First NTL Bill After Making Changes

[Dougie]

Just got a query concerning my bill that I received today, I will ring CSs tomorrow but I just wondered whether anyone could give me a heads up.

Anyways. On the 18th March I gave my 30 days notice that I wished to cancel my NTL tv service and that I just wanted BB and Telephone. The bill that I received today included the following item

Your Services - Part Month
18 Mar - 20 Apr 1 Telco only Line Rental - £10.62

Why have they charged me line rental for the period that I will still have the full package?

Also they've charged me for a whole month 01 Apr - 30 Apr for the full TV package. Even though my TV package will be cancelled as of 17 April, are you expected to pay for a full month or can I expect a refund on my next bill?

I apologise if I've overlooked something claringly obvious!

Thanks for any info

[paulyoung666]

its a months notice to cancel the tv , when did you inform them that you no longer required it ?????

[Dougie]

I informed them of my wish to cancel TV on the 18th March

[Marge]

What should have happened is the line rental should have been billed from 18th April not 18th March. With the TV package you will receive a credit back from the 18th - 30th April. Send me your details if you want and I'll cast my beady eye over it

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by Dougie

Just got a query concerning my bill that I received today, I will ring CSs tomorrow but I just wondered whether anyone could give me a heads up.

Anyways. On the 18th March I gave my 30 days notice that I wished to cancel my NTL tv service and that I just wanted BB and Telephone. The bill that I received today included the following item

Your Services - Part Month
18 Mar - 20 Apr 1 Telco only Line Rental - £10.62

Why have they charged me line rental for the period that I will still have the full package?

Also they've charged me for a whole month 01 Apr - 30 Apr for the full TV package. Even though my TV package will be cancelled as of 17 April, are you expected to pay for a full month or can I expect a refund on my next bill?

I apologise if I've overlooked something claringly obvious!

Thanks for any info

What's happened there is normal behaviour, though a bit stupid.

When they took your TV cancellation they took 30 days notice from 18th march, hence from 18th April you'll pay line rental, and this gets added manually as the sytem would not notice. hence it appears on your bill.

However, the billing part of the system is not 'aware' that your TV package is going to stop on the same day, because it doesn't become aware of that until the day it happens. So you still get billed as normal, and then get a credit back for any TV service billed that covers AFTER the 18th April.

Frankly the way it works is stupid, because this month you're paying far too much and then you get it all back. It's not a deliberate design, it just happens that way unfortunately.

At least it shows they've done everything correctly though.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by scrotnig

What's happened there is normal behaviour, though a bit stupid.

When they took your TV cancellation they took 30 days notice from 18th march, hence from 18th April you'll pay line rental, and this gets added manually as the sytem would not notice. hence it appears on your bill.

However, the billing part of the system is not 'aware' that your TV package is going to stop on the same day, because it doesn't become aware of that until the day it happens. So you still get billed as normal, and then get a credit back for any TV service billed that covers AFTER the 18th April.

Frankly the way it works is stupid, because this month you're paying far too much and then you get it all back. It's not a deliberate design, it just happens that way unfortunately.

At least it shows they've done everything correctly though.

Is it stupid or is it just a money making scam? If the company knows what is happening then they should be taking action to correct the situation even if it means having to manually alter the bills until such time as a workable computer solution is provided. It may only be a small sum extra on the customers bill but it could seriously affect some customers especially if they are reducing services because they cannot for some reason afford them. NTL are laughing though as they bank that money for a month and earn interest on it. The small amount they gain this way from a customer can soon become a large amount when multiplied bu the number of customers it affects.What would NTLs reaction be if the customer cancelled their direct debit to prevent this unwarranted charge being taken. Would a non-DD excess be applied in this situation?

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

Is it stupid or is it just a money making scam? If the company knows what is happening then they should be taking action to correct the situation even if it means having to manually alter the bills until such time as a workable computer solution is provided. It may only be a small sum extra on the customers bill but it could seriously affect some customers especially if they are reducing services because they cannot for some reason afford them. NTL are laughing though as they bank that money for a month and earn interest on it. The small amount they gain this way from a customer can soon become a large amount when multiplied bu the number of customers it affects.What would NTLs reaction be if the customer cancelled their direct debit to prevent this unwarranted charge being taken. Would a non-DD excess be applied in this situation?

Thing is they don't gain a penny because the money is all credited back on the next bill and it is all righted that way. It's definitely not deliberate, they just don't have the time or resources to devote to things like that. They won't pay to have it changed because it would be a really major expensive change to a billing system they intend one day to phase out.

If the DD is cancelled the charge may well appear automatically within days...it is meant to...but you could always ring and ask for your DD to be amended downwards to exclude the line rental charge, this will then carry over to the next bill, and the ensuing credit for TV services should wipe it out leaving no carry over. The risk here is that if there IS a carryover of even a few pence, this will hit the customer's credit rating, which is one of the reasons this isn't advised by staff.

It's just a bit of a pain...and as it mostly affects customers who are reducing or cancelling services, I would guess it's not seen as a major priority. It's just too expensive to fix with a new billing system on the way that won't have the problem in the first place.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by scrotnig

Thing is they don't gain a penny because the money is all credited back on the next bill and it is all righted that way. It's definitely not deliberate, they just don't have the time or resources to devote to things like that. They won't pay to have it changed because it would be a really major expensive change to a billing system they intend one day to phase out.

If the DD is cancelled the charge may well appear automatically within days...it is meant to...but you could always ring and ask for your DD to be amended downwards to exclude the line rental charge, this will then carry over to the next bill, and the ensuing credit for TV services should wipe it out leaving no carry over. The risk here is that if there IS a carryover of even a few pence, this will hit the customer's credit rating, which is one of the reasons this isn't advised by staff.

It's just a bit of a pain...and as it mostly affects customers who are reducing or cancelling services, I would guess it's not seen as a major priority. It's just too expensive to fix with a new billing system on the way that won't have the problem in the first place.

Come on, if NTL have more money than they should for a month they WILL earn interest on it. To say that what they are doing is not deliberate is farcical when they know what they are doing. The fact that NTL know they are charging the customer wrongly and knowingly taking money that they are not entitled to take is sufficient reason for them to prevent this from happening no matter what the cost. Maybe a credit of a couple of pounds on the customers account when the cancellation is being actioned would make up for NTLs mistake in billing.

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

Come on, if NTL have more money than they should for a month they WILL earn interest on it. To say that what they are doing is not deliberate is farcical when they know what they are doing. The fact that NTL know they are charging the customer wrongly and knowingly taking money that they are not entitled to take is sufficient reason for them to prevent this from happening no matter what the cost. Maybe a credit of a couple of pounds on the customers account when the cancellation is being actioned would make up for NTLs mistake in billing.

It isn't a mistake...the billing is correct, it's just the changes overlap.
Spending money 'no matter what the cost' is what nearly killed the company...the massive costs involved in changing it would never get signed off for ANY section of the customer base, never mind for people who are actually cancelling their services.

When Harmony comes in that will fix it. The situation has been the same since 1997 when Cable & Wireless introduced the current billing system, it's been ok all this time, a few more months or even a year isn't going to hurt.

If it was trivial cash I am sure they'd do it, but it ain't. It would involve a major change to how billing works which would also adversely impact other customers in other ways.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by scrotnig

It isn't a mistake...the billing is correct, it's just the changes overlap.
Spending money 'no matter what the cost' is what nearly killed the company...the massive costs involved in changing it would never get signed off for ANY section of the customer base, never mind for people who are actually cancelling their services.

When Harmony comes in that will fix it. The situation has been the same since 1997 when Cable & Wireless introduced the current billing system, it's been ok all this time, a few more months or even a year isn't going to hurt.

If it was trivial cash I am sure they'd do it, but it ain't. It would involve a major change to how billing works which would also adversely impact other customers in other ways.

OMG how can you say that the billing is correct when the customer is being charged twice for the same thing.

No one is saying that NTL should recklessly spend money, only that they should bill the customer correctly. There would be no massive cost involved if NTL put a manual credit on the account at the same time as they actioned the cancellation with a note to check the following months bill. NTL obviously know the problem exists but appear to disregard it as it is making them money. They do not appear to bother about the affect that this incorrect billing is having on its customers many of the ones affected maybe having financial problems which has prompted their reduction in services. What a shock it must be for them to find that they are having to pay even more than normal for the bill issued just after the cancellation.