Debt Collection letter from NTL---HELP!

[Emperordalek]

My fiancee is using NTL Freedom (£15 per month option)

Today she came home to a letter from a debt collection agency claiming that she owed NTL £15 for non paymant.

They say this is because she didnt pay her bill in due in March. This came about as her credit/debit card had expired and she hadn't updated her details. They sent an email when they were unable to debit the money and she updated her details accordingly.

£30 was debited on or around 11 April to cover the arrears and the current month.

The debt collection agency say they recieved the debt on 15 May and have only just acted on it. they say that she must now prove to them it is paid.

Surely NTL are way out of line in the first place with regard to this?
Who does she have to contact to sort it out?
If the Debt agency want proof will they except printouts from a home printer as Freedom only sends her ebills.

Help please, shes very upset.

[Shaun]

Get a copy of her bank/credit card statement, this will prove that the payment was made. Then write to Ntl and give them a hard time over this. Yes they are out of line if the situation is as you described :)

[Marge]

Ring Freedom 0870 445 0445 and they will be able to sort this out, they will contact the debt collection people to confirm payment has been received. Unfortunately not the first time I've heard of this happening.

Freedom are open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday

[Florence]

Is the freedom call center in India so this might not be as easy as most think. Would be interesting to hear how this ends when they call the CS.... I would still copy the details that prove they have paid.

[Marge]

Is the freedom call center in India so this might not be as easy as most think. Would be interesting to hear how this ends when they call the CS.... I would still copy the details that prove they have paid.

Yes, it is in India and yes will be interesting to hear what happens, don't really think I should comment any further :erm:

[scrotnig]

My fiancee is using NTL Freedom (£15 per month option)

Today she came home to a letter from a debt collection agency claiming that she owed NTL £15 for non paymant.

They say this is because she didnt pay her bill in due in March. This came about as her credit/debit card had expired and she hadn't updated her details. They sent an email when they were unable to debit the money and she updated her details accordingly.

£30 was debited on or around 11 April to cover the arrears and the current month.

The debt collection agency say they recieved the debt on 15 May and have only just acted on it. they say that she must now prove to them it is paid.

Surely NTL are way out of line in the first place with regard to this?
Who does she have to contact to sort it out?
If the Debt agency want proof will they except printouts from a home printer as Freedom only sends her ebills.

Help please, shes very upset.
If you're still having trouble with this, PM me and I'll try to find what's going on and why.

[AdeRickus]

This again shows NTL's stupidity in their collections dept.

I managed to owe NTL £160 on direct debit,

I also got a snotty letter, and then had to phone then 7 times over a 2 month period to sort it, begging them to TAKE THE MONEY !!!!

Waste of time, waste of effort, waste of space, :mad:

I just wish some other broadband company covered my area :(

How does a company manage allowing such stupid people to collect the money for them

[gavnad]

https://ebill.ntlworld.com/CommonEBill/

send them a copy of your online bill from the link above I'm sure this should suffice

as for the 0780 045 0445 number this is customer services based at head office hook so you should have no problems in speaking with them there..ask for collections and ask them to remove your details from the wescot database

[Emperordalek]

Well my Fiancee rang NTL's CS and they confirmed that her account was clear. They also said that she should have had an email or a letter within 7 days of her not paying the stated month indicating that it should be paid or it would be sent to the Debt collection agency.

To which she replied well if you rely on your email service to send out info like that is there any wonder I didn't recieve it!

She also demanded a letter of apology which CS said they would send(we wait but we're not holdig our breathes!)

She was also told to ignore the Wescot letter.

Thanks to all that supplied answers.

[AdeRickus]

One word,

Muppets ! :D

[zoombini]

Funnily enough, "March" seems to have been a realy bad month for billing problems at NTL, a lot of similar posts quote that month, mine included.

How does that Muppet tune go? :D

[Russ]

She also demanded a letter of apology which CS said they would send(we wait but we're not holdig our breathes!)

Let us know if and when this letter arrives.

[zoombini]

Now thats something that would be a rare thing, a must to post it here lol

[orangebird]

Let us know if and when this letter arrives.

Why? What difference does the letter make? I'm sur the cs rep would've apologised anyway when the issue was dealt with on the phone... :shrug:

[Escapee]

Why? What difference does the letter make? I'm sur the cs rep would've apologised anyway when the issue was dealt with on the phone... :shrug:

I think it does actually make a big difference, I got my problem with debt and Wescot sorted by a very helpful ntl employee on another site fortunately.

I do however wonder if I may somewhere down the line find that Wescot has still entered me on a credit blacklist even though ntl admitted the fault was all theirs.

I guess a letter of apology from ntl is proof in the future that the matter has been resolved and the customer should not of been entered on a blacklist.
A company like ntl with such a level of incompetence should not be allowed to blacklist people without being 100% sure of their facts.

[SMHarman]

Why? What difference does the letter make? I'm sur the cs rep would've apologised anyway when the issue was dealt with on the phone... :shrug:

It would give you something on company headed paper to put in front of Experian or Equifax if this ever made it onto your credit report. With such a letter they would immediatly remove the data from the credit reference.

[Nugget]

It would give you something on company headed paper to put in front of Experian or Equifax if this ever made it onto your credit report. With such a letter they would immediatly remove the data from the credit reference.

In fairness, I don't think that Experian etc would just remove the information, but they could make sure that it showed as a satisfied debt (ie nil owed).

Unfortunately, if a payment did go in late (for whatever reason) NTL are entitled to post a late payment on your credit file. On the flip side, if you have a letter on headed paper showing the circumstances, it's proof if you need it for other credit companies etc.

[SMHarman]

This was satisfied to NTL before the process got to a debt collection agency. Now most companies don't report delinquent payments until they reach two months overdue (i.e. they have not responded to the reminder on the next bill).

Those settlement terms occurred here, so it is reasonable to assume that NTL would not have ever put this on a credit reference. If the company policy is for this not to have made it there, then the Agencies will modify the record to reflect this.

[Nugget]

This was satisfied to NTL before the process got to a debt collection agency. Now most companies don't report delinquent payments until they reach two months overdue (i.e. they have not responded to the reminder on the next bill).

Those settlement terms occurred here, so it is reasonable to assume that NTL would not have ever put this on a credit reference. If the company policy is for this not to have made it there, then the Agencies will modify the record to reflect this.

Fair enough - good knowledge, and I stand corrected :tu:

[Emperordalek]

I'm sure that most people would rather have written proof of an apology than word of mouth.

[zoombini]

I think that maybe Russ asked that question because perhaps it may never happen!

An apology from NTL, well that would be something rare... lol

[Escapee]

This was satisfied to NTL before the process got to a debt collection agency. Now most companies don't report delinquent payments until they reach two months overdue (i.e. they have not responded to the reminder on the next bill).

Those settlement terms occurred here, so it is reasonable to assume that NTL would not have ever put this on a credit reference. If the company policy is for this not to have made it there, then the Agencies will modify the record to reflect this.

I think the emphasis should be on "Reminder" as you have stated.

My debt was 14 months old a missed direct debit, funny how ntl never re-submitted the direct debit or had any problems with the 14 they collected after the missing one.

I just got a letter from Wescot 14 months after the event, ntl apologised and credited my account for the £15 owed and would not accept the missing payment from me. I was more than happy to pay the debt, it would only of needed a quick email to bring it to my attention 14 months earlier!

[Emperordalek]

Letter of apology has arrived(lets out breathe!)

Dated 14 June

Dear Ms *******

May I firstly express my most sincere apologies for any inconvience, as a result of your NTL account being passed onto Wescott Credit Services.

I can assure you that NTL have now withdrawn your information from Wescott Credit Services and that as of the date of this letter, your NTL account balance is paid in full.

I can also confirm that this will not effect your credit rating in any way.

Once again, please accept our apologies for any undue worry this may have caused.

Once again Ms ******* I give you my sincere apologies.

Yours sincerely

Sarah Tovey
Customer Liasion NTL


Thats what I call a result.

[SMHarman]

Let us know if and when this letter arrives.

Waits for Russ D to come along and sample the humble pie. ;)

Russ - I'm as suprised as you are... :)

[Russ]

Waits for Russ D to come along and sample the humble pie. ;)

Russ - I'm as suprised as you are... :)

No! I wasn't doubting they'd send it - but if they hadn't, it would have been another case of someone in NTL promising but not delivering.

However they sent it, and job done :)

[gavnad]

i would warn any freedom customers to always check that their account is paid up and i do not know of any automated email that warns of any unpaid charges other than if a direct debit is returned unpaid...always pays to check your online bill regularly as this will highlight any problems before they escalate into big 'uns

[nidave]

debt collection agencies are a bunch of crooks anyway. They use bully boy tacticks and will not admit when they are wrong. They dont listen to what people have to say and will not listen to rason even when they have made a mistake.

[gavnad]

the problem with wescot is that they do not as far as i know have viewability of the account so can only take ntl's word for the debt outstanding...altho i do agree they are aggresive in their approach, but only make money on monies collected so have to be to a degree

[SMHarman]

It is highly unlikely that Wescot have access to customer accounts, the data protection issues are pretty mindboggling.

NTL will be sending them a file of delinquent accounts, if done properly (yeah right) this will be on a daily basis so all payments recieved through the proper channels will dissapear from their system and they can stop pursuit. It's not in their interests to pursue a paid debt anyway as gavnad has noted, they get commission on collections and there will be 0 to collect.

[poolking]

debt collection agencies are a bunch of crooks anyway. They use bully boy tacticks and will not admit when they are wrong. They dont listen to what people have to say and will not listen to rason even when they have made a mistake.
I don't think all of these agencies are like that, they can only act upon the information that they are given and they will take that information as gospel and will not investigate.

So you have to apportion some of the blame to NTL for passing on information they shouldn't have.

[Emperordalek]

Latest Update:

My Fiancee today recieved a very demanding phone call from Wescott demanding payment over the phone. She refused to pay and told them to get in touch with ntl.

We have written a strongly worded letter to ntl over this matter as they had previously stated in their letter of apology that this matter was now resolved.

Next time we have to ring ntl it will be to cancel.

[poolking]

Latest Update:

My Fiancee today recieved a very demanding phone call from Wescott demanding payment over the phone. She refused to pay and told them to get in touch with ntl.

We have written a strongly worded letter to ntl over this matter as they had previously stated in their letter of apology that this matter was now resolved.

Next time we have to ring ntl it will be to cancel.Another suggestion as well, would be to fax the letter from NTL to Wescott.

Edit: It looks like you are not the only ones with problems:

http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t14177.html

[scrotnig]

i would warn any freedom customers to always check that their account is paid up and i do not know of any automated email that warns of any unpaid charges other than if a direct debit is returned unpaid...always pays to check your online bill regularly as this will highlight any problems before they escalate into big 'uns
Insist on a paper bill. This CAN be done, and that way you ALWAYS know where you stand.

[poolking]

It seems Telewest use the same agency, discovered another site where Wescot were involved in a Telewest customer's complaint.

Do a search on "Wescot Credit Services".

[arcamalpha2004]

Sadly, they are entitled to contact you by phone at a reasonable time.

However, if you feel intimidated, contact the police and report them.
Feeling intimidated can be something as simple as them asking you to pay something you know you cannot afford.

[ianmason@mac.com]

Hi All,
I've just received a debt collection letter - i pay by direct debit and all my payments are up to date - what do I do? - I guess I'll need to try and speak to NTL 1st in the morning - it's very upsetting and extremely poor behaviour on NTLs part

[Tezcatlipoca]

Hi All,
I've just received a debt collection letter - i pay by direct debit and all my payments are up to date - what do I do? - I guess I'll need to try and speak to NTL 1st in the morning - it's very upsetting and extremely poor behaviour on NTLs part


:welcome:

What area do you live in?

Is there any more information you can give? (nothing personal...just the situation)


We have several ntl employees here, so hopefully one of them may be able to help you.

[ianmason@mac.com]

Matt,
thanks - that was a quick reply! The debt is for £5.17 - I have been paying direct debit for the last 18 months or so without any problems (I only receive Cable TV service nothing else). I've had no demands or warnings from NTL so I wasn't even aware I owed somthing extra (if I do?) and don't understand why they didn't just collect it through the normal direct debit payment taken each month (again if i owe anything)- I live in the St Albans area. Can provide more details if it would help resolve this - Unfortunately their is no choice here otherwise when I call tomorrow to try and resolve I'd cancel immediately (may have to look for a satellite dish install if they mess me around!)

Thanks for any help

[Russ]

I wouldn't worry about it too much in the short term, there's no way they would take action over such a small amount.

[Emperordalek]

If its in the hands of Wescot they WILL take action. They will also add a further handling charge.

[Escapee]

Hi All,
I've just received a debt collection letter - i pay by direct debit and all my payments are up to date - what do I do? - I guess I'll need to try and speak to NTL 1st in the morning - it's very upsetting and extremely poor behaviour on NTLs part

You would be best taking up any employees offer of help here, I had to use a couple of friendly employees a few months ago when I had a similar problem. The problem was ntl's entirely, they apologised and wrote off the money that I owed them because it was their error for not collecting it.

If I owed the money I was happy to pay, but they decided to put the small 2 year old debt into the hands of Wescot without first asking me to pay!

As I said, I was lucky to get help from some friendly ntl employees here and at another site, I did however get very annoyed when phoning customer services about the problem they twice put the phone down on me. To make matters worse and annoy me even more some unfriendly online employees said this never happens and basically called me a liar.

I hope you get it sorted, I know how frustrating it can be. :mad:

[ianmason@mac.com]

I found i'm in exactly the same position. apparently this was for an old phone line - when i queried why they either didn't just ask me for the money or add it to the current direct debit for my tv they didn't have an answer and have offered to write it off. This was never the point as I have no issue in paying things I owe money for - it's a bit extreme to hand the debt off to a collection agency.

I'm following up tomorrow with another call as when I called last thursday they still hadn't credited the account and contacted wescott as they promised. very strange company and attitude to its customers - it's a real shame that cable companies can't compete for the same areas as I imagine it would sharpen them up a bit

I look forward to speaking to them again tomorrow :rolleyes:

[Richard M]

To be honest, you are far better off just paying it and querying it later because otherwise they will add loads of charges on and they will take you to court over it.

[scrotnig]

I found i'm in exactly the same position. apparently this was for an old phone line - when i queried why they either didn't just ask me for the money or add it to the current direct debit for my tv they didn't have an answer and have offered to write it off. This was never the point as I have no issue in paying things I owe money for - it's a bit extreme to hand the debt off to a collection agency.

I'm following up tomorrow with another call as when I called last thursday they still hadn't credited the account and contacted wescott as they promised. very strange company and attitude to its customers - it's a real shame that cable companies can't compete for the same areas as I imagine it would sharpen them up a bit

I look forward to speaking to them again tomorrow :rolleyes:
Westcot = pure evil.

I generally refuse to deal with any bailiff, they have far less powers than they make out (though the government want to change this to enable big companies to bully people even more).

However, Westcot are the worst of a bad bunch.

I've even had to deal with them from the 'other' side, working for an employer that had hired them to chase debts, and they were even rude to me and the other staff. Disgraceful.

[Graham F]

Westcot = pure evil.

I generally refuse to deal with any bailiff, they have far less powers than they make out (though the government want to change this to enable big companies to bully people even more).

However, Westcot are the worst of a bad bunch.

I've even had to deal with them from the 'other' side, working for an employer that had hired them to chase debts, and they were even rude to me and the other staff. Disgraceful.


whenever i dealt with them in the past whilst working for ntl, they were always helpful and never rude :)

[ianmason@mac.com]

so far haven't spoken to them (wescot). phoned ntl today to see if they've done what they've promised. they seem to have credited the account and claim they've spoken to wescot so i'll wait and see. the final outcome for me is that i may well look to replace the last remaining service i have with them with an alternative (cable tv) - i.e. either satellite or digital freeview tv. i have yet to decide....

i'm sure they don't actually really care either way but it makes me feel a little better

[Russ]

On the subject of Westcot, I had this sent to me today...

How many people have been hounded by these people? Have suffered abusive staff? Have been persued for debts that they do not owe? Have been messed up by payments that have been made and not accounted for?

Pendragon Media Services are investigating complaints big and small into this company and would like to hear the extent of the problem. Please contact us at pendragonmediaservices@fsmail.net

In the meanwhile if you have problems with this company and are getting nowhere deal with Mark Bristow Bsc PgD MIQA MISTC, Process and Compliance Manager. Call 01482 590590 and make him aware of the problems.

[scrotnig]

whenever i dealt with them in the past whilst working for ntl, they were always helpful and never rude :)
They are evil, pure evil.

All bailiffs are, but Westcot are the worst.

[nelsoniv]

I also have received a letter today from Westcot. Seems I owed £8.52 which was the balance on my account for TV I cancelled in Feb 04.



I never received a bill, a reminder, a call, anything. Westcot couldn't tell me what the debt was about and I was to ring NTL.



NTL explained the debt and seems they were quite happy to continue to take the payment from the Direct Debit of the Broadband and Phone services I continued to keep up to June 04 when I moved out of the house.



When I cancelled those services seems I had accrued a £13.44 credit. I didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t receive notification about this amount either.



NTL still seemed fit to report me to a debt collection agency. So even though they owed me £4.92 I'm the one with the potential bad debt record.



The young lady at NTL explained that they were unable to cross reference all my services as they had so many for everyone and they have a policy of not refunding credit balances as †œtoo many cheques get returned to themââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�. NTL must be sat on a goldmine of peopleââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s money that they don't refund.



Why do NTL treat each service as a separate a/c? Surely it would stop all this nonsense and they could have taken any money due on the other DDs?



Verbally I've been offered an apology from the NTL Credit Control Dept. I'm getting my £4.92 refunded (woo hoo!) but I want something saying that Westcot are removing me as a bad debtor though.



I'd love the top management at NTL to know how they sit on Customer's money but also refer non owing Customers to debt agencies. Not much hope but it would make me feel better.

[Hellybelly]

I'm so glad to have found this forum! I received a letter from Wescot today telling me that I owe ntl £9.63. I was astonished as I haven't used ntl for about a year because their service is so bad. I was informed by (a lovely (!) woman at) Wescot that they had no more details than that. I asked if this would affect my credit rating and was told that it wouldn't if I paid the bill. I've paid it, but frankly, what on earth is going on? I rang ntl, but their Customer Services have gone home for the evening. I shall try again tomorrow and am more than a little peeved to have had no letter from them saying I owed them money and surprised because I always pay my bills. At least, I'm not alone.....

[ianmason@mac.com]

They're obviously screwing up big time - must be loads of others as well not aware of this forum. As I said it's a shame there's no competition as they can get away with this shoddy pirate behaviour

[paulyoung666]

hi and :welcome: to the site nelsoniv & hellybelly , its a shame that nicer circumstances could not have brought you here :( , never mind , stick around it is rather nice around these parts :tu: :D :D :D :D

[andyl]

I would recommend that those who have received bailiffs letters for non-existent or pitiful debts of which they had not previously been informed, contact the Consumer Editor on local and national press (I have a media database here if anyone wants some contacts). It's amazing how quickly a company can react once the press office gets involved. As always I would suggest you email your regional NTL MD (see Knowledgebase) and also the NTL: Home group MD aizad.hussain@ntl.com. The latter, from experience, does not respond but as responsibility ultimately rests with him and the CEO Simon Duffy, I think he should know of the company's failings.

I'd also check your credit reference with Experian - costs two quid from memory.

Cheers

[Hellybelly]

Well...I've spoken to ntl and the Customer Service person told me that they'd received an email this morning telling them all that they will receive loads of calls because letters had been sent out. She said that the email also highlighted that some of them had been sent out in error. The most I could get out of her (I don't think she knew anymore than I did!) was the name of the agent who deals with ntl's debts. They are called Actis - anyone heard of them?