How to cancel ntl services?
 

After some 8 years with ntl/diamond cable I have finally been pushed over the edge and decided to cancel my ntl tv/phone package. However doing so seems almost impossible. Getting through to customer services is nigh on impossible and when I do get through the mention of the word 'cancel' inevitably results in the phone line going dead. Anyone got any advice, please.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Hi Behemoth

Customer services should pass you to retention (customer cancellation team) if you want to cancel! They should not cut you off!! If you really have no joy getting through then send a letter but make sure it's sent to the office detailed on the back of your bill and make sure it's sent RECORDED, otherwise Ntl may claim to have never recieved it, also remember it's 30 days notice as well from when they receive it before you will be switched off.

Welcome to the forum by the way :welcome: :)

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Thanks for the welcome. I have to agree they should not cut me off; perhaps it's a new customer retention policy! I have spoken to OTELO and they have given me a special address at ntl for complaints and like you they suggest Recorded Delivery, so I am writing there.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Good that should hopefully get you sorted but I'm sure if not you will come back to us! There are a good few Ntl bods out there who should be able to help as a last resort.

Gary

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

I am also a long suffering NTL customer and have been trying to cancel my services for a week now but only get through to people who say they can't help . What is the address to write to as I'm getting desperate now - I leave the country in 2 weeks...

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

What OTELO told me is to write to this address saying you have been directed to do so by OTELO, send your letter Recorded so NTL can't deny receiving it, and keep a copy to send to OTELO if NTL continue to ignore you.

NTL Customer Concern
PO Box 232
Manchester
M22 0WL

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Thanks for that. Hopefully this will be the last time i ever have to deal with them. :)

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

If you really are turning your back on their level of 'service' then tragic as it is to admit it but I envy you for that.


The situations outlined by other posters here are just as tragic though.

I would terminate all direct debits informing my bank & the DD scheme that this buffoons are holding me hostage to pay for a service I no longer wish to pay for.
Then I would mail NTL one last time, & hand a copy to my solicitor. When NTL sent the next invoice I would call & let them know that I did cancel a month ago & that we have ceased to use their services, it is up to them when they cease to provide them, but I have no responsibility for paying for their provision.

Something like that seems perfectly reasonable to me.

My problem is less straigh-forward. Though not by much. Any other company that was serious about their service provision would easily take this one in their stride.

I & my girlfriend who has moved in with me (not true any more the property is in her name), were paying for separate parts of NTL provision. She basically wanted the phone & I was using my mobile together with NTLs TV & broadband.

We attempted to get them to put the bill in her name but with the payments taken from my account.
Should be possible right?
What happened after numerous calls & 2 letters:
The bill is now in my name & I was charged thus according to last month's statement:
17.99 for 1MB broadband
21.50 for basic TV pack & telephone line
6.00 for their inclusive call service whose name escapes me as I type this.

Now this is considerably more than the current £30 for TV, phone-line & BBand offer running (if I am not mistaken to the 31st of August inclusive).

Can anyone please tell me how to get them to move me over to this price structure?
Refund for the months they have dithered not placing us on this structure?

(Optional - can't believe it has to be classified as this though, bloody NTL) Finally put the account in my GF's name for simplicity sake but take the payments from my account?

Please do your worst people! I am at my wits end.

Thank you kindly.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Hi Repose

Sorry to hear about the quagmire you find yourself in. I think you probably need legal advice if you want to accomplish the things you describe. If I was in your position I would just cancel everything and go to a another supplier for your services, writing off the losses you have had to date. Just make sure you read up on independent reviews of the level of service provided by ntl compared to other suppliers. Which? magazine is a good place to start. You can usually find it in your local library or on their web site.

---------- Post added at 11:40 ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 ----------

Rather spookily, a few minutes after my last posting I received a copy of the Which? report on broadband ISPs in pdf format. It is interesting for anyone considering a switch.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

So I finally got through today.

Rang up at 8:57 and asked to be put through. While arguing with the woman who refused to connect me it turned 9:00 and she informed me mid sentence that she could now put him through. How absurd is that....

So got into the queue dead on 9:00, and got through to someone by 10:00 - an hour wait just 1 minute after the line opened!!!!

So after 30mins talking to some guy I think my services have been cancelled. He was a bit vague about that.

But thats not the end.......

The cancellations department cannot arrange for the equipment to be collected (this is NTL after all why would those two departments talk to each other???) so was given another number to call.

It took another 5 calls to different numbers to find out that the equipment I have is so old they don't want it back! (Maybe explains my shockingly bad services)

The whole thing took a further 4 hours to sort out. Wasted a day of my life doing this. But at least after a week of trying it is finally over.

With this house move I have also had to change services with my banks, gas, electric, mobile phone, TV license and all have taken 2 mins no problems, no effort with friendly service.

Contrasted to the NTL hell experience I think I will get Sky & BT in my new house.

Good luck to anyone still with NTL and to anyone thinking about it just don't. :)

---------- Post added at 19:16 ---------- Previous post was at 18:58 ----------

PS got some new addresses out of NTL today too:

NTL
Moves and Transfers,
Hertford House,
36 Hertford Street,
Coventry,
CV1 1LF.

NTL
Complaints Department,
Concorde Business Park,
Threapwood Road
Wythenshawe
Manchester.
M22 0EA

Am sending my full complaints to them both and also their Chief Operating Officer ( you can find him on their press website ). Recorded delivery of course.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Glad to hear you might have made some progress, but at what a cost. Your experience tallies pretty much with mine over the last eight years. In fact, I can say quite honestly that NTL is the only company I've dealt with where I've been told to f*** off by a customer service operator.
I fear your intended letters of complaint will prove to be a waste of time. The only thing you can do is vote with your feet.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

A customer service rep can talk to you anyway they want, why because they don't have to give their name or an employee ref number where they can be traced in the event of any complaint!

Any company that allows their staff to with hold any details in order to prevent any complaint being made is asking for trouble in the way of poor cs which will cost them customers in the long run.

To be honest if I worked for any company that said it's ok you don't have to say anything other than your first name and I had an angry customer get on my nerves I would tell them to F off too! Why because I know I can't be traced!!!

After all how many paul's work for ntl!

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

I like to live in hope that not everyone who works for ntl is evil to the core. One day someone may even suggest to their manager that they should perhaps improve their service. They might find their jobs more pleasant if everyone ringing them had not been waiting for 30 minutes listening to a woman twitter on about how much ntl is a customer focussed company providing some of the best customer care in the world.

Somehow I doubt it. In 8 years of being constantly told that they had sorted out their problems they are still as bad as ever.

The only way to resolve their problems would be an entire change of management. Or maybe a good kicking from Richard Branson when they have dragged his Virgin brand through the muck.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Strangely enough that's exactly what NTL said when I complained.

---------- Post added at 21:10 ---------- Previous post was at 21:07 ----------

I think it's a management policy to provide bad service and most of the staff are as much victims as the customers. I never could understand why Branson allowed his brand to fall in to the hands of NTL. Surely he'll regret it.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

After my ordeal I like to think that there is a special place reserved in hell for the ntl management team.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

That special place is called 'Earth.'

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Yes there is, you can be certain of that. It exists & it's probably refered to as:
N T HELL




Thanks for keeping us posted with the result of your 'trial by ordeal' & giving us the two addresses which are pretty much all you have to show for it.

Ok slightly besides the point, but I happen to subscribe to Which? (twice, because a database error has resulted in two copies of the magazine being sent every month), where did the PDF file you mention come from?

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Same for me to but i have now got to cancel.

I used this number so it did not matter how long i was on the phone and it is through to customer relations.

0800 0529403

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

That number is the retentions number?
Why anyone would want to grill you because you want to leave is beyond me, here we have a company that is now backed by virgin, millions of customers, but when one calls to cancel they are interrogated, they are put through the mill, they are sworn at, to get around the issue of protecting the cs members identity I would suggest numbers instead of names, so a caller would be greeted by something along the lines of " Hello welcome to NTL you are today speaking to customer service representative number 123456 how can I help you? "
That protects the cs member, but also it gives the customer some feedback should there be any issues.
And the cs rep would be required to give this number out with the managers doing the jobs they are meant to do by following up any issues.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

It's the article which was in Computer Which? rather than the full report in Which? magazine. Incidentally did you read the report and notice which was the only ISP they suggested avoiding because it was so bad?

---------- Post added at 11:16 ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 ----------

Can I ask you, when you used that number which menu item did you choose? 1 & 2-Moving house puts me in a queue but 3-Leaving NTL tells me to ring back later every time.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Could the fact you are asked to ring back later to cancel a ploy?
I think so, if it isnt is it because they are inundated with calls to cancel?

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

I just tried it and it works ok for me when I choose option 3, however I was told they are busy and that there is a wait time of upto 20 minutes!

Guess people must be leaving in droves or they got very few staff working there!

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

I called them bang on 9am and got through, waiting for about 3 mins.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

The story so far. Using the 0800 number I rang six times selecting Option 3- Leaving NTL. Each time I was told to ring back later and couldn't even get in a queue. Seventh time I selected Option 2-Moving Home But Not Transferring Services. I got in a queue and was told it was 30 minutes long. However after 15 minutes I spoke to a very harassed man who took all my details and then put me on hold. He came back to me several minutes later and said he couldn't help me because the computers were down and he didn't know when they would be working again. Poor chap sounded close to tears! He said the best time to ring is dead on 9am.

Incidentally, on one of the occasions I rang yesterday I was put through to a Seal? line. It was the usual NTL recorded message chap but the options were all mysterious technical terms (initials I think), so presumably it's an internal help line of some sort.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Lets be honest, the poor guy was probably new & still under the mistaken preconception that the were actually hired to assist the customer.

It really is no laughing matter but it is so preposterous that I can't help but make the observation:

NTL having reached the capacities of the human psyche to run their ultra-demanding business, no other business model has demanded more from human kind in all the history of all the known universes, are now running trials involving seals to do their custormer support.

This is what you uncovered by chance. :Yikes:

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

My biggest gripe was that you could only cancel 9-5 on a week day. As the first ntl cs girl told me its tough luck that you have a job "you are now stuck in our catch 22 situation - got a job to pay for ntl, can't cancel your ntl cos you are at work." Again ntl staff charming the pants off a customer - they must have special vindictiveness training camps.

Anyway that all meant long mobile calls. God knows how much it cost me, even 0800 isn't free on a mobile. Still well worth the investment to get out of there.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

If true, then for a company of their size & stature, this is in short: pathetic.
Truly, inescapably, dire.

Completely laughable.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

What are the contacts who are able to sort things doing about this dire situation? people calling to cancel and basically being given the run around.
Only advice can seem to be to put the cancellation in writing by registered post so someone has to sign for the letter and cancel your dd.
If any hassle from NTL get in immediate touch with trading standards.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Latest instalment. This is turning into a blog :-)
Rang CS dead on 9am and immediately spoke to someone in cancellations. In fact, he seemed surprised I'd got through so early! Unfortunately there was no way he was going to cancel my account and we ended up in a Monty Python Argument Sketch situation, with him saying NTL were brilliant and I didn't need to cancel. I stuck to my guns and at 9.05 he said he would have to transfer me to someone else to arrange a cut off date. Then found myself in the queue for 'Home Movers'.
At 9.15 someone answered. He took my details and we agreed a cut-off date. However he said as their computer system was not working properly he couldn't guarantee it would go through and I should ring back in a few days to check! Had quite an interesting chat with this chap who was obviously 200% peed off with NTL and learned quite a lot about the state of play there. The long and short of it is they can't afford sufficient staff or to replace an antique computer system which is out of action more often than working.

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

Hi all

I work in manchester customer services. Agents now are told to give out there full name if asked for, they even want you to promote it at beginning of call now. Wait times are high for moves, it may be due to apathy in the department due to job security, but it seems measures have been put in place and average time this week has been approx 15 mins, from 40 mins last week. Customer Relations are being hit very hard, partly due to calls being misdirected to them and high volumes, apparently they are currently recruiting.

Quite right about Virgin, the company hasnt rebranded because a) they have a lot of work to do and b) Richard wont allow it.

One thing im willing for there is 1 billing system. It would make things so much easier for us and the customer. There are currently 4, each with its own process and resolutions. Thats starting soon.

From an internal point of view I have seen things are being shaken up and things are changing, but this isnt going to mean anything to people sitting in a queue for 30 mins trying to do a simple task.

Oh and this is my first post so be gentle with me. I will try and advise to the best of my ability!

Re: How to cancel ntl services?
 

That is great. I hope it becomes company wide - or at least an rep id number system. I appreciate reps don't want nuisance calls and may be overworked but its so hard to follow up on issues when you have to repeat a story yet again to the zillionth rep, and nooone really cares about sorting it because they are not accountable...

The CS rep I spoke to last week refused to give me a name or extension number and refused to put me through to a supervisor. This has happened to me a couple of times now.

I asked if she was telling me that she was working completely unsupervised, and she said no she was supervised. I said that she could in that case put me through to a suprviser immeadiately. She said that a supervisor would call me in 24 hours and hung up on me. Needless to say that call never materialised!

I kind of sympathise with the staff too tho, if they are dealing with so many teed off customers a day!