Can they charge me?

TouchingVirus

In September 2006 I phoned NTL/Chorus and ordered TV from them. I told the sales representative that I was a student, it was a student house and that we were all moving away the following May. He told me I'd have to sign a contract for one year. I clarified that I'd only be signing up for one year and I'd expect just the one debit from my account. He told me that'd be fine, arranged for an installer to come around to the house and sent me the contract.

In May 2007, I moved out as planned. September came and there was no debit on my account.

Everything was fine until 2 weeks ago when Chorus called me telling me I owed them €323 for services from September 2007-2008. I explained what I had been told and they said they'd been sending out "overdue" letters to the old address. Anyways, the woman told me that in order to cancel I'd have to give notice. I told her that I gave the sales guy notice on the phone, before I'd even received a contract and he told me he'd make a note of it and it'd be fine. She insisted I send in a letter requesting cancellation so I sent the letter the same day.

Today I get a call from some guy who asked me to confirm my address (which obviously wasn't the one the service was installed) and asked me to cough up the €323 charge before cancellation. I told him I signed a 12 month only contract as specifed by the sales guy and he told me (in a polite way) that I was talking nonsense and should have cancelled in writing in May 2007. After to'ing and fro'ing for a while he told me he'd investigate it further and would get back to me..

'd have done everything the way they wanted me to had it been specified from the offset and I not been lulled into a false sense of security by the sales guy (I did cancel my broadband contract with a different company in May 2007 via writing because they told me at the start that that's what I'd have to do...). To be honest, I've no job and no income and I'm a full time student, I've not got €323 lying around that I can pay them with, it'd put me in a spot of bother financially.

Lastly, what the hell were they thinking? I assume they sent out the invoice in September, 2 weeks later sent me an overdue letter and maybe 2 weeks after that sent me a "disconnection warning" letter...but still the house (apparently) has TV - if they'd have disconnected the service in October I'd only have to pay €30 which I'd be in a better position to pay (though not without explaining how they're trying to shaft me).

So, what do you think? Can they charge me? Does what this rep told me have any sway or is this a lost cause?

spina1

just a suggestion in case you haven't done this already. Write to them and explain the whole situation. At the moment it is just your word against theirs unless they record all phonecalls.
If you put everything in writing when dealing with companies or government bodies then there is a paper trail. Keep a copy yourself.

Hagar

I think that the fact they only drew down one payment via direct debit as per your original instruction gives substance to your claim that the account was set up for a single year only.

Cabaal

Its standard for companys to keep services like Broadband/Sat/Cabe active after the min contract term has finished, they will not automatically close accounts when the contract ends...instead you need to contact them to close the a/c either via phone or writing and also make sure your Direct Debit or standing order is canceled.

You can't give notice of cancelation 12 months in advance or before you even agree to the 12 month contract.

NTL's Terms & Conditions state

3. Duration

3.1 The minimum period of service for any Package is twelve (12) months starting on the
date we activate the Services. You can only terminate this Agreement during that
minimum period if Conditions 19.5 or 20.1 apply otherwise we may (subject to Condition
20.2) charge you a cancellation charge which will be the charges which would have been
payable to the end of the minimum period. If you want to terminate this Agreement after
the minimum period just give us one month’s notice in writing.

3.2 For all additional Services (unless otherwise stated in our Price Lists) the minimum
period of service is one month and either you or we may terminate this Agreement to the
extent that it relates to such Services on one month’s written notice.

full T&C's here - http://www.upc.ie/pdf/NTL%20Combined%20TC011007.pdf

I would hoped you read these fully when signing up to that 12 month contract, in fairness your saying you agreed something else with a sales rep over the phone but you have nothing to prove this in writing and you then agreed to there T&C's so in my personal view your in the wrong.

Take this as your first big bad lesson in life, you can try an argue your case with NTL but its upto them what they do as "goodwill"

Nody

A sales rep will tell you anything and promise you anything to get you to sign up, anything they promise that is not in writing is null and void basically.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

If you were given false information at the start, it is worth stating this, in writing, to the company.

latenia

Have you thought about going down to the house and demanding the money from the occupants? (If they're the same people who lived there for that period)

TouchingVirus

Thanks for the opinions guys. I'm not going near the occupants of the house, I've no idea if they are the same as the ones who lived there while I did.

I will write to NTL and outline the situation for clarity (and to have a written record)