View Full Version : Being overcharged for tv pack
This is my first post. Hello everyone.
Two months ago I decided to add the Sky Sports Collection to my existing digital channel line up. I phoned the ntl sales line and was told by the nice adviser that the Sky Sports pack would cost an extra £13.50 per month on top of the £29.00 I was already paying for the digital Family Pack. I happily signed up and sure enough the extra channels appeared on my STB within hours.:)
When my bill arrived the following month I was suprised to see I had been charged £38.50 per month for the Sky Sports pack. :confused: I phoned ntl and asked why I was being charged £38.50 for a tv pack which is advertised at £13.50. After several minutes the adviser admitted they had no idea and agreed to re-credit my account with the £25.00 I was being overcharged.
The same thing happened the next month. My bill arrived with Sky Sports priced at £38.50. Another lengthy phone call to ntl resulted in another £25.00 re-credited to my account.
I have now asked three different advisers to get my bill corrected so I will be charged the correct amount every month, but none seemed to have any idea how to do this.
Now, for the third month running I have received a bill charging me £38.50 for Sky Sports! So I am now stuck in the ridiculous situation where I have to call ntl every month to persuade them to credit £25.00 to my account. The advisers I speak to clearly couldn't care less about sorting the problem, they just want to get me off the phone as quickly as possible.:(
All I ask is to be billed the correct amount each month! I dont understand why the ntl advisers are unwilling/unable to do this. Are there any ntl staff on this forum who would be more willing/able to help?
Regards, timaeus
Tezcatlipoca
10-10-2004, 17:54
:welcome:
We have quite a few ntl associates here, so hopefully someone will be able to help you :)
poolking
10-10-2004, 20:08
Hang on.
I might have come across the same thing, I'll check my bill when it arrives. I have the base pack and I was told it would be £40.50 per month, which makes it £21.50 instead of the £13.50 I've also seen advertised.
poolking
11-10-2004, 17:34
Yes got my bill and I've also been charged £38.50 for the Sky Sports Collection.
Looks like I'm not an isolated case then. I wonder how many other ntl customers are being overcharged for Sky Sports?
scrotnig
11-10-2004, 19:48
The total price for Family Pack plus Sky Sports 1,2 & 3, including phone line rental. is £42.50 if memory serves me right.
In my region this bills as one all in price on the bill, I am guessing that in the region concerned it breaks it down into separate entities, and one of these must be wrong. Hmm.....
Yes, the total cost of my tv package should be £42.50 per month (Family pack £29 + Sky Sports £13.50) . However, ntl are now billing me £38.50 in addition to the £29 for the family pack. So I'm being asked to cough up £67.50!
I'm not entirely sure where the £38.50 comes from because it doesn't relate to any of the packs I'm subscribed to. I thought each tv pack had a corresponding product code on the billing system. I assume the computer should have been programmed with the correct price for each product code, but something seems to have gone astray here.:erm:
Which area are you in timaeus?
poolking
11-10-2004, 22:00
I'm on the base pack and my bill for this month is £60.57
Nikko, I'm in Swindon, Wilts.
poolking
13-10-2004, 16:07
Is there an update? As I don't fancy being on hold for half an hour or more?
poolking
13-10-2004, 17:26
Just rang I'm being given a £17.50 credit on my next bill.
the devil
13-10-2004, 18:41
Hi guys,
Been a while since I've been on here. The incorrect billing is due to an IT error, we have reported this several times but as yet it has not been fixed. Unfortunately we nice people in customer services don't have any way to fix this ourselves so all we can do is credit your accounts when you call in. We don't like this any more than you do but as I've already said we cannot do anything to speed up the resolution, we report all accounts this happens to.
Thanks for the update devil. I suspected it was an IT error but I have to say I'm disappointed at the length of time it is taking them to fix it. Very unprofessional. :td:
If the IT error was causing customers to be under-charged rather than over-charged, would ntl have allowed the problem to drag on for 3 months? I doubt it.
poolking
14-10-2004, 11:34
So does this mean that every month I get my bill I will have to ring up for a credit until the IT error is fixed? Or will a credit be automatically applied until the problem is sorted?
the devil
16-10-2004, 13:00
Unfortunately you will need to call in each month, it is possible to add details to our calendars to remind us to go into accounts each month & credit them, but......as a lot of us are being made redundant later this month ( yippee ) we won't be here to do this & to be honest I wouldn't trust half the staff to do it anyway. I know its a pain but calling in is the best way of making sure its done.
scrotnig
16-10-2004, 13:03
Unfortunately you will need to call in each month, it is possible to add details to our calendars to remind us to go into accounts each month & credit them, but......as a lot of us are being made redundant later this month ( yippee ) we won't be here to do this & to be honest I wouldn't trust half the staff to do it anyway. I know its a pain but calling in is the best way of making sure its done.
Why can't it just be done correctly in the first place?
There must be a way of making it right.
ian@huth
16-10-2004, 13:11
This is a ridiculous situation that should have been resolved some time ago. The only way that I can see to ensure that you are only paying the amount you should each month is to pay by a means other than direct debit. Doing this, however, would result in extra charges for not using direct debit. I wonder what NTLs reaction would be if customers cancelled their direct debits and wrote to NTL informing them of this course of action and the reason for it. Would they have the audacity to impose an extra charge on a customers bill because they wanted to pay the correct rate for their services?
the devil
16-10-2004, 13:21
Obviously working for the company I have to be careful what I say. I personally would agree with a customer cancelling the direct debit & would not add the admin charge to the acc, however accounts are regularly checked ( please don't laugh! )& the charge may be added later. I would always credit these charges if a customer called in if they had been overcharged ( there's no way I'd keep a direct debit if I was being overcharged each month ). However the contract states that we can impose the admin charge so it would be down to the individual customer service rep to credit, however if they refused you could always demand a manager calls you back & they will most likely credit it.
As I say these are my opinions & not the companies.
scrotnig
16-10-2004, 13:25
Obviously working for the company I have to be careful what I say. I personally would agree with a customer cancelling the direct debit & would not add the admin charge to the acc, however accounts are regularly checked ( please don't laugh! )& the charge may be added later. I would always credit these charges if a customer called in if they had been overcharged ( there's no way I'd keep a direct debit if I was being overcharged each month ). However the contract states that we can impose the admin charge so it would be down to the individual customer service rep to credit, however if they refused you could always demand a manager calls you back & they will most likely credit it.
As I say these are my opinions & not the companies.
In my region, the non-DD charge will get added automatically to the account within days of a DD being cancelled.
Having said that, in my region there are no 'IT issues' which are causing customers to get double billed for Sky Sports, nor anything else for that matter.
Any billing errors that DO occur (and all companies have them) can be resolved easily and quickly.
poolking
16-10-2004, 13:25
I'll see what happens in subsequent bills, if it does continue to happen I'll consider cancelling the direct debit and just pay the extra £2 a month or whatever the non-direct debit payment fee is.
scrotnig
16-10-2004, 13:27
I'll see what happens in subsequent bills, if it does continue to happen I'll consider cancelling the direct debit and just pay the extra £2 a month or whatever the non-direct debit payment fee is.
You shouldn't have to do that.
The company should get the billing right, and if they cannot for a short time and you have to cancel the direct debit while it gets fixed, then the company should stand the cost of the £2, not you.
poolking
16-10-2004, 13:30
I know this shouldn't have to happen, one day hopefully the directors of NTL will get a wake up call and snap out of their fantasy dreamland.
ian@huth
16-10-2004, 13:35
You shouldn't have to do that.
The company should get the billing right, and if they cannot for a short time and you have to cancel the direct debit while it gets fixed, then the company should stand the cost of the £2, not you.
I would agree with that to a large extent but think that the company should not only stand the £2 cost but also credit the customer a further £2 for the inconvenience it is causing them. You have to think about why NTL is charging £2 for non-DD payments and apply the same principle in reverse.
scrotnig
16-10-2004, 13:37
I know this shouldn't have to happen, one day hopefully the directors of NTL will get a wake up call and snap out of their fantasy dreamland.
Well, my advice would be, don't accept it, insist it is sorted at no cost to you.
Seriously, this is what I always advise, because if everyone 'puts up' with things like this, the company won't be aware what a major problem it is.
That's the trouble in this country; complaining is seen as a negative thing. It shouldn't be. Businesses need to know where they are going wrong, so they can evaluate the situation and put it right for the future.
The word 'complain' is too negative these days, when in most cases what is really being provided is 'constructive feedback' as to a particular customer's personal experience with the company, with a request that the situation be resolved.
ian@huth
16-10-2004, 13:41
Well, my advice would be, don't accept it, insist it is sorted at no cost to you.
Seriously, this is what I always advise, because if everyone 'puts up' with things like this, the company won't be aware what a major problem it is.
That's the trouble in this country; complaining is seen as a negative thing. It shouldn't be. Businesses need to know where they are going wrong, so they can evaluate the situation and put it right for the future.
The word 'complain' is too negative these days, when in most cases what is really being provided is 'constructive feedback' as to a particular customer's personal experience with the company, with a request that the situation be resolved.
Mark, I think you have just provided one of the many reasons why NTL should have kept nthellworld.com open and why they should have NTL staff monitoring these forums and reacting to what they see.
the devil
16-10-2004, 13:59
I & most of my colleagues ( and ex-colleagues )at Ntl agree. I may not always have access to a pc to log on but I think a forum like this where staff can log on & offer help to customers is a great idea, after all we are not on here just to moan & we certainly don't get paid to do this - its because we believe that customer service should be customer service. I will be leaving the company at the end of october but will visit this site whenever I can, if I can help anyone out then what does it cost me - nothing. I have enjoyed my time at Ntl but have come to the conclusion a while ago that no matter what happens the wrong people are making the decisions, so consequently the wrong decisions are being made. I cannot see this changing in the near future so will be happy when I leave, I take my job seriously but am unable to do my job effectively due to the company failing to provide the tools for me to do this.
poolking
12-11-2004, 17:19
Here we go again, overcharged for the Sports Pack again, when is this IT error going to be fixed? I'm reluctant to keep ringing CS and sounding like a stuck record, when the error isn't of my making.
Can anyone here assist with applying a credit to my account without having to ring CS?
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