City Councillor Mary Leahy has hit out at TV provider NTL after receiving numerous complaints about the service from local city residents.

"Several people have approached me complaining that NTL has terminated services without prior notice, claiming arrears of payment which do not exist," said Cllr Leahy.

"Another was forced to pay for two extra outlets she did not have in order to have a service restored. It took numerous phone calls to have the sum credited to her account. In another case, service was terminated without notice, with NTL claiming the customer had requested the service to be transferred to a nearby neighbours house. In another case, it took one week, numerous phone calls and a visit to NTL's office to be reconnected despite the loss being caused by a minor technical problem."

Cllr Leahy continued to say that termination of television services can leave may older people isolated and alone and urged unhappy customers to take action.

"The people of Galway deserve better customer care. Termination of service causes huge inconvenience and leaves the customer without access to even the basic channels, such as RTE. This can be very isolating particularly for older persons living alone. I would advise customers receiving such an unsatisfactory service to write to the Director of Consumer Affairs."

Since closing their city office earlier this year, many NTL customers have complained of difficulties getting in touch with customer service offices.

One angry customer told the Galway Independent that despite regularly calling the customer care line for over two weeks, she failed to speak to a representative and was on one occasion left on hold for almost two hours.

"Most customers cannot afford to stay on the line for hours waiting to speak to someone. I called wanting to change over my plan and because of their poor customer service, I am now paying for something that I don't want or need. It's a disgrace."

The Galway Independent attempted to contact NTL yesterday but could not get through.

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