my mother died last Oct. NTL are still writing to her despite being repeatedly told!!

[mitchpl]

My mother passed away last Oct. The morons at NTL have started billing her at my address even though she is deceased! They have been repeatedly advised. Now I have written to their Director Customer Services at board level wanting her head on a ****in stick. Please read & enjoy. Its a pity I dont have many internal NTL emai laddresses as Id like every one of their staff to read a copy of the letter in order to realise the pain anguish & distress they have caused.

Thankfully I a not a customer of NTL & will never become one. Here is an extract from my letter:

"
Dear Ms Desay,


I write with reference to the above account number in respect of my late mother Ms S G Wilson who passed away 27/10/05. Copy of the latest bill enclosed for your information.


I have been passed your contact details in that you are responsible for customer services. If the event you are not, please feel free to read, & pass onto the Director at board level who is, & accept my apologies in advance.


I write to lodge my complaint regarding the following points in respect of my late motherââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s broadband internet connection service & any other services you were providing up to & beyond the date of her death.


Firstly, when initially contacting NTL I requested all correspondence be submitted to "The Executors of the Estate" c/o my late motherââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s address which you have. This has not been done as quite clearly the copy bill enclosed is addressed to her at my address. This is unacceptable & is against my express wishes, as she is in fact dead & does not reside with me & neither does her remains. Post death, her ashes currently reside at the Funeral Home which officiated, should you need to correspond I can furnish you with their address but would recommend a clairvoyant in addition to affecting any direct correspondence with the deceased account holder.


Secondly, I contacted you initially on or around the date of death to advise verbally on your "Customer Service Free phone Number." It seems that the information was not recorded properly at this time. I explained the circumstances of the death & requested to cease services. It appears this may not have happened as it should have. I again contacted "Customer Services" at the beginning of Jan 06 to explain the same things again. This time I was assured the account would be suspended. I advised of the correspondence address again & reluctantly gave my own. This was not recorded correctly it seems, as bills were still being sent. I now have correspondence addressed & sent to my dead mother at my house (latest copy enclosed). I expressly gave no permission to use my address details in any/all correspondence. Quite a simple request I would have thought, given the sensitive nature of the circumstances.


Thirdly, at the earliest practicable time I informed NTL that as my mother was in receipt of DLA (she was registered disabled) & had no income or assets held in her sole name. There are not even sufficient funds available to pay for the funeral, there was no money available to pay any of the unsecured debts my late mother had accrued. At no time was I requested to present anything in writing by NTL. I am well aware of my obligations under Law & am not obliged to present any details of the estate to you. I therefore draw your attention to the following Acts of Parliament & their contents:

• The Administration of Justice Act 1970.

• The Wills & Probate Act 1857.

• The Consumer Credit Act 1974.

• The Data Protection Act 1998.

& Further more, I suggest you provide the necessary training to your billing/accounts staff with respect to a deceased estate. It should not be left to me to tell you how to run your Customer Services functions, but in this instance I feel it pertinent as it seems I could perform the role far more efficiently & professionally, you should be both ashamed & unemployed.

Fourthly, I find myself contacting your "Customer Services" again on 30/1/06 at approx 14.30hrs to discuss the bill (copy enclosed) upon which I informed the operator of the same set of very sad circumstances & status of the estate of my late mother. This information was greeted with the following response, & I quote:

"We shall keep sending bills until the account is settled"

To which I responded that if such bills keep arriving I should do the following once several have been collected:

• Log all details in an official complaint to OFCOM.

• Contact BBC WATCHDOG, furnishing full details.

• Contact the tabloid press- THE SUN / MIRROR furnishing full details.

• Place copies of this letter on as many blog websites as I assess as suitable including www.nthell.com

• Recommend to all my friends who are indeed your customers, to change their comms service provider as soon as reasonably possible.

Quite clearly from the previous information provided (all be-it verbally) the debt will not be settled as there are no assets/funds or cash to do so.


Either the operator was completely insensitive to the circumstances or was not equipped with the intelligence or training needed to affect a professional, sympathetic, respectful nor balanced view & comment or subsequently action. It seems that there was little comprehension of the circumstances or how to deal with it. This person should not be held responsible as the problem as I perceive it lays higher up your line management. It begs the question as to why you do not it seems, have a specialist dept for dealing with such cases? Again you should be ashamed of yourself. I do not hold any one person except the Director at your Boardââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s level, responsible for this pitiful, inept & professionally embarrassing way in which this matter is being dealt with to date.


It seems your systems of work; procedures, training & quality management of such systems/procedures leave something to be desired. Quite simply improvement is required. Other "blue chip" organisations I have dealt with during this very difficult & sad time all have their own departments set up to deal with such changes in personal circumstances. It surely doesnââ‚ƚ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t need a member of the public to point out these blindingly obvious requirements. Or is it an exercise in "saving money" at the expense of loosing customers?


Fortunately I am not a customer of NTL & now probably never will be in light of the treatment I have received. I hope this correspondence has suitably embarrassed you into action & prompts an appointment with your boss without coffee. Rest assured I have also circulated a copy of this letter to the following people:

• Mr James F Mooney Chairman NTL Board

• Mr Stephen Burch President & CEO

• Mr Peter Wilcock MD Business Improvement.

• Mr Aizad Hussain MD NTL Home

Should you need to appoint a person from the general public with a better angle on customer services I would of course offer my service for a salary of min £45K+, & indeed I would get results. I could, as an alternative act in a consultative role. Rest assured, a change in tack, with the main effort in a back to basics approach, would be in order with you being first out of the door.


Finally, I respectfully request that the account be terminated & all outstanding money balances be written off at your earliest convenience as a matter of urgency & simple respect. I have enclosed a copy of the death certificate for your information/retention for a period of not exceeding 12 months or within the scope of The Data Protection Act. Since I am not a customer & now it seems, my deceased mother is not either, I expect all personal & sensitive information however stored be destroyed by you within allotted timescales.


In addition, the above being the bare minimum corrective action required I feel it necessary to inform you that I shall of course take legal advice as a result of the discomfort, distress & time I have had to devote in telephoning your customer services dept. I shall of course give you the professional courtesy of written debate/offer before issuing any action.


I deem it fit to invoice you for all correspondence regarding the account status. This initial letter attracts a charge of £100.00 . Invoice also enclosed. This charge covers my initial time & effort in dealing with the above account number & to cover all expenses in relation to the transmission of this letter. Further responses which I deem are required to any further invoices shall attract a handling & administration charge of £75 per letter. Payment terms strictly 28 days. All cheques should be made payable to Mr P L Mitchell of which, a receipt will be issued. Please quote my ref as above in all future correspondence as this will allow quick & speedy response.


The invoice is submitted as a result of your own organisationâââ€à …¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s ineptness in administration. I have no problem with pursuing non payment in the small claims courts. Court fees of a mere £65 will be more than worth it to embarrass your organisation & with your name on the summonds, I am sure the press would be interested in light of any proceedings.


I trust this information both meets & exceeds your requirements in the prompt ending to this matter. I hope that such a personal tragedy & loss does not occur to you. & That you would not have to suffer the indignity of dealing with your own organisationâââ€à …¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s inept & professionally lacking performance, of which you are ( as I am informed by your head office switchboard) directly responsible.


I wish you well in your new job search as a result of this letter. I hear B & Q is always looking for older staff members to hand out baskets at the store entrances. I feel although you may be reaching a little high in this role, I am of the understanding that they perhaps provide better customer service training than you instil / run in your present role.


I look forward to your speedy response, provided you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t feel it beneath you and that you actually have some sharpened crayons on your highly polished mahogany effect desk. In addition, once I am in possession of in-house email addresses I hope that enough copies of this letter are circulated so that you are laughed out of the front door. It would be appreciated if you can confirm account closure/write off, & prompt settlement of the enclosed invoice. Once again, I hope you are never faced with the bereavement & all it brings, of a close family member.


I make no apology for my use of English. An unreserved apology is the bare minimum I both expect & deserve.


Yours Sincerely,



Mr P L Mitchell VRSM"

If the above is true then WOW!

Well done NTL CS

You have outdone yourselves again!

My god where do they employ their staff from????

Wish someone would let me know so I know never apply any of my companies vac there!

[Angua]

They have gone down hill since my Mother died. Rang them up to cancel the BB installation due to her demise (was due the next day) and sent off a death certificate and that was the last I heard. No hassle and no stress.

[Hom3r]

Some of the MODs here have contacts within NTL and be able to help

[Stuart]

mitchpl, to the forum.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

[DrK]

All i can say is thats one reason why you never fook with the british army..


thats the best letter ive ever read, maybe NTLs service will improve.. (we can only hope)

P.s. i have a feeling your late mother was good old fashioned british battle axe, im very sorry for her passing..

DrK

[mitchpl]

Many thanks for the kind thoughts, yes copy death cert winged its way to the customer services cretins. i am actually lookng forward to NTL's response now that I am well on the way to getting over the pain of it all & being able to move on.

[Russ]

It's incredible to think a company can make someone so angry as to take the time and trouble to compose such a detailed letter as that - I hope you sort it out.

Just a point of note though - there is no such site as nthell.com.

[mitchpl]

Russ the letter didnt make me angry as such just upset & dejected as to how a major comms company pays (it seems to me) very little personal "attention to detail" to its customers with sensitive circumstances & how impersonal they are. What has happened to humanity of it all i wonder? All my energies were put into the letter & I look forward immensely to the response I get, so watch this space..............................!
Regards,
mitch

[carlingman]

Originally Posted by Russ D

It's incredible to think a company can make someone so angry as to take the time and trouble to compose such a detailed letter as that - I hope you sort it out.

Just a point of note though - there is no such site as nthell.com.

Well as someone who has lost both parents, one at 17 and one in my twentys it not that incredible to think grief will do this.

Just when you think you are getting on with life you are reminded (not that you ever forget) by receiving a letter addressed to the deceased.

I have had this on two occasions both from the same company but unlike NTL it was not something I could change providers from as it was the TV licencing people.

It only highlights as in this case what a shower of **** these companies so called customer services people are like. (Present CF Members who go out of their way excluded).

To mitchpl the original poster, go for it and take it all the way to Watchdog etc as it may highlight these companies for what they are and force them into making changes.

Otherwise somewhere down the line some other poor grief ridden person is going to have to endure the same **** poor level of service.

over.

[Russ]

I have to say that despite ntl's reputation for getting things wrong, thankfully this sort of occurance appears to be very rare - still, no consolation to you for that. As I said in PM, just give me the nod if you get nowhere and you want this dealt with at the highest level.

[handyman]

I am sorry for the loss of your mother, But why should ntl write off the debt? I admit that some companies do in these circumstances write off amounts rather than chase them either through goodwill or not having resources to chase them

I do not think this gives you the right to demand it.

Regarding your invoice to ntl, you have no grounds to claim at all. You have no contract with ntl with which to pursue non payment of. I am telling you this as to prevent getting #laughed out of court# a phrase I am far too tired to add any empathy too.

I hope you enclosed a copy of the deatch cert as without it they have the right not to take any action as per the data protection act you quoted.

Can I also add that a) Calling the customer service bods cretins is unlikely to go down well whatever your circumstances. b)If you had adopted that tone on the phone and had a go then you are again unlikely to recieve what you want.

I would just like to add that I do not work for ntl (I did 2 years ago).


No one will be sacked as a result of your letter, you are not likely to be hired by ntl in any capacity.

[mitchpl]

Handyman,
I suggest you read the letter again, then study the Probate Act & then you will have the answer, also take a lok at the Consumer Credit Act with regard to unsecured loans/finance items. Then you will have your answers my friend.
Regards
Mitch

I'm sorry your mother died, but having got to this part, that is the extent of my sympathy;

This initial letter attracts a charge of £100.00. Invoice also enclosed. This charge covers my initial time & effort in dealing with the above account number & to cover all expenses in relation to the transmission of this letter

Like so many people these days it seems to me that you are simply intent on making money out of someones error. That letter does not even remotely strike me as having been written by someone upset by the events, but rather someone looking to take advantage of the situation, trying to confuse CS reps with lots of legal sounding jargon, threats of local / national press and of course, quoting the names of a few acts of parliament along the way to make it look better.

Sounds like a good thing you no longer work for NTL handyman, that is the attitude that gets NTL a bad name!

However I would agree that up until the point of death NTL or any company will bill to that date, They cannot bill after a person has died. Personally I would let em sue my dead mother like to see them get any money!

Hower most people or companies would infact close the account and write anything off as I guess unless she was in arrears she would only owe one month but then again you pay in advance so you would owe nothing!