Ntl Cutting Off High Usage Users

Sponge Bob

bk wrote:

I've been saying this for a long time now, people see to think that NTL CS in the past were bad. But being from Cork and having experienced both Chorus and NTL, I can tell you NTL are vastly superior to Chorus.

Make that were vastly superior bk .

Mistmyr

Ok i got the Final Warning letter a few days ago and the download stats dont match my own numbers either..

Now I know that DUmeter isnt going to be 100% accurate but according to NTL my total download for August was 59.23 gig (notice they say download)
Now DUmeter is showing my downloads as just over 51gig and my combined download/upload for August as 58.77 gig...

I know tman allready noticed this with his account, what about anyone else because it sure looks like NTL are baseing their figures on our combined Download/upload totals which is just wrong..........

It would be interesting for others to check their stats also (If they can) and see if its the case ....

Sidenote: I allready said it but ill say it again NTL seriously need to set up a way for us to measure our down/upload traffic, If they are enforcing caps as strictly as they seem to be then its simply unfair (and maybe unlawful) to have us guessing about our stats..

Cheers

Misty

Automan

I also got a warning letter, they were quoting 10 gig more than what my bandwidth monitor pro has on it for the month of August.
In the letter it said to ring NTL to find out what you have downloaded so far this month. So I gave them a ring and after a bit of confusion was passed over to a Supervisor. So I asked the chap what I had downloaded so far this month, he could not as the tool he was using only works from this day last month to now.
So I asked him how am I able to keep within there limit when my Bandwidth monitor says 1 thing and there system say another thing he had no answer other than there will be a system put in place in time (no time frame), until then I run the risk of getting kicked off if I go by what my bandwidth monitor pro is saying. I pay for a 40gig service I should be able to download 39gig without running the risk of getting kicked off or keeping it within 30gig for fear of being kicked off.
He did confirm that they are including DOWNLOADS + UPLOADS in the limit which is against there T&Cs.



NTL broadband Max package website today:

http://www.ntl.ie/index.php?PageID=112441&SessionID=c7fd7ac3af71d7cb479101670ee4a534&R=14993

40Gb download limit

From there T&Cs as of today:

Monthly usage allowances for ntl’s Broadband services are: up to 2 (Gb) (Broadband Value),
16 Gigabytes (Gb) (Broadband Starter), 30 Gb (Broadband) or 40 Gb (Broadband Max). All
monthly usage allowances refer to levels of downstream data transfer monthly.


I will be sending a letter of complaint to there complaints department and Niall McNally. Would recommend everyone else to do the same.

Sponge Bob

Mistmyr wrote:

It would be interesting for others to check their stats also (If they can) and see if its the case ....

read this about Comreg and NTL

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054992036

Comreg are talking thru their arses ,

Jumpy

Sponge Bob wrote:

Fact. Chorus is now running NTL not the other way around. Thats because UPC took Chorus over long before it got its hands on NTL .

Dublin Galway and Waterford people never had to deal with Chorus before. It will be interesting to wathc them adapt .

I somehow doubt its fact.... do you have proof of this?

Snake Plisken

Yes we should stop calling this an NTL problem, as this is a UPC issue, I suppose with some of their employees watching the thread, they will be amending their T's & C's very soon to avoid a legal challange from someone who has been cut off! It was a very sad day that these jokers bought NTL and turned one of the best ISP's into the worst!

Snake

Jonnie_Onion

He did confirm that they are including DOWNLOADS + UPLOADS in the limit which is against there T&Cs.

Going to confirm this myself and if its the case then I'm definitely leaving them. That kind of nonsense cripples Broadband "MAX" as a product.

kaizersoze

Jumpy wrote:

I somehow doubt its fact.... do you have proof of this?

It's fact. The NTL call center in Waterford is closing in march '07 with the loss of 110 jobs. The cs work will be handled by the Chorus call center in Limerick. The total job losses as a result of the takeover is around 350 (spread across Chorus and NTL).
Welcome to hell (as the Turks would say).
http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/0703/ntl.html

Sponge Bob

The 2002 Communications Regulation Act provides that among ComReg’s objectives is the promotion of the interests of users in relation to the use of electronic communications networks and services.

Cutting people off or threatening them based on incorrect data is a licence breach, in this case they counted uploads too and breached their own T&Cs

from askcomreg

Comreg is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the electronic communications and postal sectors. The Commission was set up in 2002 and is based at the Irish Life Centre in Lower Abbey Street, Dublin.

ComReg’s remit covers the following areas:

• Fixed Phone Line operators providing voice and data services

What we are doing from the Consumer perspective
We aim to maximise consumer welfare through facilitating effective competition, protecting consumers by building query and complaints mechanisms with the operators and offering advice and guidance to individual and business users.

ComReg also strives to continually empower the consumer to make their own decisions and choices through high-quality outreach programmes such as consumer advice guides, websites and interactive tariff guides.

Contacting ComReg
The first thing you should do is to try to resolve the issue with the Communications company you are experiencing the problem with.
If you do not get a response within a reasonable timeframe or the response is unsatisfactory then you should contact the Consumer Team at ComReg.

How to contact the Consumer Team:
Telephone: Lo-call 1890-229 668 or 01-804 9668
Fax: 01-804 9671
Email : consumerline@comreg.ie
Website
www.askcomreg.ie - ComReg's Consumer Website
www.callcosts.ie - ComReg's Mobile Phone Cost Comparison Website
www.comreg.ie

NTL have a licence, use Comreg

Cabaal

Got a warning letter today, certainly looks to me that they are counting upload AND download in the numbers they are quoting, which is against there T&C's as such I shall be querying it and taking it further should they not provide a satisfactory answer.

I've no problem with staying within the 30GB DOWNLOAD cap, but if I download 30GB and upload 10GB then that does not mean I downloadeded 40GB.

PixelTrawler

Is it a case then that people who have been disconnected and/or those who received final warnings about breaching the cap ( esp by a couple of gigs )would have grounds to challenge UPC as they are acting outside terms and conditions ( it seems, and one person here has had this confirmed by a UPC employee )

Surely if UPC are disconnecting people they should have to prove it if disputed by the customer - In this case prove it was just download and not total traffic. I guess this would involve comreg at that point, as UPC could be taken to task over these breaches (violation of licence?).
There might be grounds for some people to be reconnected ( and perhaps an apology?).

It seems very unfair for UPC to kick people off for breach of terms when they are breaching terms themselves, or even to threaten to do it.

Whatever about people defending them for acting within their own terms and conditions if they are acting outside them this it outrageous

From the T&C's
Monthly usage allowances for ntl’s Broadband services are: up to 2 (Gb) (Broadband Value),
16 Gigabytes (Gb) (Broadband Starter), 30 Gb (Broadband) or 40 Gb (Broadband Max). All
monthly usage allowances refer to levels of downstream data transfer monthly.

Jonnie_Onion

It could be the case that they're temporarily including up and downstream in the total to scare people off and ease the load on their ****ty network.

However, if its permanent I'll definitely be giving them their one month's notice. I won't be paying any penalty charges either:

20. Cancellation Rights

20.1 You may cancel the Services without penalty in the following circumstances:-

(i) if we increase our Charges you may give us one month’s notice to cancel those Services in respect of which the Charges have increased irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of those Services has expired. During that notice period those increased Charges will not apply to you;

(ii) if we significantly reduce the content of the Services you may terminate this Agreement by giving us one month’s notice in writing within 30 days of such change irrespective of whether the minimum period in respect of such Services has expired.

sham69

Hi All,
I cancelled my NTL broadband yesterday, the guy on the phone was cool about it. I then recieved a phone call 20 mins later from what sounded like a teenager on his first call centre call. After much arguing about caps, line speed (signed up for 6mb only getting 2.5mb tops) etc I ended up cancelling my TV package aswell as the guy got me so annoyed with his lack of technical knowledge and obvious customer service skills. He was so rude and ended up hanging up on me. Anyway to make a long story even longer I ended up ringing Magnet and got a great deal for next month. So my question is do I need to send something in writing to NTL to officially cancel my subscription and if I do where do I send it to?
I checked their site and can't find anything.
Maybe somebody has cancelled a subscription with them before and can point me in the right direction. I really don't want to contact them again.
Thanks in advance.
Sham.

Drapper

sham69 wrote:

Hi All,
I cancelled my NTL broadband yesterday, the guy on the phone was cool about it. I then recieved a phone call 20 mins later from what sounded like a teenager on his first call centre call. After much arguing about caps, line speed (signed up for 6mb only getting 2.5mb tops) etc I ended up cancelling my TV package aswell as the guy got me so annoyed with his lack of technical knowledge and obvious customer service skills. He was so rude and ended up hanging up on me. Anyway to make a long story even longer I ended up ringing Magnet and got a great deal for next month. So my question is do I need to send something in writing to NTL to officially cancel my subscription and if I do where do I send it to?
I checked their site and can't find anything.
Maybe somebody has cancelled a subscription with them before and can point me in the right direction. I really don't want to contact them again.
Thanks in advance.
Sham.

Sham call your bank and cancel thier direct debit and let them come to you ;-)

Keep a log of the call!

I'll be doing the same.

sham69

cheers drapper,
Already cancelled it, the joys of online banking.
Can't wait to get magnet installed.

garlad

I got a warning letter also, stating that I downloaded 44 Gigs. I am on the 3Mb connection, so I did go over my 30Gig allowance. But I was convinced I had not downloaded that much , so I rang NTL. Waste of time. I then emailed them stating that this "final notice" letter was my first ever, no ntl system in place to allow us monitor, etc.
I received an email back stating that "Downloading and uploading is taken into the monthly usage limit.".
Further clarification of a breach of t&c.

Jonnie_Onion

The mind boggles.

CiaranC

Got my first ever letter for doing ~90GB on the 3MB service yesterday.

Anyone got this clown Niall McNallys email address?

garlad, if you have it in writing that they are violating their own T&Cs you need to hammer them. Threaten them with Comreg and going to the media.

Jumpy

I thought the most you can do if T&C's are violated is cancel without incurring further contract charges.
In my personal opinion I think it is funny seeing the downloads people post and the fact that they complain about getting cut off. The best way to think about it is that they would most likely earn more from having you gone, than keeping hogs like some here on the network.

Jonnie_Onion

I have no sympathy with heavy users who breach the cap by 10s of GBs getting cut off.


But how in god's name are any of us supposed to stick to the terms and conditions (as Foxwood says we should, and I agree) when they change the T&C's without informing us? There's a bit of a difference between 40Gb down and 40Gb down+up. I basically have to stop using my connection for the rest of the month to stick to this new limit.

FrankGrimes

How is using your monthly allowance of 40GB of downloads hogging the network? If you've also uploaded 20GB, which you are entitled to do based on my reading of the terms and conditions, they are now going to disconnect you for using a total of 60GB, which clearly is against their stated T&Cs. How anyone can defend this is beyond me.

The debate on the level the cap should be set at is a separate part of this argument. I think it's ridiculously low for a 6MB product, but regardless of whether it is or not, how can you defend the fact that: A) you can keep with the stated download limit but still be booted off cos your upload takes you over their incorrectly calculated limit and they do not provide a bandwidth monitor?

I'm actually finding it hard to believe just how spectacularly wrong UPC are getting this, but the breach of T&Cs is a step too far. I've a mate who is a journo for a national newspaper - when he gets back from the K Club tonight he's getting the lowdown on this.

Jumpy

FrankGrimes wrote:

How is using your monthly allowance of 40GB of downloads hogging the network? If you've also uploaded 20GB, which you are entitled to do based on my reading of the terms and conditions, they are now going to disconnect you for using a total of 60GB, which clearly is against their stated T&Cs. How anyone can defend this is beyond me.

The debate on the level the cap should be set at is a separate part of this argument. I think it's ridiculously low for a 6MB product, but regardless of whether it is or not, how can you defend the fact that: A) you can keep with the stated download limit but still be booted off cos your upload takes you over their incorrectly calculated limit and they do not provide a bandwidth monitor?

I'm actually finding it hard to believe just how spectacularly wrong UPC are getting this, but the breach of T&Cs is a step too far. I've a mate who is a journo for a national newspaper - when he gets back from the K Club tonight he's getting the lowdown on this.

Its going to backfire man, 90% of the people on a network generally are not torrenters that take everyone elses contended bandwidth. You might find its like the taxi strike "Hey wait a minute... they want more? but that means we will get hit with higher prices? I dont think so" I was with BT and Digiweb over my time here, and they are both set as data transfer limit, not download limit. I rang them up and asked them.
Has anyone here actually read the T&C's?
BT's one has absolutely no benefit to a customer, it pretty much says they dont have to provide you with a connection at all if there are problems. I had a fight with them over this as it took them a month to move my broadband from one address to the other, and they refused to refund that months charge.

Jonnie_Onion

So I just rang them.

"Its always been up and down, read your original contract"

When I pointed out that the most recent T&C's (March '06) said different, she said, "oh that's wrong, they haven't changed it yet"

Apparently everyone will eventually get a letter to state the new T&C's.


Unbelievable. I want to move ISP but I haven't a clue who to go for, no matter what I do now I won't be happy.

CiaranC

Random parts of their T&Cs dont apply when they dont feel like it then.

:rolleyes:

So if you thought a 30/40GB downstream cap on the service was ludicrous enough, now its 30/40GB downstream and upstream!

carrotcake

they might want to stop falsely advertising on their new and improved website then

tman

just got off the phone to them (both agents i spoke with were surprisingly helpful)
confirmed that the letters ARE taking combined usage into consideration despite stating that they're only download figures, and that they are looking into either switching (back) to basing limits on download figures, or increasing the cap and making it for total combined usage...
not sure how gospel all this is though, i would still like to have a wee vent at this Niall McNally guy.

JNive

i love my morning entertainment, go UPC :-)

PixelTrawler

Can anyone receiving these letters and having had contact with NTL/UPC confirming they are breaching their own T&C's contact Comreg...

If enough people kick up a stink...

Do it now while you think of it! http://www.askcomreg.ie/ or Consumerline@comreg.ie

tman wrote:

and that they are looking into either switching (back) to basing limits on download figures, or increasing the cap and making it for total combined usage...

This is after disconnecting users? :eek:

juliuspret

Im not going to gloat....but damn UPC are REALLY screwing people over!

As their CAP's are now combined I have no problem in saying that NTL/CHORUS/UPC have the worst download/upload allowances in Ireland.

2GB on a 1Mbit line COMBINED....light browsing/emails/flickr/youtube would KILL that CAP!

Mutant_Fruit

2GB wouldn't even sustain playing WoW with Teamspeak for a month. Not a chance.