[Stuart W]

Well, push finaly came to shove, or should I say run!

I had an outstanding bill for ntl to the tune of £120. They suspended my service and requested payment. I got in touch with them and explained finances were tight over christmas, but would get it to them in January. They seemed pretty cool about this. I was a bit peed at not having any ntl services over christmas / new year, but hey, if I havn't got the cash, who am I to complain?

So, January gets here, I get some cash together and ring ntl.
I explained I have my friends debit card (I have no bank account) ready to pay the outstanding £120 over the phone. The guy from ntl said "It's not as easy as that, it is no longer £120 it is now £145 because you have taken another month to pay." I pointed out I have *NO SERVICE* and surely shouldn't have to pay for a full month! He said the best he could do was get it down to £120 but charge me a £35 re-connection fee. I explained that this adds to the same ammount.... he then said I'd have to do it the second way anyway as I am now a *NEW CUSTOMER* and would be getting a new 12mth contract!
I tried pointing out that it must be cheaper for me to be a new customer as I allready have the cable modem, already have had engineers check my line etc.

He decided to stick to his guns.

I decided the time for total honesty had arrived.

I explained that I was moving house at the end of Jan and the settlement of this payment would decide wether I took ntl to my new address or just left it like the ton of hot crud that it is.
I explained in nice simple terms;
If you let me pay the outstanding £120 and no more, you can reconnect me and get a further £30 every month that I use the internet.
There was a pause.
I then explained that if ntl want to charge me to connect me as a new customer, I would not give ntl a single penny and use this £120 to buy an ADSL modem and get on-line at my new address with BT.

"We are not going to waive the fees, nor will we just reconnect your services. You MUST register as a new customer.
If you feel this is unfair, I sugest you go with BT for ADSL"

There you have it.

I sure hope the call was recorded!!

Needless to say, I am now a happy BT Broadband customer.
I got my BT line on the Friday, after the weekend I ordered an ADSL modem and BT Broadband. I was on-line by saturday.
£40 for modem, £30 for connection. I took that from ntl's £120 which left me £50.


NOTE: I do NOT condone the witholding of monies owed to companies. I also do NOT sugest you do anything similar to me.
Ignoring bills in this way can get you CCJ's and a poor credit rating.