Legal Action Against NTL

[hotscotchbonnet]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

obviously i have no idea around your account, however you say it should be way after 4 weeks of the bill being produced that you were disconected, however there may have been a credit limit on the account, often people with direct debits are completly unaware it is on there as it wont have affected them before.

With all due respect, I think you missed the point. I am saying I should not have been disconnected because I refused to pay an invalid contract - as is my right. Neither should I have been refused reconnection when I reasonably offered to pay the months services according to my preexisitng and valid contract. This is doubly true as I had been told to await correction of the invalid contract/bill by CS prior to disconnection.

The timescale is just a side observation. The DD was only ten days late. NTL had not told me they had cancelled the DD, and given my conversation with CS regarding the reissuing of bills I could not be reasonably expected to know my account was in arrears. The main point, however, is that the arrears related to an invalid contract.

There are laws in this country against switch selling. Switch selling is a deceptive way of selling that involves advertising a product at a very low price in order to attract customers who are then persuaded to switch to a more expensive product.

NTL have attempted to force me onto a 40% more expensive tariff and 6 month longer obligation. When I stated that I wanted to retain my original agreement they used intimidation to attempt to make me pay - and become legally bound - to the new contract. They disconnected services, they threatended my credit rating, and they refused to handle my complaints according to their own terms and conditions.

Despite all of this I tried very hard to honour the original preexisiting contract, bu spending hours of my time calling CS and requesting a bill that accorded to my previously agreed contract.

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

also you said your letters of pending legal action went ignored, the ntl legal department wont respond to any letters of this sort.

they are there purely for legal procedings

A Notice of Intention is a legal proceeding, and a prerequisite to court.
It is also interesting to know that the formal complaints procedure regarding ADR is ignored as a matter of policy, if this is indeed what you are saying.

[lostandconfused]

Originally Posted by hotscotchbonnet

A Notice of Intention is a legal proceeding, and a prerequisite to court.
It is also interesting to know that the formal complaints procedure regarding ADR is ignored as a matter of policy, if this is indeed what you are saying.

NO i wasnt saying that at all, however i may not have written it well, what i was tryin to get across is that the legal department are not customer facing, so would only get involved once a complaint has been escalated using the correct proccedures

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

NO i wasnt saying that at all, however i may not have written it well, what i was tryin to get across is that the legal department are not customer facing, so would only get involved once a complaint has been escalated using the correct proccedures

Which brings us back to "and they refused to handle my complaints according to their own terms and conditions."

Legal proceedings are the only realistic method of bringing NTL to its senses. One only has to look at the posts regarding their incompetence and deceit on these forae to realize that until such time as a legal precedent has been established then NTL will, quite happily, continue disavowing and abusing their customers.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Which brings us back to "and they refused to handle my complaints according to their own terms and conditions."

Legal proceedings are the only realistic method of bringing NTL to its senses. One only has to look at the posts regarding their incompetence and deceit on these forae to realize that until such time as a legal precedent has been established then NTL will, quite happily, continue disavowing and abusing their customers.

He's back!

I love Mr Angry!

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Neil

I love Mr Angry!

I KNEW IT.

[Okonski]

I've been in a similar situation, ending up threatening court action and having my correspondence passed to their Manchester 'Customer Issues' department. I do NOT all DDM's for the reasons you outline, and I also demanded (and received) full credit for the £50pa additional fees now levied for those who refuse to let ntl have access to their account. With my services disrupted for three days on three occasions, and the total loss of TV, Phone and BB at a stroke, I advised them that I viewed such disconnection - putting me back into the dark ages with a total comms shut-down - as worth £50 per day in inconvenience alone. NTL said the true cost was £5.23 in total for the three days, and could I justify my assertion that it was £50? I pointed out that they are quick enough to 'fine' customers for paying late, threatening them with credit blacklisting and debt collectors, so this was one customer who resented this, and was not prepared to be treated in this way. If my £150 wasn't forthcoming, I'd take what ever credit they'd offer, but I'd raise a small claims action for the balance.

We then moved to the 'negotiation' phase. By NTL staffer said he couldn't arrange a credit of that amount, as £50 was his limit. The end result was an immediate £50 goodwill credit, My 10Mb BB was to be halved in cost for 6 months, and some package alterations. The end result I achived savings of £204, which will be fully recovered in 6 months. Meanwhile my services continue as normal, my monthly bill is less and I still have full control of my bank account. The bottom line, stick to your guns and negotiate a deal you are happy with that reflects your disruption. They started the unpleasantness first, so don't be shy in getting your own back.

[AntiSilence]

When I moved house once and transfered ntl to the new house, they came round and installed it all on time etc. But, they had took my payment off direct debit (as it was on) and didn't tell me this. This caused me to miss a months payment, as I just glanced at the bill, thinking it was still on DD. I paid it when I got the next bill (which was for 2 months) but they didn't cut me off or even send me a warning letter.

[N00N00]

any updates on this hotscotchbonnet?

[HughesJ]

I agree with Mr Angry, there are so many of these types of complaints building up that something has to be done about NTL. its a disgrace! There must be something that can be done about the way NTL is extracting money out of people in these ways? Maybe OFT or some consumer protection body?

[Russ]

How about some kind of lobby website?

[Okonski]

Originally Posted by Russ D

How about some kind of lobby website?

There is one - take a look at;

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/

It gives advice on Small Claims Actions, Data Protection and other bits of interest to consumers who feel they're being railroaded!

[Russ]

I prefer www.nthellworld.co.uk or www.cableforum.co.uk

[Okonski]

Originally Posted by Russ D

I prefer www.nthellworld.co.uk or www.cableforum.co.uk

You should has said it was a rhetorical answer! To be fair, the site details given also provides template letters to make suppliers sit up and take notice, and I've used them on more than one occassion to assert my legal rights. It's all very well moaning on here, but using hte law of the land to back up your claim gives you a warm glow!

[Russ]

Template letters are all very well but you can never be 100% sure who (if anyone) will read them. This site promises a resolution.

Originally Posted by Russ D

Template letters are all very well but you can never be 100% sure who (if anyone) will read them. This site promises a resolution.

Totally agree about template letters.
However, why should customers having grief with NTL have to go through this site to get something done? is it too much to ask of NTL to provide a competent service? where when a customer contacts them by mail there is a process in place that deals with that letter.
I think too much emphasis is on gaining more customers, and not in keeping the ones they have happy.
Another point about people using this site to complain, how many people actually know about the site? and all the complaints are not always able to be resolved through this site due to people not having computers.
I dont see on my bill under the complaints section " log onto www.cableforum.co.uk to make a complaint "
They should concentrate < NTL > on having in place a system that works for everyone.