Nildram billing

Hello

I'm with Nildram and in the past paid on the 17th day of the month
until Dec when the DD came off on 01-Dec.

Couple of questions:

Anyone else get changed like this?
Should they have told me first?
I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?

thanks for your time.

Andrew j
B6

<<Should they have told me first?>> My understanding of DDs is that they
are, in effect, a legal understanding. Nildram should give and you should
expect (?10 days) notice of an intended change. In practise Nildram is big,
provides a service on which you depend (and maybe essential) and is
difficult to change. Nildram know this and will probably get away with it.

<<I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?>> You can expect an
answer. Whether or not you get one is up to Nildram. If Nildram is
anything like other big concerns they treat customers with contempt. The
term 'service' exists in their mind only as a means of selling thier wares.
It's all about doing the least possible for as much money as possible.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

<Hankjam> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello
>
> I'm with Nildram and in the past paid on the 17th day of the month
> until Dec when the DD came off on 01-Dec.
>
> Couple of questions:
>
> Anyone else get changed like this?
> Should they have told me first?
> I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?
>
> thanks for your time.
>
> Andrew j
> B6

On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 08:35:35 -0000, "Bill Ridgeway"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

><<Should they have told me first?>> My understanding of DDs is that they
>are, in effect, a legal understanding. Nildram should give and you should
>expect (?10 days) notice of an intended change. In practise Nildram is big,
>provides a service on which you depend (and maybe essential) and is
>difficult to change. Nildram know this and will probably get away with it.
>
><<I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?>> You can expect an
>answer. Whether or not you get one is up to Nildram. If Nildram is
>anything like other big concerns they treat customers with contempt. The
>term 'service' exists in their mind only as a means of selling thier wares.
>It's all about doing the least possible for as much money as possible.
>
>Regards.
>
>Bill Ridgeway
>Computer Solutions

What Bill has failed to mention is that if you have not had the
requisite notice of the change, then you can invoke the Direct Debit
Guarantee and have the money replaced in your account. Just call your
bank, and *remind* them of the DD Guarantee and ask for the money to
be replaced. The bank replaces the money and then chase Nildram to
get it back. You *do not* have to chase Nildram, though it is
advisable to inform them what you have done.

--
brightsde S9

On 7-Dec-2006, "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> <<I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?>>

You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to
someone you could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about
billing, or service problems and outages.
Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.

<<You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to someone you
could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about billing, or service
problems and outages. Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.>>

But it's not only Nildram!! BT, NTL, British Gas etc. etc. The call centre
mentality seems to be "if it's not on my screen it doesn't exist". Even if
you can tell them the fault they still insist on going through the question
and answer routine. If they don't understand the answers (because they can
only accept the answers on the screen) they just ignore you. I have an
issue with my ISP which I've raised three times and, because the call centre
jockey can't understand, they don't even call back. They wont always give a
name and, when they do, when you call back they deny all knowledge of the
existence of that person. The brick wall that surrounds the call centre is
designed to prevent any contact with anyone who may be able to understand
and resolve the issue.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned. There used to be a time when pleasing the
customer and customer service was important. Now it seems the dogma is "do
the absolute least for as much as you can get away with". The bottom line
and share-holders are king.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4577da69$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> On 7-Dec-2006, "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> <<I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?>>
>
> You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to
> someone you could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about
> billing, or service problems and outages.
> Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.

On 7 Dec 2006, "Bill Ridgeway" wrote:

><<You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to someone you
>could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about billing, or service
>problems and outages. Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.>>
>But it's not only Nildram!! BT, NTL, British Gas etc. etc. The call centre

Bill - if you just use single > the items you quote would get highlighted
by many more newsreaders like the majority of other posts. You may think
<< >> makes a quoted piece stand out, but it won't be shown in a different
colour the way that "normal" quoting can be (depends on newsreader).

>Perhaps I'm old fashioned.

Except in the way you are top-posting, which is often mentioned as causing
confusion, and can lead to posters being added to killfiles (ignore lists).
I've seen the following .sig posted several times... enjoy :-)

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet and in e-mail?

"NoNeedToKnow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 7 Dec 2006, "Bill Ridgeway" wrote:
>
>><<You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to someone
>>you
>>could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about billing, or service
>>problems and outages. Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.>>
>>But it's not only Nildram!! BT, NTL, British Gas etc. etc. The call
>>centre
>
> Bill - if you just use single > the items you quote would get highlighted
> by many more newsreaders like the majority of other posts. You may think
> << >> makes a quoted piece stand out, but it won't be shown in a different
> colour the way that "normal" quoting can be (depends on newsreader).
>
>>Perhaps I'm old fashioned.
>
> Except in the way you are top-posting, which is often mentioned as causing
> confusion, and can lead to posters being added to killfiles (ignore
> lists).
> I've seen the following .sig posted several times... enjoy :-)
>
> --
> A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> A: Top-posting.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet and in e-mail?


Thanks for your comments.

I can't see the difference between <<...>> and <...> but I'll try to
remember to do it. I adopted this only because that's what I've seen others
do and assumed it to be the done thing.

On the matter of top or bottom posting I can see arguments for and against
both.

FOR TOP POSTING
OE starts here when Replying
The latest message is at the top where it can be read without scrolling down

AGAINST TOP POSTING
A thread isn't continuous. But this follows exactly the same form as books
on a library shelf.

This top or posting question is aired from time to time. Again, I adopted
top posting because that's what I've seen others do and assumed it to be the
done thing. I still see a mixture of top and bottom posting so there is
obviously not a consensus on the 'accepted' way of doing things. The jury
is still out on that one.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway

On 7-Dec-2006, "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> This top or posting question is aired from time to time. Again, I adopted
> top posting because that's what I've seen others do and assumed it to be the
> done thing. I still see a mixture of top and bottom posting so there is
> obviously not a consensus on the 'accepted' way of doing things. The jury
> is still out on that one.

If the header is descriptive then you don't need to read the full
text, you can just answer the query.
Like for example
In what state is New York City USA? You can top post
the answer, no problem.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> On 7-Dec-2006, "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> <<I wrote to customer care, can I expect an answer?>>
>
> You used to be able to phone them and get straight through to
> someone you could talk to, and who was fairly knowledgeable about
> billing, or service problems and outages.
> Try it now !!!! customer service has gone to pot.

Yes, yes it has.

That's because pipex have taken them over.

--
(\__/) Charlie Mitchell.
(='.'=) Smooth Christmas Radio NOW ONLINE!
(")_(") Tune in FREE at http://www.SmoothChristmasRadio.com
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On Thu, 7 Dec 2006 23:29:06, Bill Ridgeway wrote:

>I still see a mixture of top and bottom posting so there is obviously
>not a consensus on the 'accepted' way of doing things.

There is for posting to uk.*, see the FAQ:

http://www.usenet.org.uk/ukpost.html

--
Jim Crowther.

West London MAG: Popes Grotto, Twickenham, every Tuesday from 21:00 onwards.