Surely this can't be right??

[Pia]

hi, i was on the 300k service, paying the 12 month promotional price of £15.99 a month. I upgraded to 1 meg yesterday, does this definitely mean i will now be paying £17.99 or is this just speculation?

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by piaswales

hi, i was on the 300k service, paying the 12 month promotional price of £15.99 a month. I upgraded to 1 meg yesterday, does this definitely mean i will now be paying £17.99 or is this just speculation?

Hi and

I would say that you will be paying £17.99 as you have chosen to take the 1Mbps service and saw it was priced at £17,99. You could have kept the 300k service and £15.99 price if you had done nothing.

[Pia]

hi, i have just braved ringing ntl, and asked them if the price will stay at the discounted rate, they told me i will still be paying £15.99 so there are no worries there.

However i asked him to confirm that i am now on a 3gb a month cap, and had i stayed on 300k i could still be using the 1gb a day cap.

He said staying on 300k would have meant i could still use 1gb a day, but everyone will be on 1 meg soon enough so there is no point changing back.

I then asked how much the charges are if i do go over my limit (as i have already gone up to almost 4gb this month) and he said 'they' haven't told anyone yet how they are pricing it, but he reckons it won't be much.

He told me seeing as though it is all rather new i will not be charged for going over the 3gb limit this month, but advised me to stay within 5gb to be on the safe side.

Make of that what you will........
__________________

oh and just to add.........my computer doesn't seem to be over 3 times faster now that i have upgraded!!!

[SnoopZ]

Hi

I'm in exactly the same situation as Paddy1 paying £19.99 as i payed £150 for my modem years ago so got a £5 discount each month.

However I decided to risk the upgrade via the upgrade link but am very concerned as to whether I'll be put on £24.99 a month.

Heres the screen grab of what the page looked like before I upgraded. Please take note that no price at all is on the page, all it says is NA where the price would of been.

Your thoughts on this please

[purenuman]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Your thoughts on this please

Photoshop??

[danielf]

Originally Posted by h3adru5h

removal of discounts does not technically constitute an increase in charges......

I would love to see that one in court if the removal of discounts is a result of the provider upgrading the service without consulting the customer.

[Pia]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Hi

I'm in exactly the same situation as Paddy1 paying £19.99 as i payed £150 for my modem years ago so got a £5 discount each month.

However I decided to risk the upgrade via the upgrade link but am very concerned as to whether I'll be put on £24.99 a month.

I would just ring NTL if you are at all worried, (0800 052 2000)
I rang about my worries and was told i will still have my discount so I would have thought anyone else will too.
In any case, if they are going to change your payment it will be after any 12 month contract, as I tried to cancel and they wouldn't let me until the end of contract!

[h3adru5h]

Originally Posted by danielf

I would love to see that one in court if the removal of discounts is a result of the provider upgrading the service without consulting the customer.

No need - to save you on legal costs... here's section 13 of the terms & conditions.

13. Promotional Services

If we supply you with any Services, channels or programmes as part of a promotion or for promotional purposes and whether for a charge or otherwise we may if we wish at any time stop such supply or change the promotional Services, channels or programmes or package of Services, channels or programmes that we are supplying.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by h3adru5h

No need - to save you on legal costs... here's section 13 of the terms & conditions.

13. Promotional Services

If we supply you with any Services, channels or programmes as part of a promotion or for promotional purposes and whether for a charge or otherwise we may if we wish at any time stop such supply or change the promotional Services, channels or programmes or package of Services, channels or programmes that we are supplying.

Yes, and I found the following under 'offers' in the general information (probably refers to the bundles but relevant nonetheless, the bit you posted above seems to refer more promotional channels, not promotional prices):

ntl reserves the right to increase the price of the bundled package on notifying you in accordance with your customer contract, but If the price increases during your 12 month bundled packed minimum term you may then terminate the bundled package in accordance with your customer contract, in which case the 12 month term will not apply.

Also, from the T&Cs:

1: Definitions "Charges" means charges to be paid by you calculated according to the prices and rates set out in our Price Lists or otherwise notified to you;

Now, if NTL tell me I get a discount, then surely the charge is the discounted amount, and removing the discount is an increase in the charge?

[h3adru5h]

not quite - the charge is the amount listed in the price guide/listings. This is applicable for all services (as stated in section 13 - "any services").

Any discounts given can be removed at the company discretion (if required or if necessary). Any and all discounts are classed as promotional as these are supplied for a limited time period, at company discretion or for certain sections such as students/local authority etc... The company is in no way obliged (legally or otherwise) to maintain an offer or discount as opposed to the full price that all other customers paid unless a contract has been signed clearly stating that this will be the case. There are however the terms & conditions that form the contract, and as stated above, discounts may be removed. [The people losing their discount will have been paying less than everyone else prior to the upgrade.... a lot of people would consider the fact that they are paying more for a service than others as unfair too! - consider this the opposite argument and the basis that it's impossible to keep everyone happy at all times].

Example - If you are subscribed to the Family digital TV package for £29.00 per month and 4 months into your contract this price increased to £32.00 per month, then you may be able to use the price increase argument and request a cancellation of contract/services.

Whether this is a point you wish to argue or otherwise, discounts will be removed unfortunately. It would not be viable for a business to maintain discounts or offers for an unlimited period and to expect otherwise, i'm sorry, is unrealistic. All good things come to an end .

Head is swimming with flu at the moment so I hope this makes sense....
__________________

also - here is the corresponding/connected 'definition' as stated in the terms & conditions.

"Charges" means charges to be paid by you calculated according to the prices and rates set out in our Price Lists or otherwise notified to you;

"Price Lists" means the material published by us from time to time which includes the prices and rates for the Services and Equipment we offer including the usage rates for the Services;

[Pia]

Originally Posted by h3adru5h

Whether this is a point you wish to argue or otherwise, discounts will be removed unfortunately. It would not be viable for a business to maintain discounts or offers for an unlimited period and to expect otherwise, i'm sorry, is unrealistic. All good things come to an end .

Do you know this for a fact? As i have spoken to NTL and they confirmed that my discount still applies until the usual ending period on it.

[h3adru5h]

I've received roughly 5 internal mails and 2 paper bulletins confirming that this is correct.... I guess it is then


As I've said above - the discounts are discretionary and you may have had the discount extended as a goodwill gesture. They are automatically removed during upgrades I would imagine and it's possible that the csa you spoke to has manually reapplied some sort of discount. Withough looking into at your account I cannot tell. You had better confirm this me finks.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Hi

I'm in exactly the same situation as Paddy1 paying £19.99 as i payed £150 for my modem years ago so got a £5 discount each month.

However I decided to risk the upgrade via the upgrade link but am very concerned as to whether I'll be put on £24.99 a month.

Heres the screen grab of what the page looked like before I upgraded. Please take note that no price at all is on the page, all it says is NA where the price would of been.

Your thoughts on this please

UPDATE

Just had my bill for the 1st April - 30th April and it still shows £19.99 so I guess im a happy chappy at the moment as £19.99 for 2meg is a good price.

[Paddy1]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

UPDATE

Just had my bill for the 1st April - 30th April and it still shows £19.99 so I guess im a happy chappy at the moment as £19.99 for 2meg is a good price.

Hi Snoopz. How did you do the upgrade? Online or over the phone? I've been holding out for the automatic upgrade but I'd like to do it now if I thought I'd get away with it .

Also, what NTL area are you as policies might differ.

Paddy

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Paddy1

Hi Snoopz. How did you do the upgrade? Online or over the phone? I've been holding out for the automatic upgrade but I'd like to do it now if I thought I'd get away with it .

Also, what NTL area are you as policies might differ.

Paddy

Hi Paddy. Well I originally tried CS on the 18th of March and I had a hard time explaining the fact that when NTL originally brought out the 600k service(always been called 600k for a SACM and not 512k as far as I am aware), that we got a choice on whether to rent or buy the modem for £150... . so buying it out right meant we got BB for £19.99.

Anyway CS said I wasn't on BB! even though I've had BB since August 2001. so he went away and saw someone else and when he came back he said it was sorted and it wouldn't affect my price that I was paying(I got the impression he hadn't a clue). All I would have to do was reboot the modem he said.

2 Hours later still no upgrade so I said sod it and upgraded via the webpage which rebooted my modem after 10mins and the speed was 2meg rather than 750k.

I'm in the Cambridge area (not sure whether it Bromley or Langley as I don't know what that means). It wasn't an ex C&W area.

Also on that webpage it doesn't display any price for me only the letters NA, (see my screen grab I posted up the page) and on my bill its called 600kB service not 750k or 2meg.

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on and how it appears on your bill etc.

However next time theres a speed upgrade I'll be tempted to wait rather than do it manualy.

SnoopZ