Finally back to £19.99 for 750k broadband :-)

[thingi]

I'm finally back to paying 19.99 per month for my 750k connection :-)

It all started about five months ago when NTL suddenly decided to start charging me rental for *MY* cable modem. Now I never really got a real answer as to why they were going to start charging me for rental of my euipment - NTL gave me several different reasons....

1. We've changed our billing system and the new one won't allow your £5.00 discount.
2. You should have been paying £25 for the last two years. Not sure why you pay 19.99
3. It's due to a 'data-cleansing exercise'........
4. We sent you a letter 2 months ago warning you the price will rise...... (YEAH RIGHT).

Now the truth of the matter is that NTL don't have a clue. I argued with SEVERAL managers about the situation, I was told countless times that NTL don't charge line rental, and also told that NTL never referred customers to a company who sells cable modems........

The truth is this:-

1. When I took up NTL BB many years ago in Nottingham I had no choice but to purchase my cable modem for £170 quid. There were no modems available to rent. I was one of the first NTL BB customer's in the country.

2. At that time a 512/600k service (the only one on offer) was £40.00 - £5.00 discount due to having my own modem. The first three months were free. Then when the first three months were up NTL dropped the price to £25.00 - £5.00! = £19.99 for 512k.

3. I've always been given a £5.00 discount = the cable modem rental charge. NTL still deny to this day they charge rental for CMs, yet I've always received a rental discount......

3. NTL never sent me a letter advised me of a price rise/removal of rental discount, this is a breech of the terms and conditions I agreed to.

4. I don't believe anybody has been working at NTL for a long as I've had my BB service, no-one there would believe that I actually had to BUY my cable modem.

5. Quite a few friends also have had to start paying £25.00 quid even though they have their own modems..... I work a 'well known' company based in Nottingham providing PC technical support - i.e. more geeks with BB than you can shake a stick at ;)

6. NTL's offer to charge me rental for my cable modem was NOT acceptable.

7. NTL's second offer to provide me with one of their modem's and charge me for that one was also not acceptable (my 3Com one works fine, I don't need NTL's).

Anyway I think I'm ranting...... but do you know what I had to do to resolve this???? After 18 phone calls, and three call backs which were promised but never happened I finally got smart....

Did I call an NTL call center to get this sorted.... Did I buggery. I called the MD's office direct, I got through to a lovely lady who actually listened to what I had to say. She thought that NTL was 'barking mad' if they are really trying to charge me rental for my own equipment.

The lady said give me a few days to look into this......A few days had passed, then I received a call, all sorted, you are back to paying £19.99 per month for your service... The reason why I'd had all this hassle........ "A TRAINING ISSUE"

thingi

[Russ]

Welcome to the site:)

With regards to what you were told from the MD's office.....apologies if I sound a little cynical at this but you may be better off waiting until you actually see a bill for the reduced figure of £19.99 before feeling relieved. This site is quite well-populated with stories of people who were told they'd get certain things by very helpful-sounding people but it never coming to pass.

However, I really do hope it is sorted!

[bopdude]

Hi & :welcome: thingi, don't / can't say much about your particular problem except it rings true for many a cf member, myself, I've had more or less 5 years of trouble free service via NTL, IMHO their alreet :p: ;)

[thingi]

Russ, you don't sound cynical, you just sound like a typical NTL customer ;)

In all seriousness though I've actually checked my bill and it really is back, I also phoned NTL and they confirmed the "£5.00 rebate"........

What I was SO angry about was the complete brain-deadness of all the CC staff I spoke to. I even had one manager call me sarcastic! I completely deny this, I was actually being condesending at the time :-)

The poor bloke didn't even know the definition of sarcastic, It's amazing how some people become managers. This bloke has the customer skills of a deaf and dumb donkey - I like to protect the innocent, but since he's far from that his name is Gary [admin edit - please don't post full names of individual staff]

thingi

[Russ]

Yes, it's a wonder how some people get promoted within ntl.....perhaps their success is measured on the length of their call queues ;)

(and I removed the name - as much as I'm in favour of 'naming and shaming', a recent discussion about doing that on here decided that it's not in the site's best interests)

[Paul]

... NTL never referred customers to a company who sells cable modems........That's completely untrue. The choice of using your own CM was a Diamond Cable policy that ntl carried on in Nottinham when they took over Diamond. I had my BB installed exactly four years ago today, and I had the choice of renting a CM or buying one. I chose to rent, so the discount has never been a problem for me.

[carlingman]

<Snip>

:tu:

And to aid the thousands they have ripped off on this I think this thread should be made sticky (ie one that remains at the top for all to see).

:tu:

[carlingman]

That's completely untrue. The choice of using your own CM was a Diamond Cable policy that ntl carried on in Nottinham when they took over Diamond. I had my BB installed exactly four years ago today, and I had the choice of renting a CM or buying one. I chose to rent, so the discount has never been a problem for me.

And before that I think you will find the poster is correct as NTL in them days used to refer people with no option other than buying the cable modem and the company was Global Direct.

:D

[mmm]

In fairness to ntl - you signed up for 512k broadband for 40 quid a month (the 600K was unofficial IMHO)
.
You are now getting 750k for 20 quid.

But this is of course no excuse for the attitude and approach of ntl customer dis-service.

ntl have missed a trick somewhere along the line, they should have offerred you a deal when the speeds were upped, making sure you hadn't lost out due to having to buy your own modem (I though the advert was for £149 by the way!).

Other people lost their 5 quid discount when then moved to the old 1Mbps service.

I heard the new ntl cable modems only cost 15 quid each - so no point in offerring a buy your own option - noe collecting old modems from customers who leave or move away from ntl!

[roseandjim]

I'm in Nottingham too thingi and was in exactly your situation - unfortunately I didn't have your determination and after banging my head against ntl's brick wall for two months had to accept that I'd lost my £5 discount. A further 3 weeks and many phone calls went by before I eventually got my un-needed ntl:home 120 modem. I was repeatedly told by supervisors managers etc that wether I had my own modem or not the charge was £24.99 for the 750k service so I might as well accept the modem I was already being charged for. Like you I am a long standing broadband customer and feel agreived at ntl's lack of loyalty. Can you or anyone here advise me on steps I might take to reclaim my £5 discount? It also bugs me to pension off perfectly servicable equipment that I have paid for. A final point is that after the experience of the last week my trusty 3Com CMX is far superior to the ntl:home 120 crap that I now have in front of me