ntl is billing me after i have moved out

bill28 · 13-03-2006, 16:37

Hello everyone. Here is my problem and I am open to suggestions.
When i subscribed with ntl in nov2004 it was a 9 month contract.
I was an ntl subscriber till november 2005 when i moved out.
I paid my bills through direct debit.
After 2 august 2005 ntl had not charged me again for the internet. So I assumed it was the end of my contract (although there was still internet provision).I moved out of the UK in the beginning of November. I did not contact ntl. I thought there was no need to. I came to greece and could not access my bank account until recently when i did web banking. I found out that ntl had tried to charge me for 99.95 pounds in the end of December! But the bank reversed it, I guess because of the unavailable funds in my account balance. But the bank charged me 30 pounds because of that. Then in the end of january ntl tried to charge me for 125.5 pounds which was arso reversed and I was also charged by the bank another 30 pounds.

This is upsurd! My question is why didn't I receive any statement from ntl from august till november and instead they charged me for 4 months at one time. I guess that i am still being charged.

What do you advise me to do?

Graham M · 13-03-2006, 16:43

Did you ask for the contract to be cancelled? You cannot just assume that they'd do it

bill28 · 13-03-2006, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeph

Did you ask for the contract to be cancelled? You cannot just assume that they'd do it

I did not. But still why wasn't there any mail or why didn't they debit my account in September, October, November and instead they suprise me in December with 4 month charges.
I mean what if they decided to charge me in 2010 with 5 years of charges?

Anyway, what should I do now?I don't want to pay for services I haven't used

Graham M · 13-03-2006, 16:55

Well firstly get your account cancelled and stop the Direct Debit asap if you haven't already then phone NTL again and try to get someone that can help with reimbursement if it is at all possible (it might not be - as you will have, wether you used them or not - been supplied with those services for the whole contract term)

bill28 · 13-03-2006, 17:00

Thanks zeph, this seems reasonable

**Mick** · 13-03-2006, 17:08

Hi Bill,

If you want me to assist in anyway by forwarding your issue on to our ntl contacts who will be able top pick this up from Wednesday this week, just send me a PM with some details such as a name and contact number. Thanks.

Aragorn · 13-03-2006, 17:09

Afaik, if you haven't informed NTL (in writing) that you no longer want their service then you have 'been in receipt' of that service and they can bill you for it.

What to do now? -
1. Pay the outstanding bill - it will only get worse when they call in the debt agency! Probably best to ring CS and ask for a bill to be sent to your current address and tell them to stop using the DD.
2. Write to NTL confirming that you no longer want their service (and the termination of the DD). They have a 30 day cancellation period, so you WILL be billed for more

3. Cancel the direct debit via your bank.

Moral - NTL are a service provider. They provide that service until YOU say stop.

Thats my view anyway!

bill28 · 13-03-2006, 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Afaik, if you haven't informed NTL (in writing) that you no longer want their service then you have 'been in receipt' of that service and they can bill you for it.

What to do now? -
1. Pay the outstanding bill - it will only get worse when they call in the debt agency! Probably best to ring CS and ask for a bill to be sent to your current address and tell them to stop using the DD.
2. Write to NTL confirming that you no longer want their service (and the termination of the DD). They have a 30 day cancellation period, so you WILL be billed for more

3. Cancel the direct debit via your bank.

Moral - NTL are a service provider. They provide that service until YOU say stop.

It's a silly question but I guess I can't do step 3 straight ahaid, right?Because the bank won't accept it, right?
Thats my view anyway!

MovedGoalPosts · 13-03-2006, 17:49

You can tell your bank at any time that a Direct Debit mandate is cancelled. Your bank must accept that instruction.

---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:26 ----------

You asked me via PM what would happen if you did the above. I'm replying here as it's a view that everyone ought to be able to see and make their own contribution:

Ntl might come after you by other means, if the DD is cancelled, debt collectors that sort of stuff. At least cancelling the DD stops ntl trying to take money from your bank account and stops the bank charging you every time they try.

At the same time as cancelling the direct debit, write to ntl (use the billing address), preferably by recorded delivery so they can't deny not getting it confirming the cancellation and that the contract ended on xyz date.

The next bit might or might not work. Otheres have suggested that the contract rolls on until you the customer tell ntl that it's cancelled. That is normally the case, and the ide of a 9 rather than 12 month contract period normally refers to this as being a minimum service period. You could try playing the laymans card thinking that 9 months was your contract - it might or might not work. Whatever the result on that, despite ntl failing to bill, and failing to attempt (to your knowledge) to collect at the time (monthly) the service charges, they were and are still payable for the 9 month mimumum contract so I'd prepare to cough up.