Dear Customer.
Thank you for your email.

Due to the Data Protection Act and NTL's own Company Policy, we do not release
any information regarding our subscribers.

If you should require more information regarding NTL's Privacy Policy, please
follow the link below.

http://www.home.ntl.com/page/privacy&source=ntlworld

If you'd like to call our customer support line, please use the following
number:

08700 151515 (8am - 8pm Mon - Fri & 9am - 6pm Sat and Sun)

Calls to this number are charged at national rate.

Thanks,
Gareth.


--Original Message--
From:      shiggaddi@hotmail.com
Date:      05/06/06
To:      support@ntlfreedom.com
Subject:      Billing issue[#6041158]

(My name and address removed)

NTL Freedom number - (my phone number removed)

Hello

I cancelled my NTL Freedom account in February via Ross on ext 2525, to take
effect after 12 March 2006, and what I thought was my last payment went
through shortly after that.

Having looked at my credit card statement, you had taken another months
payment in April, which you were not entitled to take, and not authorised to
take, as my service was cancelled.

I called to complain, and the person taking my call apologised for the
billing error, and said my account would be refunded.

However after waiting about 3 weeks, my account has not been refunded.

I called up customer services just now using the same number as before, and
they were unable to deal with my request, and insisted I call your premium
rate 0870 number to complain.  I find it unacceptable on principle that I
should use an 0870 number, which you make a profit from to complain about
your mistakes.

I would therefore appreciate that this matter can be resolved without the
need to call your premium rate number, or issue a chargeback against you, via
my credit card company.

Thankyou in advance for your help.

(My name removed)

Looks like an e-mail to the director to sort this mess out, or contact egg to arrange a chargeback, on the grounds that I have complained, and they admitted their mistake, but haven't refunded as promised, and have now told me to call a premium rate number to sort out their mess, which I don't want to do.

Also, they insist on calling it National rate.  I know OFCOM won't care too much about it, and the ASA won't deal with it, as it's not advertising.  Is there any authority to complain to?

http://forums.ntlhell.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=31822

Executive office
NTL
Concorde Business Park
THREAPWOOD BUSINESS PARK
WYTHENSHAWE
MANCHESTER
M22 OEY

UK Info
0161 954 2000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTL
Key people      
James Mooney, Chairman
Simon Duffy, Executive Vice Chairman
Stephen Burch, Chief Executive

UK Info
UK HQ
Ntl Communications Ltd
Bartley Way
Bartley Wood Business Park
Hook,Hampshire
RG27 9XA
01256 75 2000    /   1000              
Fax 01256 754100


Bad luck if you're a Virgin Mobile customer.
They own you now.

Better be quick - according to this Mail on Sunday article they're sacking 4000 staff and moving their call centres overseas - so you won't get any sense out of them shortly (even if you do now).

Shiggaddi wrote on May 7^th, 2006 at 8:45pm:

Also, they insist on calling it National rate.  I know OFCOM won't care too much about it, and the ASA won't deal with it, as it's not advertising.  Is there any authority to complain to?

The only people you can complain to are Trading Standards as the correspondence is personal to you, good look with T.S. if they are anything like my lot,(Lancashire), however if you can find public literature relating to the call cost you can the complain to ASA

I have just been on the phone to a deputy of a director to sort this mess out.  Was basically told off like a naughty school boy for not using 0870.

She argued until blue in the face that it was a National rate number, and said "When I signed up to NTL, I accepted these terms and conditions that I must call 0870 customer services"  Comments like "Well, if you call to book train tickets, you have to call 0870" and "If those tickets didn't arrive, would you call 0870 or risk losing out on your trip"

I said that as an ex customer I haven't chosen for them to take extra money from my credit card, and why should I pay to complain.  I was basically told that if I had called customer services, "Why should we pay your phone cost"

This is the attitude at director level!!  When I said about my refund, I was told "Well if you went through the correct channels, you'd have it sorted out by now, and be able to query why it's not been credited back.  Also you must allow 28 days"  I had only actually allowed 20 days.

She was adamant that 0870 is National Rate, and I even mentioned OFCOM and the ASA advising against calling it that, but she dodged the issue, and said that "As a business, we're entitled to use this number as customer services"  She dodged the National rate description.

The end result was that she was going to chase the matter up on my behalf, despite telling me that she didn't have to.  I said that if it wasn't cleared within 28 days, I would be arranging a chargeback with Egg.  I also said that if the credit appears back on my account, then I'll consider the matter closed.

I find this kind of attitude appauling.  Being told off for not calling their premium rate numbers, being made to feel it's doing me a favour by looking into the matter, when infact I didn't want this whole mess in the first place.  Also being told that I'm only assuming that it's not been credited back, because I haven't waited 28 days.

I just hope that someone from the media is reading this.  It's quite common for stroppy customer service in the NTL call centre, but this kind of attitude from an assistant to the director certainly proves their attitude to customer service, and this only reinforces my decision to cancel was the right move.

It's like banging your head against a brick wall.  :'(

They maintain the national rate rubbish. I have today received a copy of terms and conditions for Vodafone. The covering letter says that I can contact "Customer Services team" on an 0870 number. By the number is a * that indicates "Calls will be charged at National Rate."

Ofcom don't seem to care, they think that it should be up to providers to give information. They also think that providers use the numbers for some 'value-added' benefit. The providers quote the standard/local/national rate nonsense.

No one wants to do anything to alleviate a problem. It's as though the lie has been told so many times that you cannot argue sense. Perhaps if we could all start saying that 1 penny is actually worth 1 pound we could become richer.  ::)

So, they're justifying ripping off people and lying about the call costs so they can pay the redundancy packages of the 4000-6000 they're sacking and the cost of setting up their overseas call centres!

Well the good news is that after my complaint to a higher authority, the rebate was credited to my credit card almost immediately.

Glad to see the end of it now!!

Shiggaddi wrote on May 8^th, 2006 at 3:47pm:

I just hope that someone from the media is reading this.  It's quite common for stroppy customer service in the NTL call centre, but this kind of attitude from an assistant to the director certainly proves their attitude to customer service, and this only reinforces my decision to cancel was the right move.

I think you will find your so called assistant to the director was just a high level customer complaints person officially allowed to masquearde as such and those people are hard as nails and paid to say No.  Real Directors are usually very helpful if you can get to them or their secretaries.  Customer service people are like concentration camp guards in mentality in many instances.

I suggest you email the director directly.  Executive Complaints at many companies like Royal Bank of Scotland simply = escalated customer services.

wrote on May 15^th, 2006 at 5:36pm:

I think you will find your so called assistant to the director was just a high level customer complaints person officially allowed to masquearde as such and those people are hard as nails and paid to say No.  Real Directors are usually very helpful if you can get to them or their secretaries.  Customer service people are like concentration camp guards in mentality in many instances.

I also believe this to be true.  You just have to get passed their bodyguards  ;)

bbb_uk wrote on May 15^th, 2006 at 6:18pm:

I also believe this to be true.  You just have to get passed their bodyguards  ;)

I officially got the escalated Customer Services Department Manager of HP to admit that if anyone rang the geographic number for their uk main switchboard asking for the Managing Director's secretary they were put through to her team.  Unless they could ask for the Managing Director's secretary by name they didn't get through to her.

Worse than that if you were put through to the escalated customer complaints team their staff were deliberately rude cheeky and hostile and only when I began emailing the US Managing Director of HP directly did their attitude suddenly change and all the disputed warranty repair items get done without question.

One lesson I have learned with customer service departments is that far less customers have the energy to moan in writing than on the phone and that by writing an email you can copy in five or six senior directors in the company usually to far greater effect.  This is one reason why I no longer call nearly as many 0870 numbers as I used to and now write far more emails.

The Royal Bank of Scotland group is the one depressing organisation I am a customer of where all attempts to write to senior management directly by email fail and are instead passed back to the useless numbskulls in Customer Relations for a response that says and admits nothing.

Hi there!

A friend of mine uses 150 on NTL - is this number of any use ?

James Bond

jamesbond wrote on May 15^th, 2006 at 8:01pm:

A friend of mine uses 150 on NTL - is this number of any use ? James Bond

Ummm. No use at all I'm afraid.

Its a good job that I am not M 007 or you might soon need to be looking for a new career! ;)

I thought I had the secretary to the director, or someone very high up in the company.

My complaint about the poor service back in October last year, and the subsequent agreement to credit with 1 months free subscription which took 3 months to action was then taken to Neil Birkett, who sent an e-mail back apologising, and then asked Vicky to action the complaint.

I got a call back from her and my complaint was dealt with immediately, and she very helpful and explained the payment was only delayed because someone forgot to action my refund.  She also came across as someone who gets things done, and she was thankful of my complaint as she doesn't like poor service and the need for me to chase things up.  (Perhaps she meant her wasting time on my complaint rather than a customer being put out, but I certainly took it as she didn't want a customer to be put out)

The recent experience has certainly changed my mind over her attitude.  Originally she was sorting out a problem after an e-mail to the director, this time I called her direct as her geo number was still on my phone.  However despite this attitude over 0870 numbers ,she is still someone who gets things done as my refund was processed immediately.

I was utterly disgusted wth NTL too, cancelling Cable Broadband, telephone and digital television. Like you, I received a bill a month after cacellation, and they can go to hell. I'm not paying any more money to them, and have cancelled my direct debits to NTL. The spread of 0870 numbers is getting out of hand, even Dell now require you to call an 0870 number to buy a computer. I've just given up altogether on anyone using 0870 numbers. Also, 0845 numbers are almost as bad - the whole thing is a scam, with charges between 5p and £1.50. I've asked OFCOM to cancel 0845/0870/09... numbers, but they won't play.

I know you will all love this, NTL have left open a gap in the new 0845/0870 Customer numbers, they still advertise 0800 052 7857 on a test card on Milton Keynes CATV, it does still work for SALES & CUSTOMER SERVICES.

Mind you, shows how lax NTL really is, I don't subscribe to NTL they want £4 for basic analog TV, but if you plug your TV into the wall it works anyway!!

I always call the sales line on 0800 052 0855. Option 2 then puts you through to customer services. You have to wait while a recording tells you that "in future" you can call an 0845 number to go direct to customer services. But then you are put through.