ntl didnt cancel my account

[human being]

I moved house a couple of months ago, gave ntl a months notice on the phone and cancelled my direct debit. they collected the set top box a couple of weeks ago.
now theyve billed me for another month and when i rang them up they say i have to pay it then theyll credit it back to me. if not they will charge me £10.

that cant be right can it? what if i dont have enough to "lend" them till they pay it back, it was their mistake?

[opelfruitcase]

Originally Posted by human being

I moved house a couple of months ago, gave ntl a months notice on the phone and cancelled my direct debit. they collected the set top box a couple of weeks ago.
now theyve billed me for another month and when i rang them up they say i have to pay it then theyll credit it back to me. if not they will charge me £10.

that cant be right can it? what if i dont have enough to "lend" them till they pay it back, it was their mistake?

Its not a mistake, its one of the many wonders of how their billing system Harmony works - indeed other billing systems are probably the same. The problem lies in that when a bill is generated, it doesn't take into account anything that has a pending disconnection - therefore you will get billed a month in advance as normal, but the next bill to be produced following a disconnection will show a credit for that item from the day it was disconnected to the date you were billed for it in your previous bill.

'Lending' is the incorrect term, and saying that your account hasn't been cancelled is factually incorrect unless you have definate proof that there is no pending disconnection on the account (which as mentioned will not show on any bills).

[human being]

Ok, Thanks for the clarification.

[swoop101]

If you have moved to a non connectable property they are breaking the law by saying pay now to get it back.
Tell them to **** off and fix the billing system.
You have completed your contract by giving them notice and it is their problem that they have a **** billing system.
Take no bull, tell them to stuff it.

[human being]

I do wonder but to be honest im an easy target for this kind of thing because i cant be bothered with the bad karma.

I cant remember exact dates but its something like this:
april 20th ring ntl and give them one months notice.
may 18th recieve another bill for next month.
ring ntl, they have no record of us giving notice (although they have collected the STB!) they say if we have moved out (yes, in march, so we havent used any services for a while) they actually owe us £4, but we have to pay them the £36 bill and they will credit us back £40.

What if i didnt have £36? some people who have just moved house really are in that situation.
I understand the computer system thing from the original reply though, ive worked in places like that. unfortunately as a customer service monkey you can only do what the computer wants.

[Mr Angry]

Write to the Company Secretary detailing exactly what has happened and ask him to explain the rationale behind you having to pay them in order that they refund you. CC your letter to the OFT.

[opelfruitcase]

Originally Posted by human being

I cant remember exact dates but its something like this:
april 20th ring ntl and give them one months notice.
may 18th recieve another bill for next month.
ring ntl, they have no record of us giving notice

And thats where you ring them and request a new 30 day notice, request that in writing and expect them to credit back all rental charges from 20th May onwards.

Originally Posted by human being

I understand the computer system thing from the original reply though, ive worked in places like that. unfortunately as a customer service monkey you can only do what the computer wants.

I do object to being referred to as a 'customer service monkey' - I have common sense for a start which customer service monkies generally dont, I could go on but won't.... And for all the millions they've spend on a crass MS .net-based billing system thats only about 3 years old, its being shelved later this year/early next year in favour of Telewest's billing system.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by opelfruitcase

And thats where you ring them and request a new 30 day notice, request that in writing and expect them to credit back all rental charges from 20th May onwards.

Opelfruitcase - this is not, in any way, intended as a dig at you or any other staffers who post on these forae in an attempt to help customers who are experiencing difficulties. This is intended as a "wake up call" to customers who are sick, sore and tired of being shunted from pillar to post being told one thing and then another by your less than competent colleagues (who, afterall, are undermining your professionalism).

I don't see why the original poster should have to phone NTL. NTL have already acknowledged the disconnection by picking up the STB and he / she hasn't been at the address for "a couple of months".

Asking someone to "expect them (NTL)" to do anything that amounts to an admission of incompetence is a bit much - given the situation.

What the original poster can expect - unless they take this to the highest level in order to ensure that the matter is correctly and finally addressed - is to have a spurious debt passed to Moorcroft who will endeavour to make good on it, blackening their credit rating in the process.

NTL accounts seem to be run with the same ethical standards and professionalism of a back street bookies. Even when they screw up they expect you to pay for the privilege of phoning them!!

These forae are littered with posts where customers have been told something in relation to their account by a member of staff at NTL only to find a short time later that whatever they were told was patently untrue, inaccurate or not "logged" on the system. Unfortunately this seems to be a common / accepted practice by some at NTL.

All too often when you speak with customer services if you ask for a name they'll tell you any old name just to get you off the phone / keep you happy (I once spoke to a guy in broadband support in India who told me he was called "Max Pace" - but that's a different story).

Ultimately, beyond confirming the identity of who you are dealing with during your call by email, there is no provision whereby you can guarantee the identity of the individual with whom you are speaking. Even when you ask for an email address they will often try to baffle / stave you off with some bizarre interpretation (see: bluff) of the 1998 Data Protection Act.

If the member of staff you are dealing with isn't prepared to confirm their identity - don't worry, there is a man with a plan to help you avoid the old "I'm sorry, we don't have a Pongo Snodgrass III working here", or the ever famous "sorry we didn't receive your letter" (even though you sent it by Recorded Delivery and have a receipt) rebuff.

You see, contrary to the impression they give, NTL actually are a trading company. As such, and under the 1986 Companies Order they are required, by law, to keep a list of their directors and Company Secretary and their home addresses available for public inspection. Contrary to popular belief the most powerful figure in a Limited Company or PLC is the Company Secretary.

I would advise anyone having problems with their account / billing to write directly to the Company Secretary by Recorded Delivery to his home address asking him personally to look into the matter and to ensure that any issues are resolved in a mutually agreeable and timely fashion. If Moorcroft are already "on your case" state in your correspondence that you expect him to advise them that he is in receipt of correspondence from you and is looking into your case / situation.

On receipt of a few dozen letters of complaint / concern I don't imagine it would be too long before he sticks the proverbial "boot" in someones posterior in order to up the ante customer services wise. I would also advise people to write to him regarding confirmation of intent to cancel services, that way he can more effectively monitor (in real time) at least one element of his customer base.

His details can be entirely legally, with the blessing and consent of the Government (cheers Tony), acquired from here for not much more than it would cost you to call CS countless numbers of times to speak to different individuals on matters ranging from why your microwave gives better downstream than your modem to why there is no "kill me with poison gas and end this NTL misery" button on your remote.

Cheers and good luck to all.

[opelfruitcase]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Opelfruitcase - this is not, in any way, intended as a dig at you or any other staffers who post on these forae in an attempt to help customers who are experiencing difficulties. This is intended as a "wake up call" to customers who are sick, sore and tired of being shunted from pillar to post being told one thing and then another by your less than competent colleagues (who, afterall, are undermining your professionalism).

Yes, I understand completely where you are coming from, but I read that as me (personally) being labeled the same as many of the dimwits within the company. Yes I realise it probably wasn't meant personally but that was still the way it was read. And why do NTL have such 'dimwits' working for them? We'll, first and foremost training is abysmil and they also have a p*ss poor billing system that (IIRC) cost some £300 million only for it to be that bad it gets shelved 3 years after introduction. Oh, and the contempt with which they treat their staff doesn't help in the slightest either.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by opelfruitcase

Yes, I understand completely where you are coming from, but I read that as me (personally) being labeled the same as many of the dimwits within the company. Yes I realise it probably wasn't meant personally but that was still the way it was read. And why do NTL have such 'dimwits' working for them? We'll, first and foremost training is abysmil and they also have a p*ss poor billing system that (IIRC) cost some £300 million only for it to be that bad it gets shelved 3 years after introduction. Oh, and the contempt with which they treat their staff doesn't help in the slightest either.

Definately not intended to be taken personally, I assure you. As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure that once a few dozen letters arrive on his doorstep you'll see a measurable change in how CS staff are trained and, hopefully, valued for their part in keeping the company sustainable.

[Fingy]

Or outsourced faster?

[Mr Angry]

Who in their right mind would outsource you?

[Fingy]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Who in their right mind would outsource you?

right mind?

[Mr Angry]

Sorry! Forgot where I was there.

[opelfruitcase]

The distinct impression I get is that NTL won't be able to blame themselves any more for poor staff training and poor customer service, they'll be able to shift all that blame from July onwards to IBM/Manpower/Adecco, their outsourcing partners.

In any case, the way in which I was made to feel my a senior manager and several team leaders recently over being hospitalised and having had to take several weeks off work when I've always had 100% attendance previously both in NTL and other employers means I probably won't see most of the outsourcing, as my plan is now to rid myself on the company by then. There's only one thing that keeps me going in my job and it sure as hell isn't the company I work for. Thats one less person who will call back when they say, one less person who actually knows what the hell they're talking about.