NTL refusing to do installation.

[Retrovertigo]

My couisn lives in a flat behind the one I live in. He has made several calls to NTL and can't get anywhere with them.

It started with them saying they aren't doing installations in our area (not true as they were doing some only last week). Then they said they couldn't find the property on their computers. Then they said that I didn't exist (I have been an NTL user myself for a couple of years now).

It's ended with them saying that because one of the flats has an installation, they can't install anymore on the same property. This is when they actually acknowledge the property exists.

The property was newly built almost 2 years ago. It's new flats built onto the back of the flats I live in.

It all sounds ridiculous and NTL aren't being helpful at all. It seems like they don't want new custom, when you'd think with all the competition they'd be clamouring for customers.

Can anyone suggest the next course of action for him please? Thanks

[RS100]

If it was built 2 year ago i do not think they will install there as far as i know ntl have not layed any new cable in a few years,

So your friend might live next to you but there will not be any underground trunking or street cab in place

My couisn lives in a flat behind the one I live in. He has made several calls to NTL and can't get anywhere with them.

It started with them saying they aren't doing installations in our area (not true as they were doing some only last week). Then they said they couldn't find the property on their computers. Then they said that I didn't exist (I have been an NTL user myself for a couple of years now).

It's ended with them saying that because one of the flats has an installation, they can't install anymore on the same property. This is when they actually acknowledge the property exists.

The property was newly built almost 2 years ago. It's new flats built onto the back of the flats I live in.

It all sounds ridiculous and NTL aren't being helpful at all. It seems like they don't want new custom, when you'd think with all the competition they'd be clamouring for customers.

Can anyone suggest the next course of action for him please? Thanks

[superbiatch]

I contacted Telewest a few years back when I bought a brand new house about installation - stupidly thinking they'd probably just install the cables when building the houses, straightfoward enough?

I was then told that generally cable companies don't install cables until the last house on the development has been up for 2 years. Yeh right - they wait til you've got a lovely new road/pavement - dig it all up and only then do they install cable!

Needless to say I went with Sky :rolleyes:

[Retrovertigo]

If it was built 2 year ago i do not think they will install there as far as i know ntl have not layed any new cable in a few years,

So your friend might live next to you but there will not be any underground trunking or street cab in place

I probably didn't make it quite clear. But they HAVE already run (albeit very messily) a cable installation to one of the new flats. That's why the mind boggles as to what they are thinking.

The whole road is cabled up. NTL are even still canvassing the area on occasion - sod's law though that they aren't around now we need them.

But to reiterate. Street is cabled and one of the new flats is cabled up. NTL either say the property doesn't exist, or that because one flat has cable they won't run another. Which is crap.

We are talking his flat being an extension onto my building. Not in another street or a vast distance away. But literally on the same piece of ground. As far away as it would be for someone to walk around the bakc of their house. And as I said, one flat has NTL installed. Someone have any idea what the next step is please? thanks

[fireman328]

Try writing directly to Richard Branson with this sorry story, I am sure he would like to find out about these missed sales.

[orangebird]

I contacted Telewest a few years back when I bought a brand new house about installation - stupidly thinking they'd probably just install the cables when building the houses, straightfoward enough?

I was then told that generally cable companies don't install cables until the last house on the development has been up for 2 years. Yeh right - they wait til you've got a lovely new road/pavement - dig it all up and only then do they install cable!

Needless to say I went with Sky :rolleyes:


It's often nothing to do with what or when ntl want to install in the case of new builds - an awful lot of it comes down to permission (wayleave) from the council and the developer...and even that depends on the budget to lay new cable...

[Retrovertigo]

It's often nothing to do with what or when ntl want to install in the case of new builds - an awful lot of it comes down to permission (wayleave) from the council and the developer...and even that depends on the budget to lay new cable...

Ok, this doesn't seem to be sinking in very well. One flat (the one adjoining my cousins) has NTL. NTL are canvassing the area. NTL say the property doesn't exist nearly every time he phones. The junction box that is on the front of my building splits off and supplies 5 flats, with cables running everywhere.

When he speaks to people, no checks are made, he gets fobbed off. It has nothing to do with councils etc. It's to do with NTL beinga bit thick because they can't find the address on their computer.

Even as early as today he told them about my own cable installation and despite giving them my full name and address they claimed I wasn't on their records. That pretty much sums up how incompetent they are being about the whole thing.

Is there anyone here from NTL that may be can shed some light on this? Cheers.

edit: well, while sat here I decided to check NTL's website and sure enough, I can order NTL for him through the website. It accepts the address when inputted and let's me go through the whole process. I can't finish it as yet as he is at work and I don't have his bank details to hand. But once it goes through the system then surely when an engineer appears he will run a cable the few feet it needs from a junction box on the side of the house?

[arcamalpha2004]

It's often nothing to do with what or when ntl want to install in the case of new builds - an awful lot of it comes down to permission (wayleave) from the council and the developer...and even that depends on the budget to lay new cable...


Maybe NTL are that incompetent that they have decided to dig up a road with all the mess that comes with it to feed 1 house, who lives here? richard branson? paul mc cartney ? any ideas? ;)

[Marge]

edit: well, while sat here I decided to check NTL's website and sure enough, I can order NTL for him through the website. It accepts the address when inputted and let's me go through the whole process. I can't finish it as yet as he is at work and I don't have his bank details to hand. But once it goes through the system then surely when an engineer appears he will run a cable the few feet it needs from a junction box on the side of the house?

Unfortunately it isn't an automatic process for an order placed to be inputted directly onto the billing system, it still takes someone to sit there and load the order on so they may come up against the existing problem

however

on the current billing system some of the postcodes are a bit squiffy in the Manchester area, ie you could live at postcode M38 5DE however on the billing system there are no houses showing at that postcode. When the system was originally set up the postcode quite possibly was entered as M38 9DE or it could be a change by Royal Mail, there are a few possibilities.

I would therefore recommend that your cousin asks for his street to be checked and not just his postcode. If neither of these are showing still then a mail needs to be sent to the Premise Maintenance asking for the property to be checked and then there will be a definate answer as to serviceability.

[lostandconfused]

why doesnt he use sky?

[Paul K]

Some flats do not allow tenants to put dishes up.

[Retrovertigo]

He isn't using Sky because he wants a TV package plus telephone - and being new properties they have no phone lines at all. And B.T want to fleece him for £100+ for any installation they do.

You'd think they would want his custom and so waive the installation fee, but hey, there you go! Otherwise he'd have gone for Sky which is infinitely more preferable to NTL where TV is concerened.

[Red Robin]

Not sure if this has been resolved yet, but if it's still ongoing, I may be able to assist. As said on another post this morning, what I mean is I may be able to get an answer as to the serviceability of the property for you.

There is a process (whether it works or not is another matter) whereby when a customer calls in and their address cannot be found on our systems, they (customer services, sales or whoever) should then forward a query to a local planning office who then look into the serviceability of the address. If it is serviceable then they add it onto the systems and the person in sales (or wherever) is informed and they should then call the customer back and proceed with the sale. In cases where the property is not serviceable, the same person should call the customer back with the (often detailed) explanation given by planning as to why it can't be done. We give a detailed explanation as possible, so the customer doesn't just get the "sorry can't do it" message and gets a full explanation as to why.

Unfortunately as this is a call they don't really want to have to make, I suspect a lot of the time it doesn't get done, it then waits for the customer to call in again, property is still missing from the system, query gets sent to planning, and the whole thing goes round and round. I bear testament to this, as I sometimes get queries over addresses 3, 4, 7, 8 + times.

With regards to the one flat which is already installed, the system can also backfire here too. It may be that it was added to the system without being thoroughly checked for serviceability by planning, perhaps it was added somehow without plannings involvement (this also happens, much to our annoyance), but in any case, just because it is installed doesn't mean a) that it should be b) thats it's legal c) that it's been done properly or d) that any of the others can be served. Each needs to be studied on it's own merits.

I have contacts in Manchester planning who I know will help. If you can tell me a bit more about where the flat is (pm me if you like) I'll need postcode and address, then I'm sure I can at least find out what the CORRECT situation with regards to the property is.

HTH

[MovedGoalPosts]

I can confirm it's safe to PM these details to Red Robin :)

[Retrovertigo]

Thanks for that Red Robin. I have sent you a PM and tried to explain things as best as I can.

It hasn't been resolved yet as my cousin has been working nights and so trying to grab hold of him hasn't been so easy. Much appreciated.

[Red Robin]

For everyones info, I think this has been sorted now.

Address is in the process of being added to our systems, following checks from a local planner for the area who has very kindly helped me out.

Just waiting for confirmation the address is on, before we can get someone reliable to contact retrovertigos cousin, to get him signed up.

A happy end, hopefully!

[Retrovertigo]

Red_Robin has been amazingly helpful it has to be said. I was nervous of commenting and bigging him up too much in case he ended up being inundated with requests for help :) But I had to post a thank you publically to say how friendly and helpful he has been.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Nice to see feedback from an, eventually, satisfied customer :D

I've got a feeling that Red Robin might be a she :erm:

[Red Robin]

:Yes: Red Robin is a "she" !!!!

Thanks for the thanks, but I'll be really happy when he's installed!!!

Am chasing again the addition of the address to the national database we use, so he is known as a serviceale property. There is no danger than this won't happen, but it's just taking time. Apparantley there is a backlog at the moment :rolleyes: but hopefully it'll be on today before I leave, I've already chased it once today, then I will get someone RELIABLE in sales to give him a call, after Monday as requested.

[Retrovertigo]

OOps, I had a sneaky feeling Red might be a she. But was stuck either saying nothing - or asking if she was indeed a "she" and possibly embarassing some poor guy :)

She's been a diamond in any case! :)

[Red Robin]

Pleased to say that this address is now showing as fully saleable on our national database. Just hope the install goes okay now!!

I will ask someone to contact your cousin next week, as promised.

HTH

[Retrovertigo]

If this all goes to plan my cousin is single and might very well want to marry you :)

Thanks again!!!

[MovedGoalPosts]

Oh dear that'll be the last time Red Robin offers to help anybody :p:

[Red Robin]

Pleased to report that the regional sales manager is getting someone to call your cousin today.... if this doesn't happen, let me know, but I'm confident it will (he "promised" it would....)

One husband is quite enough thank you ;) !!

[Retrovertigo]

Yes they phoned (although they phoned his mums first off instead of his mobile :) ) They called about 2 hours ago and someone is here as I type this checking out the final details of what package he wants etc.

That's probably the most annoying thing about NTL - for every time they seem clueless, they can be so on the ball. I have never had to wait more than 3 hours to see an engineer, which is great. Such a shame they can have these cock-ups once in a while.

Really can't thank you enough robin - fantastic of you to do this. We would have been chasing our tails forever and a day otherwise.

You don't fancy one husband for every day of the week? One to do the ironing, one to do the washing, one to take out the rubbish etc etc ;)

Thanks again - my cousin is over the moon.

[Red Robin]

Yay!!!! :D :D :D

So pleased it's sorted, just hope the install goes okay now?! Where on earth did they get his Mums number from?!! Totally confused!! I only gave his mobile!!!

Nice to have a happy ending.... some of us out here in ntl land do genuinely get narked to see simple things unresolved, where theres a will, theres a way.

Hope the sales chap was decent, and the install goes smoothly..... let us know when it's all done?!

[Retrovertigo]

Apparently they had his mums number on record from when he first called them months ago! Somehow they got their hands back on that number rather than his mobile at first. But a minor glitch, that of course, wasn't a problem.

Haven't spoken to my cousin since the sales guy was here - but I'm sure my cousin would have been banging on my door with more tales of woe if it hadn't gone smoothly. I mean, they have actually seen the property first hand so they can hardly deny ot exists anymore ;)

I'll be sure to post and let you know when it's all up and running.

[Retrovertigo]

Well, the installation was done today and turned into a farce of "carry on" proportions. First the engineers made it quite clear they didn't fancy doing the job, as it was bigger than normal and would "take them all day and we get paid by the job".

They then tried to wheel out the excuses of how the cable needed to pass on someone else's property (my flat) and that they needed permission. I said it was ok, and luckilly the landlord was there and said he didn't give a toss either :) cue some more grumbling.

They said they would come back another day, as they need to make space in their timetable to do the install. They came back half an hour later and said they were going to do it!! it took them 1 hour and 10 minutes (just a touch less than the whole day they mentioned ;) ).

Then the fun really began. Couldn't get the broadband working - and the engineers only made sure the Tv worked and nothing else. Plus the salesman had signed my couisn up for tvpackage, movies, sports, phone and broadband - for a whopping £82.49!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! told my couisn to call them and sort out something approaching the prices they mention in their mail shots that arrive weekly.

We had to phone customer support as the broadband wouldn't connect. Anyway, the girl we spoke to said nothing had been registered and they didn't have my cousins bank details (not true) he gave all his details again and she gave him a new pin number. Tried the new pin and it didn't work. Spoke to tech services, told us old pin number was correct. That didn't work either.

Called back customer support. They told us the "new pin" was in fact the account number (the girl must have got mixed up). Gave us yet another pin number, and finally after 2 hours of phone calls it works. It took less time to run yards of cables and screw boxes to walls than it did to get the broadband working.

Not a great first impression sadly :( - one odd thing, they won't confirm a price to my cousin for the package. Saying that it hasn't "gone through the system yet". He's been told £10 for six months of 2 meg broadband, but as of yet can't give him price for full TV package plus phoneline. Smells of bullsh**t to me. I mean why not say "it costs x amount" everyone must pay the same surely?

So, he's left with it all working but no clue as to why they charge Broadband seperate and how much is his phone and TV will be. Very odd to say the least.

But, it's all working and he is happy enough. Shame about the shambles regarding the pin number though.

All credit to red_robin for showing that NTL do employ people that care and know how the system works. Just wish she'd have been on the phone while sorting this stuff and maybe it wouldn't have taken quite so many years off my cousins life :) Thanks again Robin :)