NTL Making Silent Calls

[BT_customer]

This will hopefully be my one and only post but will NTL please read on.
My 21 year old daughter signed with a door to door NTL rep for a TV only package for her room, but decided after a couple of days reflection that she did not want it and phoned to cancel the order as was her right.
She then received a letter telling her that NTL were going to start taking a monthly payment via the direct debit she had signed up to, and there was a number on the letter to call if she had any queries †“ You bet she did so she phoned 0800 052 2000 and got the rather surprising answer †œSorry this number is not in serviceââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ� in fact she tried a few times but was not misdialling.
She phoned the NTL rep who had helpfully left his mobile number and he said she should not have cancelled and he will come round and sort it out, she said no I want to cancel stop the direct debit or I will.
She was then called by a very rude person from NTL and was told that she could not cancel the order because the equipment installation had been booked, she said how come because you have not had my deposit yet? She was then told that she should pay the deposit immediately because she had signed a contract, she then told NTL to swivel and put the phone down.
It is now 3 days since that conversation and we are getting very frequent †œsilentà¢ÃƒÆ’¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Âà ‚Â� calls from 0800 183 0143 which after a Google search brought me to this forum where I learned that it is in fact an NTL number.

Apparently NTL read this forum so I will say loud and clear: -
Neither I nor my daughter want your service, we cancelled the order within 48 hours, we do NOT want your rep coming round to †œSort things outââ‚Âà ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� We do want you to stop the silent calls ASAP or I will take further action.
End of message.

[MovedGoalPosts]

to Cable Forum

Just to make it clear, we are an independent site, ntl have no control over it. Some ntl staff do post on here, but in their own time. Therefore you cannot rely on ntl seeing and acting on your post. It does feel better to get it off your chest though doesn't it.

I'm not up to speed on all the distance selling regulations, but I do know for many forms of selling there is a cooling off period. It sounds like you've tride to cancel promptly. May I suggest that rather than just trying to phone, and getting the brush off from ntl staff who will do their utmost to stop the cancellation you write, by recorded delivery so they cna't deny getting it, making it very clear you have cancelled, and that unless you sign a further piece of paper (i.e. no phone call), the letter cannot be revoked. Meantime watch your bank account closely. Any sign of a direct debit being set up, cancel it.

[Stu038]

That number is within the number range that ntl "sells" but actually belongs to RHL who I guess are a telemarketing company.

I don't know whether ntl use them but the reason for the "silent" calls is most likely to be the old bugbear of telemarketing auto diallers, ie the system automatically dials all numbers within a range and then hopes that someone in the call centre is free to take the call if you answer.

Like Rob I've no idea how long the cooling off period is but I'm assured that its quite a bit longer than 48 hours.

The messege on the 0800 052 2000 line does give another number to phone, have you tried that one its an 0845 number if memory serves me.

Originally Posted by BT_customer

This will hopefully be my one and only post but will NTL please read on.
My 21 year old daughter signed with a door to door NTL rep for a TV only package for her room, but decided after a couple of days reflection that she did not want it and phoned to cancel the order as was her right.
She then received a letter telling her that NTL were going to start taking a monthly payment via the direct debit she had signed up to, and there was a number on the letter to call if she had any queries †“ You bet she did so she phoned 0800 052 2000 and got the rather surprising answer †œSorry this number is not in serviceââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ� in fact she tried a few times but was not misdialling.
She phoned the NTL rep who had helpfully left his mobile number and he said she should not have cancelled and he will come round and sort it out, she said no I want to cancel stop the direct debit or I will.
She was then called by a very rude person from NTL and was told that she could not cancel the order because the equipment installation had been booked, she said how come because you have not had my deposit yet? She was then told that she should pay the deposit immediately because she had signed a contract, she then told NTL to swivel and put the phone down.
It is now 3 days since that conversation and we are getting very frequent †œsilentà¢ÃƒÆ’¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Âà ‚Â� calls from 0800 183 0143 which after a Google search brought me to this forum where I learned that it is in fact an NTL number.

Apparently NTL read this forum so I will say loud and clear: -
Neither I nor my daughter want your service, we cancelled the order within 48 hours, we do NOT want your rep coming round to †œSort things outââ‚Âà ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� We do want you to stop the silent calls ASAP or I will take further action.
End of message.

I am assuming you are with bt? give them a call and report the number as a nuisance caller.
Just for the record, you have a seven day cooling period AFTER the equipment is fitted, so therefore your cancellation was well in order.
Contact your local cab or trading standards.
Best wishes.

[bywater]

The law says in these circumstances you have 7 days from when you signed the contract to cancel. Infact companies who fail to inform customers in writing of their right to a cooling off period are committing a criminal offence. This both applies to goods and services. Hope this helps.



http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact...page24648.html

[kibblerok]

Where abouts in the country are you BT Customer?

Originally Posted by bywater

The law says in these circumstances you have 7 days from when you signed the contract to cancel. Infact companies who fail to inform customers in writing of their right to a cooling off period are committing a criminal offence. This both applies to goods and services. Hope this helps.



http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact...page24648.html

It looks to me like the salesman saw a potential sale going up the swanny and became a bit " economical " with the truth for personal financial reasons, and not for the interest of the customer.