Getting out of ntl contract..

lordy · 07-03-2006, 18:50

Well if things continue like this, and NTL fail to provide consistent browsing at close to speeds they advertise, I would like to somehow release myself from thier contract - because I cant take another 10 months of this .

NTL T&C , as expected, dont indicate that NTL have to provide much on their side. Are there any measurable requirements that NTL has to live up to? (eg Service Uptime / Performance etc). If not set by NTL, any recognised standards for ISPs etc. or an ISP ombardsman of some kind?

Although this current pants service is hopefully a temporary glitch.

If this carries on beyond this week, Could we all protest by a co-ordinated drop to the 1Mb. service

Because at the moment it doesnt make any difference!

I was around my mates house on his Telewest 4Mb line, and it was like chalk and cheese.

Also Do NTL have online help desk/fault logging?

Lordy

---------- Post added at 18:36 ---------- Previous post was at 18:31 ----------

BTW I accept that service would have to be degraded for a significant percentage of time before one could justify getting out of the ntl contract.

I found this
http://www.home.ntl.com/page/additionalinformation
http://www.home.ntl.com/page/userpolicy
and
http://www.home.ntl.com/content/ebiz...anuary2006.pdf

Lordy

---------- Post added at 18:50 ---------- Previous post was at 18:36 ----------

After reading PDF the things that stood out to me were..

1. Any price change or significant T&C change would allow escape..

2. Part C/3 "Faults".. ntl says "We will try to correct as soon as reasonably able to". Classic Business to Customer Agreement

. Shame I cant pay NTL as much as I can reasonable afford to each month

It looks like if anyone is having ongoing problems a detailed diary would be in order. + perhaps metrics from a SpeedTest that should be confined to Ntls own network.

Lordy

DaggaDagga · 07-03-2006, 19:29

If you feel that bad about it, I'd be inclined to write to them (on paper) to state that they are not providing the service you paid for and wish to leave. Explain that you will not pay for any remaining contract as they have not kept their half of the deal.

Of course, if you don't actually want to leave then don't bother. I doubt that everyone on the forum downgrading would make much difference. And most wouldn't bother anyway.

The reality is that ADSL is not utopia - the grass is fairly black and muddy on both sides.

I'm personally gonna downgrade to 2Mb, simply because it's unlimited and I want to start thrashing the upstream!

handyman · 07-03-2006, 19:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordy

snip

Simply call customer service and tell them you are moving house and wish to take your services with you. Give them a postcode that does not on their network and they will offer you virgin adsl or ntl offnet. Decline their offer saying you dont want adsl and they will ask for your move date and terminate your services then.

This will work 100% happy hunting

lordy · 07-03-2006, 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaggaDagga

The reality is that ADSL is not utopia - the grass is fairly black and muddy on both sides.

I was with Eclipse for over two years. Everything was generally fast. No proxy issues. About 1-2 major outages a year, the longest being about 24 hours IIRC.

You Can raise trouble tickets online, and they got actioned. There was a geographical number for tech support (though this may have changed recently).

The Help desk manned by techies not people reading scripts.
You didnt need windows to authenticate the service , and they didnt give you Windows centric instructions to do everything. You could say , I'm running Linux, and they would say - (in general terms) in that case do this and that...

I would love to get back to Eclipse or a similar level of ADSL provider (Zen, Nildram, Pipex etc) not (BT, Wanadoo type service which I suspect will be much like NTL in terms of communication) Part of this type of service is related to the size of the user base and how they scale operations..

Once I can get away from this NTL contract I will be back with a smallish ADSL provider ASAP.

DaggaDagga · 07-03-2006, 20:51

If you have a BT line and you're fed up of NTL then you'd be best to clear off.

I do like the advice handyman about the fake house move.

Personally, NTL would have to get much worse before I used BT again. Having said that, just simple web browsing seems to be having lots of problems tonight. It does normally work OK, but nowhere near 10Mb.

lordy · 07-03-2006, 23:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by handyman

Simply call customer service and tell them you are moving house and wish to take your services with you. Give them a postcode that does not on their network and they will offer you virgin adsl or ntl offnet. Decline their offer saying you dont want adsl and they will ask for your move date and terminate your services then.

This will work 100% happy hunting

Noted! Thanks.

Marge · 07-03-2006, 23:52

I think you may find the process for disconnecting has changed recently and this may not be quite the "getout" you think it will be. Egging people on to lie is not really the thing to do and quite frankly is bad advice

Russ · 07-03-2006, 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marge

Egging people on to lie is not really the thing to do and quite frankly is bad advice

I agree and am quite suprised at how some people can be so flippant with the advice they give on CF.

Toto · 08-03-2006, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaggaDagga

If you have a BT line and you're fed up of NTL then you'd be best to clear off.

I do like the advice handyman about the fake house move.

Personally, NTL would have to get much worse before I used BT again. Having said that, just simple web browsing seems to be having lots of problems tonight. It does normally work OK, but nowhere near 10Mb.

OK, you don't need 10Mb speed to get a decent browsing experience, what exactly is the problem?

handyman · 08-03-2006, 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ D

I agree and am quite suprised at how some people can be so flippant with the advice they give on CF.

And your suggestion for someone wanting out of a contract?

---------- Post added at 09:58 ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marge

I think you may find the process for disconnecting has changed recently and this may not be quite the "getout" you think it will be. Egging people on to lie is not really the thing to do and quite frankly is bad advice

I'm sure it may have changed but it was that way when I left ntl in June last year.

I don't see why someone should pay for bad service, I think ntl when its working knocks the socks off adsl but as you well know there are areas on the ntl network that are not going to get better in the forseable future.

You and Russ may consider it bad advice but it works and is what the OP requested. In future i'll keep such advice to PM.

Also after dealing with technical support from pipex, linksys, d-link and konica minolta its clear that not all large companies have problems staffing service desks with polite knowledgable staff. (yes I know there are polite knowledgeable staff at ntl but its definatly less than 5%)

People should vote with their feet and go for the service rather than price IMHO.

Russ · 08-03-2006, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by handyman

And your suggestion for someone wanting out of a contract?

....would not involve lying. If it was due to poor performance then I'd go through more legitimate channels, such as contacting ntl directly and asking if they'd act at their discretion with terminating the contract.

Or even asking one of the CF team to get one of their contacts involved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by handyman

In future i'll keep such advice to PM.

Good idea

DaggaDagga · 08-03-2006, 11:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

OK, you don't need 10Mb speed to get a decent browsing experience, what exactly is the problem?

I've had NTL broadband for years, and have never understood what people find to moan about. Last night though, many different websites (e.g. ebay, amazon), were loading pages very slowly, and lots of images were missing.

I did check the service status page, and saw they were doing work, although supposedly from midnight onwards. I assume it will have sorted out by tonight.

I am going to downgrade to 2Mb though, for multiple reasons:

1. It's cheaper.
2. It's hardly any slower in reality.
3. It's unlimited.
4. It's a small protest vote (although probably nobody will notice).

I'll start a new thread about this though.

---------- Post added at 11:17 ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ D

...asking if they'd act at their discretion with terminating the contract.

I don't think I'd beg them to please let me go. I'd be more inclined to politely tell them to stuff it if they are really failing to deliver what they promised.

There's a big difference between asking and telling. I doubt they'd be stupid enough to try and sue you for the remaining contract charges though, as they'd be sure to lose.

It all depends on whether you're likely to need to use NTL again. They might tell you to clear off next time you try to subscribe.