I doubt anyone can help me now at this late stage - but I want to vent my anger if I may.
In mid May I contacted NTL to (1) change my package as I was at the end of my first 12 months and (2) enquire whether the new property I had just bought was serviced my NTL and if I could transfer my services (I had cable TV family pack, 1MB broadband and telephone).
I was assured that my package would be changed to the 3 for £33 plus an extra £8 to upgrade me to the family pack totalling £41 plus whatever phone calls I make - which are few adn far between. This was fine until I checked my latest bill to find that I have been charged at full rate for all including talk Unlimited and my bill is coming in at £52. Not impressed. But that is not what really has got on my nerves.
During the phone call back in May I was assured that the street I was moving to was cabled (in Glasgow) and that I could tranfer my services. Although I was not moving until July 7th I was told that they could set up my moving and transfer order that day. I thought great - this is very good service. I was told that it would take up to 3 weeks from my moving date for the services to transfer (I thought mmm - a bit long but what the hell NTL have been very good to me so far and I would like to keep them as my main service provider). The phone call ended I was happy.
On the morning of Sunday 18th June myself and my partner awoke to find that our television and telephone service were not working. We attempted to call NTL's customer services for help using the freephone number on the TV screen. Firstly it turns out that the number is no longer free and you have to call a different 0845 number and secondly it appears that NTL customer services are not open on a Sunday. Thankfully our broadband is still working - oh wait I spoke too soon. At around 11am our broadband went offline too. We could only assume that we had been fully disconnected. We would have to wait until Monday morning to confirm this.
On the morning of Monday 19th June I telephoned NTL and asked that someone call me back because I was calling from my mobile due to the fact that my telephone service had been disconnected. I appeared to have got through to a call centre in the north of England and I was told that I would have to speak to someone at the Glasgow call centre but that they were not online yet but that as soon as they were someone would get in touch with me. Fine - not much I can do but wait.
One hour later, the same customer service representative telephones me back - she can't get anyone at Glasgow but would attempt to help me herself. She listened to my problem and said it appeared to be a moving and transfers issue and put me through to that department. A rather curt representative took over the telephone call to deal with my problem. After explaining the situation again it transpired that NTL had done a check on my new property and discovered that it was in part of the street that was not cabled and so I would be unable to tranfer my services. This check had taken place on the 18th May and some bright spark at NTL therefore assumed that as this was the case then my 30 days notice was to begin - low and behold 30 days later my services are all disconnected. Now I wouldn't have minded this if I had received notification from NTL in the form of a letter or even a telephone call to confirm that this is what was happening - but I received nothing - I was in the dark. A letter would at least have allowed me to sort the situation out sooner and before my services were disconnected.
The rather curt customer service representative in the moving and transfers department said that she would try and reconnect us but that as the disconnect had already gone through it might be difficult and if successful would take at least 24 hours. Fine - nothing much I can do about that apart from wait. After getting assurances that she would arrange for a reconnection we ended our telephone call.
I was admittedly angry and still somewhat baffled by this whole event so a few hours later I contacted NTL again for someone to explain to me fully what had happened and to arrange for a new cut off date and to get information about what happens with NTL equipment that needs collected. I managed to get through to customer services who were very nice but stated that once again it was a moving and transfers department issue and I would have to be put through to that department. However, there was a long queue and I was advised that it could take at least 30 minutes before I would get through. As I was calling from work and didn't want to be on the telephone that long while on hold I declined to wait. The customer services representative would I was speaking to was very nice and gave me a freephone number to call that would put me straight through to the moving and transfers department. She also advised that I should call back around 4pm when things had quietened down. I thanked her and we ended the phone call.
About half an hour later I decided that I would call early this was around 2pm because I could not guarantee to be in the office at 4pm. I called the freephone number I had been given but it turned out that no matter what option I selected I was always put through to customer services and not moving and transfers. After being treated rather rudely by one representative I was put through to the correct department but again Iw as told there was at least a 30 minute wait - I said fine I would hold. I held for just over 30 minutes before hearing a womens voice say "oh f**k" and the call disconnect. I was taken aback but assumed that she had pressed the wrong button and that was why I had been cut off and she had used that language. I redialled and once again I was put through and had to hold once again for over 30 minutes. Finally I managed to speak with someone at moving and transfers. They were unable to help me but assured me that they would get a supervisor to look at it and they would call me back before 5pm - when the office shut. I said fine and decided that I wold stay on in teh office to make sure that I got the phone call - although I also gave them my mobile number in case I had to leave at some point. I waited and waited but no phone call came. 5pm came and went and so I finally packed up and went home.
The next morning I telephoned NTL again from work. Once again I have to wait around 20 minutes. Finally I get through and I speak to a chap who doesn't sound overly interested in helping me but it's his job so he does what he can. He assures me that my services have now all been reconnected. I am pleased at this although I am not at home to check. I ask him to send me a letter of confirmation about what has happened and he agrees to do this. We also arrange a new cut off date for the 6th July because I move on the 7th and cannot guarantee to be in the property all day to wait on NTL coming to disconnect the service and uplift the equipment. He checks once again to ensure that my new property is not serviced by NTL and confirms that it is not. He agrees to credit me for the two days that I was without NTL's services. I am happy although annoyed at all this hassle. We end our telephone conversation.
I decide to go home early (because I can work from home what with being a university researcher and now that my services are up and running again I will be able to use the inetrnet at home). However, upon getting home I discover that although my telephone service has been reconnected my television and internet services have not been. I decide to telephone NTL again. I don't have the freephone number handy so I have to use the 0845 number and I decide to go through to faults because the services are not working. I get through to a nice enough lady who confirms that my television and internet have not been reconnected. However, as it is not an engineering issue she cannot help me and suggests that I should speak to, yes you guessed it, the moving and transfers department. I ask her to put me through. I wait on hold for nearly 1 hour (on a 0845 number) before finally getting through to the most disinterested customer service representative I have ever had the pleasure of speaking to. I explain the situation once again and wait for him to read the notes (yet again - everyone had to read the notes even if I explained). He said that he would have to fill in a form and it would have to be sent to another department to get the services working again and it would take a minimum of 24 hours if not longer. I said "no, that is not good enough, this process had been done the day before and we had been assured that our services would be reconnected long before now". He said there was nothing he could do as he could not reconnect anything apart from fill in a form to arrange for it. After some more words between us as I tried to grapple with the situation I suggested to him - "well would it be easier for NTL if I didn't have you reconnect my services" - he said "if that is what you want Sir". This is not what I wanted but the attitude I was being treated to by the NTL representative was unbelievable - I said fine don't bother reconnecting my television and broadband internet and while you are at it maybe you should cancel my telephone too." he said "so you want your telephone cancelled?" - I was shocked - I mean is it really that difficult for someone to say in a friendly and sympathic manner "I'm sorry Sir, I can only apologise for the difficulties you have had, I will do my best to reconnect you as quickly as possible and ensure that you are credited for your lack of services in the meantime". Obviously it is!
At this point I am very very annoyed and so I tell him - fine cancel my telephone (which has just been reconnected) and arrange for someone to come and collect the NTL equipment as soon as possible. I was given a date of Thursday 22nd June between 8am and 1pm. I also stated that I wanted a letter confirming that all services had been diconnected and the account cancelled and refunds stated on it. The disinterested customer services agent said that he could not do that as he was unable to send out letters or final bills but that he would put a record on our conversation on the notes on the computer. Quiet frankly this is not good enough and I told him as much, although I also stated that my anger was directed at NTL as a company and not him as a person (although his level of inetrest in my situation did anny me).
My telephone was disconnected within the hour - funny that they can disconnect you quickly but not reconnect you quickly.
As it is I still have had no confirmation from NTL about my services being disconnected and my account closed. I did receive a bill today which which charges me for all services up until the 12 July even though my services (bar the short couple of hours of reconnection for the telephone) have been fully disconnected since 18th June.
To top it all off I stayed at home on Thursday 22nd June to wait on NTL coming to collect their equipment. I was unable to do any work as I had no internet access. However, I figured that I could go in after 1pm once NTl had been. Needless to say by 3pm NTL had never arrived. I had to leave home at this point to go into work. I am not telephoning NTL again to waste another hour of my time listen to "NTL is evolving, everything we do is now designed to improve your customer experience" - it is all lies. I await NTL's letter of confirmation about the end of my account and services and I will watch my bank account with interest because if a full £52 is debited from my account I will be very very angry and treat it as theft and I will be contacting the relevant authorities.
I am extrememly annoyed at the level of service I have received from NTL this week. I will never ever use them as my communications provider again and I will never recommend them to anyone - in fact they can be assured that I will proactively tell people not to sign up to NTL.
Thanks for reading my rant but I'm sure you can imagine it's not been an laughable experience.
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