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NTL charging in full even though it was off for a week.

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  • 11-03-2009 1:34am
    #1
    MelonieHead
    Closed Accounts Posts: 336 ✭✭


    NTL recently cut me off due to not paying the bill on time. I couldn't afford to pay them straightaway so it was a week before I rang them to get it put back on. I asked what would be involved, they told me that if I paid it in full by credit card they would put it on immediately so I paid the debt in full and they switched the service back on.

    Then when the bill came they charged me for full service, plus a "late payment fee". The late payment fee annoyed me very much as this was not mentioned when I rang them to ask what would be involved with getting the service back. I really feel that they should have mentioned it during one of those conversations.

    But the fact that they're trying to charge me for the full month when I only had the service for three weeks is really putting me out. Can they do this? So far I've paid the bill, minus 1/4 (one week) and am sending a letter to dispute the charges.

    Can they really charge for full service when I didn't have full service?


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    #2
    Irishdudedave
    Closed Accounts Posts: 273 ✭✭Irishdudedave


    All services are paid for one month in advance. When you had not paid your last bill this meant that the current month was not paid for and thus you were cut off.
    The latest bill is for next month in which you will receive service for a whole month and therefore you are charged a full months sub.

    As for if they can charge you for a full month even if you didnt get the service - Yes; they require 30 days notice of cancellation, you did not provide this so they are entitled to charge for this full 30 days.

    If you had rang them when you couldnt afford to pay they may have arranged some payment with you so that your service would go uninterrupted but you didnt tell them so they just followed the terms of service to the letter.


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    #3
    MelonieHead
    Closed Accounts Posts: 336 ✭✭MelonieHead


    Irishdudedave wrote: »
    If you had rang them when you couldnt afford to pay they may have arranged some payment with you so that your service would go uninterrupted but you didnt tell them so they just followed the terms of service to the letter.

    Oh I was paying them, I just couldn't afford to pay it all off at once. I had no idea they were going to cut me off. I didn't realise they considered me far enough behind to warrant disconnecting me. I pay other bills in the same way with no problems. But from now on I'll make sure they have their money on time.

    I'm still astonished that they can charge me for the service when I wasn't receiving it - I've never heard of that before.


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    #4
    dub45
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 12,448 Mod ✭✭✭✭dub45


    Irishdudedave wrote: »
    All services are paid for one month in advance. When you had not paid your last bill this meant that the current month was not paid for and thus you were cut off.
    The latest bill is for next month in which you will receive service for a whole month and therefore you are charged a full months sub.

    As for if they can charge you for a full month even if you didnt get the service - Yes; they require 30 days notice of cancellation, you did not provide this so they are entitled to charge for this full 30 days.

    If you had rang them when you couldnt afford to pay they may have arranged some payment with you so that your service would go uninterrupted but you didnt tell them so they just followed the terms of service to the letter.

    But in this case the op was not cancelling the service. the op has been charged for a week's service which he did not get.

    It would be nice if they followed the terms of service to the letter when it applied to themselves.!:rolleyes:


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    #5
    MelonieHead
    Closed Accounts Posts: 336 ✭✭MelonieHead


    dub45 wrote: »
    It would be nice if they followed the terms of service to the letter when it applied to themselves.!:rolleyes:

    With NTL it'd be nothing short of a miracle!

    Irish dude dave, are you sure I'm paying one month in advance? I don't think I am. My first bill came after two months service, and every month thereafter. A bill dated February 2nd would be for Januarys service. I'm not sure if this matters though.


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    #6
    dub45
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 12,448 Mod ✭✭✭✭dub45


    MelonieHead wrote: »
    With NTL it'd be nothing short of a miracle!

    Irish dude dave, are you sure I'm paying one month in advance? I don't think I am. My first bill came after two months service, and every month thereafter. A bill dated February 2nd would be for Januarys service. I'm not sure if this matters though.

    Yes that is correct. Virtually all of the service providers charge in advance.

    For example phone bills will charge for calls in arrears but provision of the service in advance. Which makes late fees to some degree laughable. How can you be late for a service you have not received yet?

    By the way for anyone interested UPC who push the dd scheme so hard by charging people who don't use it are in permanent breach of one of the basic rules of the scheme in that they do not provide the minumum 14 days notice at least for printed bills! One rule for the companies and one (expensive!) rule for the bill payers.


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