Open Letter to NTL:

Dear Sir,
Since having NTL triple digital installed 2 weeks ago I have been on the phone to your faults dept about 6 times so far to no avail - I thought I would try this to see if I get any results.

My problem is that no one can call into either of my phone lines if they are calling from anything other than an NTL phone. BT, mobiles etc. They get an unobtainable tone saying the number is not in service.

I have so far had 4 separate excuses from your customer service and faults dept representatives including "It is not our problem, call BT"

"We have called BT and their network manager is looking into it"
"We forgot to fill in the form which lets BT know you are a new NTL customer"

Whether or not any of the above are true, I have no idea - what I do know is that I still have 2 phonelines which I cannot use how they are supposed to be used.

The last contact I had was 3 days ago when I was told that the correct paperwork would be sent to BT and in a maximum of 2 days my lines would be fully operational.

I am a reasonable person and until now have been very patient with regards to this matter - I am now, however starting to become increasingly annoyed.

In addition to paying for a service which I do not have, I received my first bill (less than a week after the service was installed) On this bill I was charged for installation which I was told I would not have to pay for when I signed up - I was also charged a £2.30 handling fee for non direct debit payment when I filled in a direct debit mandate a good 3 weeks before I was installed when I signed up with your sales advisor. When I told customer services this they said I would have to pay the £25 which would be refunded on my NEXT bill (I am reluctant to do this) and I have no choice but to pay this bill by cheque and INCLUDE the £2.30 payment for which I should not even have been charged if the mandate had been set up as instructed well in time.

I have to say that before I signed up to NTL I did hear some horror stories but your marketing and sales representatives convinced me that I was making the right choice. I work for a major electronics retailer so am entitled to very good staff discount offers on both Sky TV and unmetered internet service. I am starting to wonder if this would have been a better way to go.

I expect some kind of compensation for the lack of service I have suffered and the poor way in which my complaints have been dealt with - there seems to have been no kind of continuation and every time I call I end up waiting on hold for another 20 minutes and then having to explain my situation all over again to a different person.

Please take my complaint and request seriously. I await with anticipation your response, some compensation and a full service for which I have been paying.

Faithfully

Scott Huson