NTL remove £5 discount for "own modem"

[rotty]

Sorry if this has been posted before but I had a look and couldn't find anything

I was one of the early NTL subscribers that biught my own modem and got a £5 reduction in the monthly bill

I have just recieved this months bill and noticed a price rise to £24.99 a month , after contacting them they say that they no longer give the £5 reduction

Now I know that the reduction received to date has more than paid for the modem but at no point did the agreement mention it being for a finite timescale , anyone know anymore on this ?

I am more annoyed on the principle that they think they can unilaterally change the rules and without notifying me either

[etccarmageddon]

technically, it's a price rise which there are entitled to do. although from a PR point of view it isnt a very smart way to treat customers.

[rotty]

possibly but the terms were for a £5 reduction on the normal price so unless the normal price had gone up £5 too then I think that they would be struggling to justify it as such

[arcamalpha2004]

And, being a price rise, you are entitled to re think your subscription to NTL.

A bit crappy they did not inform you first.

[Rone]

Or tell them to supply a new modem in its place?
Its a bit of cheapskating on their behalf, you can't believe they would stoop so low.

Mind you, i can believe it.

[arcamalpha2004]

Originally Posted by Rone

Or tell them to supply a new modem in its place?
Its a bit of cheapskating on their behalf, you can't believe they would stoop so low.

Mind you, i can believe it.

Yep, it is NTL.
Just call and ask for a new modem if they are being funny, if you decide not to cancel.
They really do seem to be arse about tit.

[Paul M]

The option to buy your own and get a reduction was withdrawn a long time ago - but those who had done so were allowed to keep the discount.

They are probably entitled to remove this at any time - but this is an extremely poor way to go about it - they should give you some notice at the very least. Sadly, some areas of ntl have yet to discover what Customer satisfaction is about.

I would insist that they supply you with a brand new modem as you are now paying for it.

[rotty]

I have rang them and effectively got a 3 month extension to my current rate , gives me time to look at the other alternative suppliers

[poolking]

In this case, I'd ring them up and ask for a modem, as there is no longer an incentive to keep using your own modem.

[rotty]

they will supply and install me a new modem if I want though I don't really want to have to wait in for them to do it , I have 2 modems already so don't need another even though I can see the fun in doing it just to be awkward

[td444]

If they did that to me, id show them the door. I do hate it when company's treat long term customers like crap.

[etccarmageddon]

perhaps you should complain to trading standards.

[dv2529]

I rang NTL today and they said they didn't know why it had changed and so put it back to 19.99, supposedly.............

[Flubflow]

I've got this increase in my bill too. I am absolutely fuming.
It's like they've just decided to steal £5 out of my pocket every month from now on.
I don't WANT their poxy free modem. I bought MINE years ago and it is working as fine as ever and I WANT MY FRIKKIN £5 DISCOUNT BACK. If they won't give me that back then they can pay for the original cost of my cable modem at least.

Furthermore, I can't exactly understand quite what they have done with the billing numbers on the cable modem service to make me owe £25.65 and not the new 24.99.

I've just about had enough. After the recent debacle this year with this crap new epg software on the cable TV and the dysfunctional spammy email system I think this is the final trigger that dictates I move on to another provider after all these years. Whether I end up spending less, the same or even a little more I care not one jot and I will sleep soundly on the knowledge that at least NTL will not be getting my money any more.

-- end of rant --

[Bazooka_Boy]

IT CAN BE DONE



To let all of you know that NTL CAN be persuaded to act with honour it just takes a lot of fighting.



I've now had to fight for my £5 CM owners discount twice. The first time when I upgraded to the 1MB service from 512kb, the second a year later (only last month) when the first 12 monthly discounts had run out on the system.



The first time I had to fight for the discount I ended up (after plenty of calls to CS) e-mailing one of the MDs through the e-mail addresses available at NTHellworld.co.uk. I didn't get aggressive in the e-mail I just set out my justifications



1) At the time I was encouraged to buy my CM I was not told that this discount was limited in anyway.



2) As the standard charge covers the modem rental, charging me the standard charge without providing me with another CM was very close to fraud 'charging for something you don't own'.



3) In the grand scheme of things I know £5 month is not a large figure for NTL especially when you consider my monthly expenditure with them is normally over £100. Is it worth losing me as a customer for that £5 which would be pure profit for NTL? It is not like they are losing money for having me as a CM customer.



4) Customers talk. I work in IT and normally have no problem recommending the NTL broadband service to people who ask. I accept that it is not perfect but none is and apart from this issue I have been happy with the broadband service I have received. On a point of principal such as this I would stop recommending NTL as to my mind removal of the £5 owners discount is dishonourable.



To be fair within two days of sending my e-mail I was contacted by a customer care specialist from my region (I'm in Farnborough btw) who arranged the monthly £5 discount to be applied each month. I can't imagine that there are still many people that own their modem. Surely it would be better for NTL to sort out this issue with constancy once and for all with all regions.



KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT



Bryan