Help with NTL...

[kevb0444]

Hi all.

My GF moved in to a new place a month or so back and it was in an NTL area so she decided to ditch AOHELL and sign up to some NTL services (TV, Phone and Broadband) She did this via their website and took advantage of some offers that they had at the time. The thing is….when she got her 1st bill they had changed the offers she had signed up to and put her on a new package.

 

She contacted NTL and told them the problem and they told her that when she had signed up, she had chosen 3 separate offers which you can’t do. You can only have one offer per household/account, so she checked the website and found she had missed the small print which stated that. She rang them back and asked if she could cancel her contract to which she was told “NO, as her 7 days (distant sellers act) had gone”.

 

She asked why, if she was not allowed to, did they initially sign her up to the 3 different offers and why at no point during the sign up process did it “red flag” what she was doing. Also why was she never contacted by NTL and told “sorry you can’t do this….but we can offer this to you if that’s ok”. They wouldn’t give an answer. They just did what all companies do and kept telling her she was locked into a 12 month contract.

 

Surly she can request they cancel her contract as she genuinely didn’t know she couldn’t do what she did and also at the point of sale she was under the impression she was getting these offers. It would seem that NTL have entered her into a contract she didn’t know she was entering or that they have changed the conditions of her contract without informing her.

 

Any advice please.

 

We have written to NTL, but they have yet to respond. She now knows she was in the wrong, but why let her sign up to 3 offers if she wasn’t allowed to do so and then change her package/contract without informing her.

 

Oh and she paid them £75 just after she signed everything to cover the first bill…..but when it came in they still want around £120 more from her.

 

Also her new price plan put her down as having free calls any time to 01/02 numbers….but her bill states she made over 300 calls (lasting less that a min) to 0845etc numbers. That more than 10 a day, which she has not knowledge of and NTL can’t/won’t provide information on the numbers called and when they were made. Just that she made them. They say they don’t record call details which cost under a certain amount.

[lisamellor]

im sorry i havent got the info to help you out more but if she has signed up for the wrong package, then i dont think it is right for them to put her onto a package of their choice, surely she should be able to change her package of her choice even if it is only 1 of the 3 she choose. the option should be hers to choose not ntls.

 

i would suggest calling NTL back and getting put through to the disconnection dept, they will more than likely help you more than c/s. i would also try OFCOM. the amount that she has paid is very high i would say. i have NTL for b/b and phone, fair enough i dont have the tv package but even so my bill comes to around 40.00 per month, and i use the phone ALOT!!.

 

they should be someone who can advise more, and im sure they will be along soon.

 

good luck lisaxx

[kevb0444]

Thank Lisamellor. I already spoke to their disconection dept. I was on hold for over 50mins before i got through (it was an 0845 number to) and was told the same thing. Locked in a 12 month contract blah blah....One person i spoke to even said "you really thought you were gong to get all those offers" in a rather sarcastic manner. Good job i got her name and complained about her in the letter i sent to NTL.

[welly]

I would do what Lisa told you and visit Ofcom's site and ask for help and also do a search on NTL (On CAG) as there has been a few probs on this site with them and also calls on the bill that you have not made!!

 

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

 

Welly:)

[kevb0444]

GGGGRRRRR!!!!!!

They cut the phone off again!!! I've now writen 7 letters to nTL and still no reply. I've spoken to OTELO who are willing to help me in a few weeks, as by then i will qualify for their help. I also contacted Consumer Direct who told me that NTL are in breach of contract and that they have to let me "terminate" my contract. They have also passed the case over to Trading Standards as they have shown an interest in it.

It's also become clear that NTL have not even logged any detals of my complaint on their systems....even after talking to their customer relations department and making a formal complaint. Everytime i speak to them i have to go over the same things again and again.

[tim2718281]

By the way, I pay for "fully itemised billing" with my NTL phone service.

 

The bill lists *all* calls.

 

Tim

[tom3131]

Hey,

 

NTL listed there various offers on the website, these are called "Invitations To Treat" which basically means "Permission To Make Me An Offer".

You made an offer, it might not be for the same specifications that the webpage said, but it was an offer that NTL could or accept or reject.

NTL are saying that they are not going to give you those offers.

So NO CONTRACT HAS BEEN FORMED, therefore there is no "12 Month Minimum Term" and they also have no right to retain your money.

You havent accepted the different package they offered therefore they shouldnt provide you with it.

Write them a letter demanding your monies to be refunded, if they fail to refund you it, then follow up with a LBA (Letter Before Action) stating that they have 14 days to provide a positive reply or that otherwise you will taking them to the Small Claims Court to seek your money back, and the costs of the Court case.

Need anymore help?

 

Regards,

Tom3131

[kevb0444]

Thanks for that Tom.

 

Thats very interesting to know. I'm just gonna wait until the deadline i set in my last letter runs out before i hit them with anything else.

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

Thanks again

 

Kev

[bambi1980]

Ignore this

[bambi1980]

Hi all,

I have had a problem with NTL too. I signed up to their package of broadband/unlimited weekend calls/digital tv package which should cost £30.00 per month. I called them to ask a few questions about the package as I was going to sign up to it online because it states you get £10 deducted off your first bill, but the advisor on the phone said he would add this on for me if I ordered over the phone which I did. A few days later I called them back as I had decided to go onto the family pack tv package which would be £39.99 per month. This was sorted out for me and the engineer came as expected and installed everything.

When he went I excitedly picked up the remote control to have a look at the services. To my horror he had installed me analogue tv! I wondered why the remote and set-top box looked quite outdated, then when I checked the channel line-up I realised that this wasn't digital tv as I had ordered. The picture was poor and there are only about 20 channels working (I had signed up to a 120+ channel list).

I immediately rang customer services who told me I couldn't even get digital tv in my area. At no point was I told this when signing up to the package. I explained all this on the phone and the advisor was quite apologetic and when I said I was cancelling the package she offered me broadband for £9.99 per month and telephone for £16.50 per month. I declined the offer and was told my package was now cancelled and someone would call me to arrange to pick up my box and uninstall my services. I received no such call so after a week I called them back.

The advisor I spoke to had no record of me cancelling their services and I was then offered broadband for £9.99 per month and free calls/landline for 6 months and after 6 months I could ring and get the next 6 months free. Now call me naive but this seemed too good an offer to resist so I signed up to it.

After nearly a week I have received no confirmation of this offer in writing, so I am beginning to doubt it will happen.

Also I received my first bill which is very difficult to understand and I'm not stupid by any means. Suprise, suprise the £10.00 deduction never happened. The last advisor I spoke to said she will deduct £25.00 off my next bill (I paid a £25.00 deposit on signing up). Also they won't be bothering to pick up the set-top box as it's not worth their while (words of the advisor)

Another thing I've noticed is the engineer had to drill through my front when sorting out my tv and has made quite a mess of my outside brick wall. Where he has drilled outside the front of some of my brickwork has come off.

I haven't complained about this yet as I'm beginning to tire of their poor customer services.

 

I realise this is a lengthy and negative post but what do other people suggest I do next. I'm not sure whether to cancel all my services because I don't trust them and I don't know if I should bother claiming about the damaged brickworkor how to go about it.

 

Please help,

Lucy

[kevb0444]

Hi.

 

If i were you i would put it all in writing and send it to:

 

NTL Customer Relations

OTELO Review Team

Concord House

Concord Business Park

Threapwood Road

Manchester

M22 0EY

When i spoke to OTELO thats who they said were the best people to talk to. But then they are still rubbish...but i geuss it's worth a shot. Plus you get 30 days to terminate your contract, so if you do want to quite NTL within that time then call their customer service. Don't talk to the standard operator as they can't dsconect you, ask to speak to the disconection department. The operator will try and bluff you but insist that you want to be put through to disconections and that you won't discus the matter with them. Be strong as they'll do anything to stop you.

Your lucky as NTL f****d me over good and proper (in their eyes) and now i've got a fight on my hands. Hopefully you won't have to much hassel.

Oh and def say something about the wall.

[bambi1980]

Thanks for the reply kevb0444. I will definately put it all in writing and tell them what I think because their customer services are nil really.

[kevb0444]

OK

 

NTL just phoned and said that if i didn't pay my bill by the end of the phone call they'd cut off all my services!!!! M*T*E*F*C*E*S

 

I told them the acount was in dispute and they were like "oh......is it?" I told them that on Monday i had called NTL and got them to "protect" my account for 10 days, giving NTL time to respond to my 7 letters (and tons of phone calls) of complaint.

 

I asked the woman from NTL why, seeing as my account is protected, are is she ringing me and threatening me. She didn't know what to say and told me she would transfer my account to another department. She gave me the number for this department and told me to speak to them.

 

I rang the new department which happend to be their credit team, who are only there to take payments on the account. So after gong through the whole story again the operater said there was no record of my complaint and said she realy couldn't do anything!!!!! She asked why i hadn't spoken to a customer service manager or team leader and i told her i tried once but the operator at the tme refused to let me speak to one!!!

 

Anywhoooo after what felt like forever i'm still no further with NTL but i was told that today is "complaints day" when they asigne more of their staff into reading complaint letters and dealing with them. I was told that they should hopefully read one of my 7 letters today.

 

Hmmm....fingers crossed.

[kevb0444]

Ok....this post is a wee bit late but anywho...

 

Someone from NTL phoned my GF last Wednesday and she put me on and we came to an agreement by which we agreed to terminate her contract and that my GF gets billed at the prices of her original sign up agreement up untill the end of her next bill period (26th sept) and then thats it.

 

Well that was good and all seemed happy and fine untill an hour later when her internet went t*ts up and has been ever since. On one min, off the next..that sort of thing. No one knows what wrong with it. There is a nationwide upgrade going on at the mo, but NTL's tech's say it's not affecting her connection so they're sending in a tech to have a look.

 

Oh well...one thing sorted another one starts...

[gimp0r]

Kevb0444, if the modem is working for about 2 mins then rebooting then i would imagine its been cloned.

 

Its a hack that some people use to get free broadband, Basically they will program another modem with the same unique address (MAC) as yours, As NTL don't know the difference between the modems then they are both allowed online. Meaning anything illegal ie.. online fraud or dubious content that they might partake of using a modem cloned from yours will be traceable back to you.

 

The modem will probably start working again soon when the person realises he has cloned off somebody too close and the modems are interfering with each other. If not then call NTL

[kevb0444]

Hmm...

I don't think it's that as the connection is via a set top box, not a modem. Plus we had an NTL tech come round today who confirmed its a local area fault that NTL has yet to acknoledge. He said it might be back on full time in a few days!!!

[gimp0r]

just because the modem is built in to the set top box doesn't mean its not cloned onto a standalone modem. as for it being a local area fault its the standard excuse, they couldn't possibly tell you how unsecure the network is. I bet if you ask a few neighbours it isn't an area fault.

 

it will stop when the person gets the clone sorted as it will be useless to them doing the same as yours is doing, If you had a standalone modem i bet they would have replaced it today and said the modem was faulty.

[Rich44]

ive never seen this happen and ive seen many cloned modems around, im not saying you're wrong but ive not seen it happen and distance should make no odds anyway as you're all part of the same network.

 

Ive seen an FAQ on how to do it and it does mention scanning for mac addresses and doesnt mention any problems such as this, besides knowing NTL and their shabby STBs its entirely probable its the box.

 

Is it one of the old black pace boxes? If so then theyre about as much use as a chocolate kettle in the Sahara theyre under powered and if you stick high speed bb thru them the CPU cannot handle that and the TV and eventually loses sync to the cab this happened to mine all the time when I was a customer the only way it got fixed was when they came out and installed a SACM instead then the boxes worked perfectly and it didnt take 10 mins to change channel

[gimp0r]

You better re-read that faq mate.. Its down to basic networking, you cannot have two identical mac addresses online on the same network without them conflicting (Hence when 1 of them boots it kicks the other off, which then reboots and kicks the other 1 off, About every 2 minutes), Thats why people swap mac addresses with people on different UBR's

 

I would pretty well guarantee its not a local issue, As you probably know cloning is rife and the network is getting very overcrowded. It happens all the time

[Rich44]

as I also pretty well NTLs network is SCREWED in most places as for mac addresses techincally you can have multiple macs on the same network its NTLs network that causes a problem with this normal networks mac addresses are irrelevant.

 

99% its the network or the box screwed esp if its one of the old black pace ones much more likely than mac cloning im afraid

[kevb0444]

Ok calm down you two.....

 

I'm 100% sure it's not a clone problem as it wasn't on and off every 2 mins. Normaly got a good hour and half befor it would go off for ages then come back.

 

As for the box. It's one of the newer small silver samsung ones.

 

Rich is right about the NTL network, there are a lot of server upgrades going on across the country.

 

Also the problem seems to have been sorted as i've now had a full 24hrs without any problems at all and i've had a good steady bandwidth of around 2.79mbps. During the problems, when i was connected my bandwidth would constantly fluctuate between 309.20 kbps and 1.93 mbps.

[M'n'M]

Im very glad to see this thread as my 16 year old boy is driving me mad moaning about the internet sticking all the time.

Its like it has a time limit set when we repair the connection it seems to come back on (but not always).

 

The interuption instances range from mins to hours when the connection is solid its like lightning.

 

we have a wireless router (Belkin), which is set up on dynamic which dosn't give a timeout option .

 

Pc (ethernet connection- Lan connection on the router) and the Laptop (wirless connection) both get this problem.

 

Thinking of ditching Ntl but they hard hard to lose had 3 months free when i last tried.

 

Can any one tell me if its fixable (fault in our config) or wether its a common thing to ntl:mad:

[Rich44]

You need to start your own thread but it could be your router or it could be the cable modem, start your own thread and post up as much detail as you can.

 

Sounds like your problem may have been resolved what a surprise after some of the network upgrades have been completed thats the trouble with NTL they have moved too far too quick and to a certain extent are a victim of their own marketting also the biggest problem has been all the different cable co's that were merged in they all did things differently (some were a mess) and its taken years to get straight add on NTLs cash flow problems and you have a recipe for things not getting done very promptly but they are getting there slowly

[kevb0444]

Hmm...

 

Well it's fine now...but i'm getting off NTL v.soon....had it up to here with there customer service........

[buzby]

Some times it has nothing to do with network re-segmentation. Having had a great BB connection for almost 8 years, connects failed and d/ls were very slow. The modem would go offline 5-9 time a day, yet when the engineer called, it would work fine.

 

The solution took a long time in coming, but had to do with the return channel NTL use to uplink the responses from my PC to the Internet. As each new customer arrived and was added to my local node, they all defaulted to Channel 1 (of 3). As soon as they swapped me to CH2 at the Local node, I was off and running.