Grrrrrrr

[Ben]

Well where shall I start


On Friday (16th) I came home from work and was greeted by the g/f who told me the TV had lost most of its channels

Oh great I thought what's happened. Checked my internet and the modem is flashing very quick! Check a webpage and.....nothing

They cut me off!!!! Check phone and nothing!

Well I'm not a happy bunny as I thought all was well. I phone up and to cut a long story short they tried to take there money out on the 15th - Now they normally take there money on the 10th or 11th which the money would of been in there. Now with it being Christmas as well I was spending money like you do. I had no idea there money did not come out as I never did get a bill though the door or any warning that I had not paid them. The bill I got though this month which was not until the beginning of this month stated they tried to take the money on the 15th but then they also tried to take it on the 18th as well! Now on my statement it says nothing about them trying to take anything on the 18th as I was paid on that date! So they could of taken it! But didn't!

Anyway I phone them up and nope they wont restore my service until I have paid them - what a surprise! But this is not my fault - If they let me change my DD date like I asked a long long long time ago myself and NTL would not have this issue

Lets see if anyone else can understand my situation -

I get paid the 23rd of each month now NTL insist upon taking there money on the 10 or 11th (or 15th in this case) which is basically bang on my last week and low and behold I'm skint on that week!

TAKE YOU MONEY WHEN I GET PAID LIKE EVERY OTHER COMPANY.

Anyway when I have told them I have had enough and am going over to BT/Sky and want to end my contract I'm told I can't because I when I moved 6 months ago I took out a new 12 month contract! - I mean what I was never told anything about a new 12 month contract! They just turned around and moved my service to a new flat and said nothing about a new contract! (They did it free too cause I was getting discount) so what the F*** are they on about

So now I have no services until I get paid as I have no money till then. I asked for them to restore my service as at the end of the day if they took the money on a normal date I asked for there would be no problem as they could have there money every month without fail.

I have been speaking to a "Jay" in customer relations who said give him till Tuesday to sort out my internet but TV/Phone would have to stay off until I pay them

So I have been without internet/TV/Phone for the whole weekend. Time to phone the MD of my region me thinks. I have had enough of NTL

Do you go to the cinema and expect to pay half way through the film?? no you pay in advance, if you cant manage your money then dont pay by direct debit!!

Sorry to be so abrupt but if you dont pay on time dont expect good service is my view.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Do you go to the cinema and expect to pay half way through the film?? no you pay in advance, if you cant manage your money then dont pay by direct debit!!

Sorry to be so abrupt but if you dont pay on time dont expect good service is my view.

I expect to be able to change my DD date like every other company out there.

Originally Posted by Ben

I expect to be able to change my DD date like every other company out there.

Most companes DO NOT let you choose the direct debit date, some give you a couple of options. It would cost companies a fortune to run BACS processes every day of the month to collect direct debits.

I get paid on the 25th of every month, but have no concerns at all with NTL taking the maney on the 15th, its not ideal because i havent even had the bill when i get paid so dont know how much im going to have to pay, but ive had the service long enough to be able to guess.

[tkiely]

Surely it should be, if ntl can't operate their direct debit service like everyone else, then they shouldnt offer the service!

Funny how they won't change your payment date when asked but when I look back at my old bills I see that my payment date drifts around all over the place between the 6th and the 13th of the mth.

never mind, BT are coming this week :-)

Originally Posted by tkiely

Surely it should be, if ntl can't operate their direct debit service like everyone else, then they shouldnt offer the service!

Funny how they won't change your payment date when asked but when I look back at my old bills I see that my payment date drifts around all over the place between the 6th and the 13th of the mth.

never mind, BT are coming this week :-)

maybe they work on a 4 weekly cycle like most companies? id guess that they take the payment on the same day of the week

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Do you go to the cinema and expect to pay half way through the film?? no you pay in advance, if you cant manage your money then dont pay by direct debit!!

Sorry to be so abrupt but if you dont pay on time dont expect good service is my view.

fair comment , but they shouldnt change the payment date without prior notice and your authority


dd g'tee



hth ben

[Ben]

Originally Posted by gary_580

Most companes DO NOT let you choose the direct debit date, some give you a couple of options. It would cost companies a fortune to run BACS processes every day of the month to collect direct debits.

I get paid on the 25th of every month, but have no concerns at all with NTL taking the maney on the 15th, its not ideal because i havent even had the bill when i get paid so dont know how much im going to have to pay, but ive had the service long enough to be able to guess.

ALL my bills come out on or around the 24th of every month. Why can't NTL? I should not need to keep money in the bank for only them to take the money when all by other bills are paid well in advance.

Not only that but it was christmas! Every other month has not been a problem an the DD failed by about £5

I then got paid like 3 days after and had no warning or anything from the company otherwsie I could of sorted it out there and then.

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

fair comment , but they shouldnt change the payment date without prior notice and your authority


dd g'tee



hth ben

no prior notice?? they send you a bill before they take the payment. They are then leagally entitled to change the date

Originally Posted by Ben

Anyway when I have told them I have had enough and am going over to BT/Sky and want to end my contract I'm told I can't because I when I moved 6 months ago I took out a new 12 month contract! - I mean what I was never told anything about a new 12 month contract! They just turned around and moved my service to a new flat and said nothing about a new contract! (They did it free too cause I was getting discount) so what the F*** are they on about

I think you probably have every right to tell them to go f**k themselves. You were bound by the original 12 month contract which you took with you when you moved as NTL won`t let you out of that. But I wouldn`t have thought they can`t use that as an underhand way to trigger a new 12 month contract.

I had a similar thing with T-Mobile when I tried to cancel last month, they argued that because they had changed my tarrif slightly a couple of months back that triggered a new 12 month contract. I told them that's what they might think, but without my signature to confirm that I had accepted this they could basically go whistle. They soon backed down.

That said, I would be careful to check what you signed when you got the new installation done, it could be buried in the small print there that you accepted a new 12 month contract as part of the move.

[tkiely]

Originally Posted by gary_580

It would cost companies a fortune to run BACS processes every day of the month to collect direct debits.

Rubbish! with BACS-IP (web based admin of BACS processes, available to any company) they can take the payment whenever they like at no extra cost at all.

NTL just cant be bothered to do something which would improve their collections record by enabling their customers to pay promptly.

[paulyoung666]

i had a similar problem with my car insurance and it cost me £60 in bank charges , when i got onto my bank they refunded the charges when i explained the situation

Originally Posted by Ben

ALL my bills come out on or around the 24th of every month. Why can't NTL? I should not need to keep money in the bank for only them to take the money when all by other bills are paid well in advance.

Not only that but it was christmas! Every other month has not been a problem an the DD failed by about £5

I then got paid like 3 days after and had no warning or anything from the company otherwsie I could of sorted it out there and then.

I bet your council tax doesnt. Mine is fixed on something like 13th, they wont change that either. I have a life assurance policy, the company say that the payment date on that is fixed to. Its not just NTL.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by tkiely

Rubbish! with BACS-IP (web based admin of BACS processes, available to any company) they can take the payment whenever they like at no extra cost at all.

NTL just cant be bothered to do something which would improve their collections record by enabling their customers to pay promptly.

THe previous BACS system was cumbersome and could prove expensive, but as stated the new BACS-IP is a much smoother and cost effective way of doing it. The banks are expected to have BACS-IP fully up and running by the end of the 1st quarter this year.

Originally Posted by tkiely

Rubbish! with BACS-IP (web based admin of BACS processes, available to any company) they can take the payment whenever they like at no extra cost at all.

NTL just cant be bothered to do something which would improve their collections record by enabling their customers to pay promptly.

Every file of transacations processed by BACS has a cost on top of the per transaction cost

BACS IP isnt widely used right now and NTL wont be using it. The banks have pots of cash to spend on implementing it and havent done so yet