Wrong pass expiry date given during cancellation procedure.

[DarylM]

@Karl-F

I have Now TV broadband and have been on a 2-month Entertainment Pass offer which started on August 18th. I've just tried to cancel so that I didn't forget later and to prevent the pass from auto-renewing.  During the cancellation procedure, I was told that I could continue watching until October 18th as I expected.

But after I cancelled, the My Passes section of my account said that I could only continue watching until October 1st. If I had been told that during the cancellation procedure, I wouldn't have cancelled today.

Now TV needs to correct its systems so that incorrect information isn't given to broadband customers when they cancel their passes.

This pro-rata system of billing passes alongside broadband is the worst I have ever encountered.  It was a mild irritation until now, but being given false information and denied 18-days worth of content is, quite simply, unacceptable.

It is about time that billing for broadband and payment for passes was made completely separate so that broadband users could purchase vouchers in exactly the same way as regular users.  Only being able to have a pass expire on the 1st of the month is beyond ridiculous.

[DarylM]

I consider this complaint to be a serious issue.  So I am disappointed that I did not receive a reply via any method (phone, email, Twitter or on this forum) within 24 hours.

Now TV's billing system is unfit for purpose if it means that, for some broadband customers, a two-month pass may not last for two months.

When I registered a complaint yesterday by telephone I was told that broadband customers who joined before January 1st this year are still on the old pro-rata billing system.  But new customers are on a new system which treats the payments separately.

I consider this unfair and existing broadband customers who are a legacy of the previous system should have been migrated to the new system. 8 months is more than enough time to achieve this.

Unless assurances can be provided to me in writing that legacy customers can be moved - by the end of this year - to the new billing system, I will have no choice but to refer the inadequacy of Now TV's billing system to Ofcom.

[DarylM]

I was promised by Live Chat that a manager would be calling me today.  I have not received any contact via telephone, email or the official forum.  The only response I got was a question from the Now TV Help team on Twitter - but no follow-up yet.

It appears that I will have to register my complaint in the form of a letter.  But if it is not resolved within 8 weeks, I will then have to contact the Communications Ombudsman.

https://help.nowtv.com/article/how-to-make-a-complaint

http://web.static.nowtv.com/images/docs/Complaints_code_of_practice.pdf

[DarylM]

@Jason-C@Simon-J

I have finally managed to contact a manager via live chat and it was the most frustrating experience.  They have agreed to send me a deadlock letter, so I can raise the issue of inadequate billing with the Ombudsman.  But I remain more confused than ever.

No one I have talked to seems to appreciate that, during cancellation, the Now TV system told me that I could continue to watch until October 18th.  I believe that I therefore had a reasonable expectation that a 2-month pass would last for 2 months and would cancel on the date stated during the cancellation process. 

When I had the Combo package, I understood the renewal date rule about passes expiring at the end of the month in which they were cancelled because you had to have a pass as part of the package which was always billed on the same date.  This made adding additional passes annoying because they were billed pro-rata, but it was a minor inconvenience and the cancellation system would always warn of the correct expiry date before cancellation completed.

However, when I went to downgrade my Combo package near the end of an offer, this seemed to change.  I was told that I could stop all passes and just pay as and when like a normal customer would, because the Combo package was no longer offered.  This additional flexibility would have suited me far better.

So I was (and remain) confused that when I navigated to the Broadband & Calls section of My Account it referred to "Your NOW TV Combo". 

1.  If the Combo package no longer exists, why am I still being treated as a Combo customer?

2.  Am I actually a Combo customer despite not having a Combo package?

3.  If I don't have a Combo package, and the Combo itself no longer exists, do the Combo terms and conditions still apply to my account?

4.  Why did your cancellation system give the wrong cancellation date?

5.  Are new broadband customers billed for TV in the same way as legacy Combo customers?  i.e. broadband & TV on the same bill on the same date and on a pro-rata basis for passes with start dates which don't match the broadband billing date.

6.  If a new broadband customer on the new billing system buys a Now TV Stick with a 2 month Entertainment Pass off the shelf from a Sainsbury's store, starts it themselves on August 18th and cancels on September 19th to prevent forgetting about auto-renewal and the cancellation system says they can continue watching until October 18th, would the pass last until October 18th or October 1st?

7.  The manager I spoke to said that "various factors" affect whether a 2-month pass lasts for two months and that specific details are listed in the terms and conditions on your website.  However, she refused to provide me with details herself or to give me a link to them.  The Now TV website seems to host several different versions of the terms and conditions, but I can find no reference to any such factors.  There are the Combo terms & conditions which explain monthly billing, but they are from 2016.  Where can I find an explanation of when 2-month passes won't last for a full 2 months for new broadband customers?

8.  If the new billing system for new broadband customers is just for broadband and payment for passes is separate, how do I, as a legacy Combo customer move to the new system?

9.  Is it best for me to contact the Communication Ombudsman when I receive my deadlock letter or should I contact CISAS first?

[DarylM]

@Jason-C  @Simon-J

Please ignore (or delete) the previous message in this thread.  I've had a fun Saturday afternoon reading all of the Now TV contracts and terms & conditions I could find.  I've found the answers to most of questions, but remain confused as to why, when I renewed my contract, I remained on the Combo contract instead of being moved to the new system.  Especially since it was no longer possible for new customers to sign up to the Combo at that point.

I think I've found a solution to one of my billing enquiries, but I need to do some research first.

But I still remain unhappy about the cancellation system giving the wrong end date during the process.  This needs to be fixed.  If a combo pass ends at the end of the month, the cancellation system should give that correct date as a warning before cancellation completes, so that other combo users do not have their passes end earlier than they expected.