UTVipXL - Closing account - no contact/30 days.

Amalgam

Hello,

I've been a customer of UTV Internet for a number of years, using their 56k package, 'UTVipXL'. 160 hours for a set fee each month, payed by direct debit.

I have decided to go wireless, also, due to using my mobile phone exclusively, to close my Eircom land line. Contacting a person at Eircom was trouble free, I had a quick, clear and polite chat with a staff member and was told a final bill would be out in two weeks.

UTV was a different matter.

Here is the email sent to: closemyaccount@u.tv

===============

From: ---
Sent: 13 February 2007 ---
To: closemyaccount@u.tv
Subject: Closure of account. UTVipXL.



Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to close all services I have active with UTV.

Account Ref: ---
Active telephone number(s): ---

Address:

---

* UTVipXL

* Phone calls/service.

Payment by Direct Debit.

---

I will be contacting Eircom to close my land line. By Friday, February 16, 2007, I will no longer have any phone line/service active at the above address.

If I could have an idea when the final direct debit will be debited from my bank account, that would be appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

---.

===============

Here is the automated reply.

===============

Thanks for mailing UTVinternet. We are sorry to hear you wish to close your account.

This message has been automatically generated in response to your email. There is no need to reply to it now.

You will receive a further email containing a unique reference number relating to your query. Please use this reference number in the subject line of your email when contactins us with any additional information relating to the cancellation request.

Please be advised we need your account number with the full name and address on the account to proceed with this application. Failure to supply these may result in a delay in processing this request.

Please be advised there may be a charge for cancelling your account and any devices supplied by UTVinternet may have to returned.

In accordance with our T&C`s we require 30 days in relation to cancelling accounts. We will endeavour to reply to this mail in 2 working days.

Regards,
UTV Internet Admin Team

===============

I find the above all a bit vague, 30 days is a bit much, as there's a risk, being mid-month, of being billed an extra month for a service I don't need or want.

Also, an account closure charge, without stating what that charge will be!

I find UTV have some nerve. If I ask my bank to stop the direct debit to UTV, does that leave me vulnerable/at legal risk?

I don't intend not to pay, but at the same time I am loathe to let UTV dip into my account for whatever they feel without specifying to me beforehand.

I want my account closed within a week of first contact, is that too much to ask?

It has been 48 hours since I emailed.

Any advice welcome, anyone else dealt with UTV, trouble closing services with them?

What is the legal situation for a consumer, do I have room to move or do I just wait until they 'decide' to close my account/charge me for the pleasure?

Rebeller

I would recommend that you firstly cancel the direct debit mandate with your bank.

Then contact UTV to inform them you have done this and asking them to send you a final bill so you can settle your account. As you said, leaving the direct debit active leaves you open to having incorrect amounts withdrawn from your account.

As long as you pay any amounts due I don't really see any issue with cancelling the direct debit.

Don't forget that you are the customer after all. Don't be intimidated by jargon in terms and conditions.

misterq

In accordance with our T&C`s we require 30 days...

As they said, it is in their terms and conditions that they require 30 days notice to close your account.

You obviously agreed with this when you signed up, and I hardly think a month's notice for a monthly service is being unreasonable.

That said, they may not charge you for the next month. Hard to know as you haven't heard back, but I think you are the one being a bit unreasonable here!

Amalgam

misterq, I would have to disagree. I find 30 days to close an account far too long. It took about 48 hours to set the account up, from first contact, including sending registered paperwork up to Belfast, some 4 or 5 years ago.

Rebeller

misterq wrote:

As they said, it is in their terms and conditions that they require 30 days notice to close your account.

Ah, the good old terms and conditions argument. T&Cs are often quoted by companies to deny you proper service or avoid dealing effectively with a complaint. Many people make the mistake of thinking that company T&Cs are a law unto themselves. They are simply a statement of the company's own internal policies.

However, you would most likely have agreed to some form of contract when you signed up to use their service. This would obviously incorporate the T&Cs.

Nothwithstanding this I would still recommend that you cancel the direct debit. It's a lot easier to pay them by cheque etc than try to get a refund for any extra money that they "mistakenly" withdraw from your account via direct debit.

Many companies (especially the telcos) frequently become very uncooperative when they realise that you intend to no longer be a customer of theirs.

Cancel the direct debit and call them to request a bill. You might still have to wait the 30 day period but at least you can be sure you will only end up paying what you in fact owe.

Amalgam

I'll cancel the direct debit today.. and ask for a bill. As I said, I don't intend to hold back on paying anything. But it is 'safer' this way, for me. Not the first time, I had shoddy payment withdrawals from Esat, before BT took them over, going back a while now.

morgana

I closed my UTV XL account a few months ago. I got the same email. I'm afraid there's no way around the thirty day notice .. . I closed the account beginning of December and the service got disconnected on 7th January. As far as I remember, the response to the close my account email came by snail mail (twice actually). But otherwise no problems,, I had to pay for December and pro rata for January.

Amalgam

morgana, did they charge you for closing the account?

morgana

No, just the usual monthly payment for December and 5 or 6 Euro pro rata for January. As I understand it, the cancellation fee only applies to people cancelling their XL contract before the minimum contract period, i.e. 1 year, has passsed. You, as myself, had been with them for years, so that should not apply

misterq

Amalgam wrote:

misterq, I would have to disagree. I find 30 days to close an account far too long. It took about 48 hours to set the account up, from first contact, including sending registered paperwork up to Belfast, some 4 or 5 years ago.

Well your taking your time finding fault with their T&C's. If it is such a big deal for you perhaps you should have read the T&C's when you signed up. Or maybe you did but you are only taking issue with it now when it doesn't suit you.

I'm not trying to come down hard on you Amalgam. My point is that there are terms and conditions attached to well, pretty much everything these days. There is no point in getting annoyed about it unless they are sneaky or grossly unfair terms.

In this case, 30 days notice to discontinue a monthly service is entirely reasonable. Yes it would be great if they could cancel instantly, but they never said they would do that. Or did they?

Look at it from the reverse: if UTV decided to discontinue the UTVipXL service tomorrow and shut it down on the last day of the Month (that being the last day you had paid up for), would you see that as reasonable?

I certainly wouldn't. I would want 30 days notice to change providers.
Quid pro quo.

On another note, I do agree that once the last payment has been deducted you cancel the direct debit. I've been victim of the "yes you've cancelled, but sure we may as well take a few more direct debit payments for good luck" syndrome before myself

secret_squirrel

Just a word of warning about using closemyaccount@u.tv

I sent them an email to that address 2 weeks ago.

Having heard nothing - I rang them today. They didnt recieve my email. Since its the first email from my account that hasnt reached its destination Im a bit suspicious. :mad:

Sent another one today so we will see what happens.

K-9

secret_squirrel wrote:

Just a word of warning about using closemyaccount@u.tv

I sent them an email to that address 2 weeks ago.

Having heard nothing - I rang them today. They didnt recieve my email. Since its the first email from my account that hasnt reached its destination Im a bit suspicious. :mad:

Sent another one today so we will see what happens.

Same problem with e-mailing them in general not just that address. Always got a automated response that never gets followed up. I was trying to get a new direct debit mandate at the time.

I find it's always better to ring them. Have to say I can't fault them then. Had a fault with the line 3 weeks ago. Didn't e-mail because I knew it wasn't worth the bother. Rang them and a man from Eircom was around that day. Probably quicker than if u where with Eircom!

TheDriver

Had trouble getting response but they closed it off the day they said they would though a whole other story, I had UTV with flat rate dial up, went to cancel the dialup bit (moving to BT but they didn't know that) and to them, i was keeping my phone with them and got a letter saying the dial up would stop and also my phone service would stop!! you would swear they didn't want to hold onto me!