NTL debited 300 quid 'by mistake'

[erik99]

recently got some help over in the broadband (BB) area so thought i would bring this issue to the forum too (its just come to a head this morning). its a bit of an involved story so bear with me

in 2003 i was living at my folks house. got BB installed, then setup a direct debit (DD) to pay for the entire package of TV, telephone and BB. in April 2004 i moved to a new place and NTL gave me a new customer acc number. before i left the folks address, i requested BB be cancelled and moved to new address. filled out the form to change ownership back to my folks, sent it off. this all appeared to go smoothly

about 2 weeks ago i noticed an unknown DD from my current account. 101 quid to NTL. i had a look at previous statements and the unknown DD stretched all the way back to when i moved out of my folks address- 286 quid in total.

called NTL and queried the DDs. they told me 2 things;
-the account was in my name
-i was being debited for charges on the account at my folks address

i asked NTL & my bank to kill that DD stone dead, then asked NTL to send me copies of the bills with charges for the period since i moved out of the folks address. copies of these bills arrived from NTL today.

strange things with the bills:
- the copies of the bills are all in my mothers name (but i think it was always like this)
- on the bills from June onwards they dont have the box that says 'the total amount will be debited on or after <date>'
- in June NTL charged me for 'removals' on the folks acc
- in September NTL charged me 37.99 for BB 2 TIMES on the folks acc
- in October NTL charged me 37.99 for BB on the folks acc
- in November NTL charged me 37.99 3 TIMES on the folks acc

this is clearly a total disaster. a few things are happening-

-money is being debitted from my bank account in error.
-NTL are debiting money for services that arent being used.
-NTL have got a problem in that they dont appear to have acted on the account change form.
-NTL have mixed up my folks customer acc & the new customer acc they awarded me when i moved

so how to sort this out? is there someone at NTL who can help me sort this mess out? is there some department i can write to that will fix the problem instead of relating this entire saga down the phone?

[Nemesis]

I'm sure this can be sorted, welcome to the forum.

We have a number of ntl staff around who help out in their free time, so I'm sure this will get some attention soon.

[Derek]

What area of the country was the account in?

[erik99]

Originally Posted by dezzo

What area of the country was the account in?

Belfast

[erik99]

so im wondering if there is a department i can write to that will sort this out? anyone know? anyone from NTL know?

[Stephen]

maybe you could PM me your account number and I could try and take a look if I get a spare few moments.

[SMHarman]

Have you spoken to your bank about this. With statements from NTL showing those kind of errors, you can probably invoke the DD guarantee on them.

(thinks to himself how it must be nice not to notice £300 missing from his bank!).

[Bifta]

This is what annoy's me, people claiming that you'll be better off signing up for direct debit with NTL, they can and often DO (they did with me) cock it up and whether there's a DD guarantee or not, it's still extra hassle that most people don't need trying to get it sorted out.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by erik99

Belfast

If you want me to look at it for you then PM me your details. I'm sure one of the mods will vouch for me if needbe.

[erik99]

ok, cheers, sent pm

[Derek]

OK I'll have a quick look at this tomorrow and let you know whats going on.

[Meer]

Originally Posted by Bifta

This is what annoy's me, people claiming that you'll be better off signing up for direct debit with NTL, they can and often DO (they did with me) cock it up and whether there's a DD guarantee or not, it's still extra hassle that most people don't need trying to get it sorted out.

I would say that the vast majority use DD because they can't be bothered with the hassle of sorting out payment every month. I use DD, for that reason, and to date i've not had any problems (kiss of death probably tho).

I do however check that my paper bill and bank statements tally every month.

M

[erik99]

i was talking to dezzo about all this in pm. dezzo suggested a claim indemnity form from the bank, but thinking it over that isnt going to work

an indemnity form is to claim back money released when DDs are taken in error. from the Nov17th copy of the bill i see that someone at NTL loaded the following credits onto the Nov bill:

28.19 26/08 - 17/09
37.99 18/09 - 17/10
37.99 18/10-17/11
(above credits are for DDs taken in error for BB fom my bank account in previous months)

i dont live at that address, and it isnt my account. someone at NTL loaded the money they debited from MY bank account in error onto my folks account for them to spend on services. its now more messy than when i first called NTL about it!!

it would be great if ALL the charges that were taken from my bank account from june onwards were put BACK into my bank account, (this includes money that was debited for telephone and tv). OR if it could be managed by NTL loading £286 of credit onto my account, then loading £286 of debit on to my folks account that would also be great.

this is what im going to try to do. first step in getting that done is to send another account name change form to NTL (recorded delivery this time) to get them to change the name on the account.

this and the problems NTL created in deleting my old account has taken over 3 weeks of my life so far. who can i complain to in writing?