you know you're right!

mechy

Supr3mo wrote:

Hi, i would appreciate it if someone could help me with my problem.

I had been an ntl cable customer for around two years when i decided to cancel it. When I called their customer services I asked them to cancel everything.
However I found out later that only the tv had been cancelled and not the telephone line. Despite calling their customer services I continued to get monthly line rental bills (even though I was not using it) which accumulated as I refused to pay them. A letter was sent to ntl but they failed to reply. I continued to get standard threatening letters and they eventually cut the line. However they are still pursuing the money and are now threatening to sell it to a debt recovery agency.

What can I do? I told them to cancel it and they hadn't and kept charging me, they did not respond to my letter and there telephone customer services was useless.

Please help me.

Thanks.

I had exactly the same problem last year when I cancelled my TV package. No amount of phone calls, letters(to the director of customer services) could sort it out. The individuals on the phone all seemed to be helpfull at the time, but they didnt do anything. Then I just happened to look on the back of one of the bills, they have a section for the complaints procedure. If all else fails contact (in my case) Offcom. 2 phone calls a week apart to these people, and all was sorted. NTL must have the worst customer services in the world. I know what you are goin thru. I had the same.
Good luck. Let me know how you get on
PS they where on watchdog the other week, for exactly the same reason

chico

Supr3mo wrote:

I had been an ntl cable customer for around two years when i decided to cancel it. When I called their customer services I asked them to cancel everything.

What can I do? I told them to cancel it and they hadn't and kept charging me, they did not respond to my letter and there telephone customer services was useless.

I've had similar problems with NTL, and also find that their customer services is the worst of any company I've come across. It's impossible to get an answer out of them, whichever way you contact them, on their website, by letter, or on the telephone.

I find that their normal customer services telephone system takes anything between 20 mins and over an hour to get through, and then those staff have no power to do things such as cancellations, despite what their sales literature says.

The customer is then told to ring customer retentions, or customer disconnections, on another number. These people have more power to offer incentives and to do the actual disconnections, but they are available on restricted hours, 9-5 Mon-Fri, and their telephone system is even more difficult and takes even longer to get through. Their telephone system sometimes cut off calls that have been waiting for an hour, and we've no way of charging them for our time. I find that these people will never confirm agreements in writing, and so have had to reargue points with customer services because of the lack of confirmation.

I've also tried the NTL complaints department, which again have restricted hours, and whose telephone service are as difficult to get through. Again, they never put any commitments in writing.

One answer is to send a registered letter to their customer disconnections manager, whose address I believe is in Coventry. The address is given periodically between the muzak on their customer disconnections telephone system.

Good luck.

benz

I've also had problems leaving NTL and have posted my experiences on this website.

I highly recommend that you send all letters "Recorded Delivery" and when you telephone ask for the name of the person you are speaking to and make a note of the time. In my case they denied all knowledge of my letters until I said I had proof of delivery.

I sent them a cheque in full and final settlement in January and have heard nothing since. The cheque has not been banked and they still have not stopped internet broadband access, which was handy when my current provider had problems.

Supr3mo

Hmm just wrote a reply to this topic and it didnt get sent, I'll start again:

Thank you all for your comments so far.

I haven't written my letter yet, but I will be doing so tonight. In the meantime I continue to get threatening letters.

districtline: so far it hasnt yet been transferred to debt collectors.

t_i_g_e_rr: Unfortunately I won't be able to use that as I cancelled the line not transferred it.

mechy: I will be sending CC's of the letter to Ofcom and BBC Watchdog.

chico: I'll have a look for customer disconnections manager contact details on the web.

benz: Unfortunately I never wrote down who I spoke to or the times of the calls. However I did send my first letter under certificate of posting. This one will now be sent recorded.

girleight@

wackiest thing ntl did was that we moved out of a house, new residents set up ntl and ntl charge us! (well my friend got charged as he was the account holder- student house)
You'd think that would be illegal rather than just dubious. He is currently trying to sort it.

hansi

Try posting your problem on http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=9696

They are very helpful and a lot of them work for ntl. Maybe someone there could help you.