overdue payment (Broadband)

[Smilie]

Hi
Just realised that NTL sent us a reminder notice letter
saying we have overdue payments
as the account is opened/paid by my Dad im not too sure why the payment didnt go through yet (need to ask him and check his statements)

anyhow
the letter says they have written to us previously (so this must be a 2nd letter)
and it was posted on the 30 of september saying we are overdue by £69.98 (2months 10mb BB)
and as its the weekend (NTL billing seems to be close at weekends)
we cant make payments till Monday
what i wanted to know is
how long do i have before they restrict our BB??
and if they do restrict our services
is there a extra payment to get it back???

BTW
for people who wanted to know why we only read the letter now
its because my Dad doesnt speak or read english (we are chinese)
and i only saw the letter today

P.S
my Dad just came back when i was writing this
his bank account does have the money for payment
and also have £1200 overdraft even if he didnt
dunno why the payment didnt go through

[Marge]

Customer Services are open tomorrow, 9am - 5pm so if you give them a call they should be able to have a look at the account for you and let you know whats happening. Does your Dad normally pay the bill by Direct Debit, have you recently signed up for the service ???

[Smilie]

been with NTL for 3years+ i think (was when NTL just started 600k BB service)
and havent change any services for a long time (when NTL started 3MB i think)

its through a Debit Card (doesnt count as direct debit right??)
and the card hasnt expired yet
or have any problems with it

how long does Billing usually give before they stop the services??

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Smilie

its through a Debit Card (doesnt count as direct debit right??)
and the card hasnt expired yet
or have any problems with it

I'm not sure what you mean with 'through a debit card'?

A direct debit is where you sign a form which allows NTL to take the money directly from your bank account. If your payments have come out of your bank account without you specifically paying them (by cheque, or on the phone), you have probably been paying via direct debit.

I would first check your bank statements to see if the BB has indeed not been paid for. If it hasn't, (and your father is willing) you should be able to pay over the phone using the debit card (I would imagine).

If you are paying by direct debit, then check with the bank to see what went wrong.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by danielf

I'm not sure what you mean with 'through a debit card'?

A direct debit is where you sign a form which allows NTL to take the money directly from your bank account. If your payments have come out of your bank account without you specifically paying them (by cheque, or on the phone), you have been paying via direct debit.

I would first check your bank statements to see if the BB has indeed not been paid for. If it hasn't, (and your father is willing) you should be able to pay over the phone using the debit card (I would imagine).

If you are paying by direct debit, then check with the bank to see what went wrong.

I think that you could give your bank debit card details to ntl and they would use that to collect the payment each month...I may be wrong...

[Marge]

You can pay the BB by either Direct Debit or Continous Credit Card, you can pay by Debit Card but this is if you ring up each month and pay over the phone, it's not a continous method as with the Credit Card.

If by any chance you have been cut off it can be put straight back on without any long delays. I would encourage you to ring CS tomorrow to get to the bottom of what has happened with your payments in the last couple of months and get back on track.

[Smilie]

did check the bank statements
and no NTL didnt take any money
so we do owe them them the 2months BB
but dont know why the money didnt go through

yea i think what Mal is saying
is how we are paying NTL every month

im not afraid of how we are going to pay NTL
could use my own bank account/debit card if i have to (dont really want to as ill be paying for my brothers aswell)
i just dont want the BB service to be cut
and to pay a fee for reconnection if there is 1

so any1 know if ill be ok if i contact NTL on monday??

[Marge]

They are open tomorrow and if you ring and pay in full there won't be any problem with your account being cut off......

Also make sure that you can reset up your Payment method so that everything should run smoothly in the future

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Smilie

yea i think what Mal is saying
is how we are paying NTL every month

I'd go with what Marge said after me. She works for ntl cs, so she knows best

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Smilie

so any1 know if ill be ok if i contact NTL on monday??

As this appears to be your main concern: I don't know (but I'd be surprised if they cut you off as you just received your second letter) But, as Marge said, you can call NTL Tomorrow. They are open from 9-5. You could (probably) pay using your father's card. You do need to find out why the payments did not go through though. I'd consider setting up a direct debit if I were you.

Edit: as Mal says: trust Marge: she works for NTL.

[Smilie]

oh
for some reason i was thinking customer services couldnt accept payments
and theres a billing department to call

and the letters says the opening times for the phone number (0845 454 0000) is Mon-Fri 9:00 to 17:00

is that the number i should call???

[Marge]

Yep, thats the right number to call, good luck and let us know how you go on

[danielf]

I'd wait for Marge to confirm this, but I think NTL adhere to an old chinese wisdom: 'payment department always open'

[Smilie]

thanks
ill give them a call tomorow
see what happens

[opelfruitcase]

Originally Posted by Marge

You can pay the BB by either Direct Debit or Continous Credit Card, you can pay by Debit Card but this is if you ring up each month and pay over the phone, it's not a continous method as with the Credit Card.

If by any chance you have been cut off it can be put straight back on without any long delays. I would encourage you to ring CS tomorrow to get to the bottom of what has happened with your payments in the last couple of months and get back on track.

Actually, you can pay by continuous debit card as well - all types of visa (credit, delta and electron) as well as mastercard can be used for continuous authority payments, only card type that can only be used on a once only basis is maestro/solo.

To the OP - depending on the date of your bill, you normally have original date of bill plus 40 days before services are suspended (although on the broadband accounts this generally tends to be longer) - the second reminder is normally sent after 60 days (which would tally with there being two full months overdue).