People who work for ntl [Archive]

obvious

28-06-2003, 16:50

I hope I'm not alone in thinking that there are a lot of good people working for ntl?

It's a shame to see the likes of Grum and any of various grouses of the genus Lagopus, inhabiting arctic, subarctic, and alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere and having feathered legs and feet and plumage that is brown or gray in summer and white in winter leaving the forums here.

Perhaps I'm one of ntl's most outspoken critics but I'd still like to think that any corporate cockups ntl have made should not be blamed on individual associates.

In short, ntl employees should be/are welcome here and guys "It's nothing personal". I hope the community here and the website team would agree?

Thanks to some exceptional ntl employees, I'm still a customer.

kronas

28-06-2003, 16:52

indeed its certain individuals at the company that drag it down give it a bad name but there some good employees in the company that want to provide/help people with help on queries faults etc

Steve H

28-06-2003, 17:00

Its the stupid executives making all the decisions, the main employee's are just employed to put these decisions into practice ;)

Undisputedtruth

28-06-2003, 17:54

Whether the decision or cock ups made by corporate or individual, it makes no difference to me. An individual represents the company and the company stands by the corporate decisions it has made.

I do not subscribe to the idea that I cannot criticise the company or employees on the basis there are some good employees. Perhaps, I've been unfortunate (despite making hundreds of calls) not to come across one.

In fact there are so much BS in the company, it would not surprise that even the worst, most incompetent employee will claim to offer excellent customer services.

kronas

28-06-2003, 17:56

Originally posted by Undisputedtruth
Whether the decision or cock ups made by corporate or individual, it makes no difference to me. An individual represents the company and the company stands by the corporate decisions it has made.

I do not subscribe to the idea that I cannot criticise the company or employees on the basis there are some good employees. Perhaps, I've been unfortunate (despite making hundreds of calls) not to come across one.

In fact there are so much BS in the company, it would not surprise that even the worst, most incompetent employee will claim to offer excellent customer services.

you must remember they are many franchises bought and streamlined in to one so you will obviously get diffarent responses and the diffarent employees etc

El Diablo

28-06-2003, 18:02

Originally posted by Undisputedtruth

I do not subscribe to the idea that I cannot criticise the company or employees on the basis there are some good employees. Perhaps, I've been unfortunate (despite making hundreds of calls) not to come across one.
Okay, so you don't think much of their Customer Support, but that's hardly reflective of all the other employees of the company, surely? :shrug: Besides, you can't criticise employees that are just towing the corporate line, they're only doing their job and I'm sure many more than are given credit for do it extremely well! :grind:

Escapee

28-06-2003, 18:16

There is little question that ntl has some good employees, they have also lost a lot of good people through redundancy and people just walking away.

I agree that they should be made welcome here, it's just a pity about the ones that think ntl can do no wrong and some of these take criticism towards ntl very personal.

There are far more employees in ntl who hate their jobs and the company than employees who think they are great, it would be nice to think this site can attract a balanced cross section of ntl employees with both views, who are not afraid to post their honest feelings without revealing their identity on a site that's independant from their employer.

El Diablo

28-06-2003, 18:19

Originally posted by Escapee

There are far more employees in ntl who hate their jobs and the company than employees who think they are great, it would be nice to think this site can attract a balanced cross section of ntl employees with both views, who are not afraid to post their honest feelings without revealing their identity on a site that's independant from their employer. Here, here... :Peace:

Rojo Habe

28-06-2003, 18:19

Originally posted by Undisputedtruth
I do not subscribe to the idea that I cannot criticise the company or employees on the basis there are some good employees.
Quite right too. As a customer your only contact with the company is with the people you encounter. Indeed, these people (along with all the others you haven't spoken to) are the company.

Whenever I hear a customer tell me what they've been through, or read similar posts here, I cringe. I feel genuinely bad that this happens all too often, and even worse that I'm extremely limited in what I can do to make things better. The best I can do is try to fix things for people on an individual basis, in my particular field of expertise. Quite often, by the time I get to meet people they're no longer willing to listen or to trust me (after some of the things I've heard, I don't blame them). What I do not like to see though, are comments like "Those monkeys at ntl." There's a difference between criticism and being just plain rude. When I see such comments on these boards I just stay out of it - people have a right to express themselves in this maner I suppose, but I feel less inclined to help them in my spare time.

Common sense tells us that there are good and bad people in every company, but it's the company's responsibility to try and ensure that the customer does not suffer as a result.

In an attempt to add a bit of balance to this post I should point out that I only meet customers who already have problems, and it should be acknowledged that there are many customers (as is the case with all companies) who have no cause for complaint, and whom I never get to meet. Also, Most of the cutomers I meet are quite nice, and they are prepared to listen to me.

ntlrebel

28-06-2003, 18:23

Please don't tar us all with the same brush.:(

Some of us do really try our best at all times. I can however relate to your personal experiences with NTL with regards to poor customer services.

Would still like to believe that one person can make a difference.
And I am trying honest.:p

El Diablo

28-06-2003, 18:30

Originally posted by Rojo Habe

Whenever I hear a customer tell me what they've been through, or read similar posts here, I cringe. I feel genuinely bad that this happens all too often, and even worse that I'm extremely limited in what I can do to make things better. The best I can do is try to fix things for people on an individual basis, in my particular field of expertise. Fair play Rojo! It's good to see that some people take a genuine care and interest in their work whilst others may simply let the side down. I've been extremely loyal to every company that I've worked for and I too used to cringe if I heard someone with a valid complaint - but nonetheless would do all I could to put that big smile back on their faces again... :D ... well, my present employers don't really tend to get any moaning customers [1], so I guess we must be doing something right!!

:devsmoke:

[1] well, there's always one, but rarely a valid complaint!

Sir Entiellot

28-06-2003, 18:45

Originally posted by obvious

It's a shame to see the likes of Grum and various grouses leaving the forums here.

I am wondering why they are leaving. Something ain't quite right.
Let me speculate

- all or one of the mods of this site is double-agent and back-stubs NTL employees by leaking their details. Unlikely but a possible theory?

-NTL bosses put pressure on NTL employees not post here.

And why doesn't this affect Fraz?

I do not understand why erolz left, he has been tortured in the past on TOS0 but he stayed and fought on, this time he run away from .co.uk, Andre was vicious & personal to him but on the other hand Andre removed the *'s from TOS...

Puzzling, contradicting .....

Mick

28-06-2003, 19:25

Originally posted by Sir Entiellot
I am wondering why they are leaving. Something ain't quite right.
Let me speculate

- all or one of the mods of this site is double-agent and back-stubs NTL employees by leaking their details. Unlikely but a possible theory?

-NTL bosses put pressure on NTL employees not post here.

And why doesn't this affect Fraz?

I do not understand why erolz left, he has been tortured in the past on TOS0 but he stayed and fought on, this time he run away from .co.uk, Andre was vicious & personal to him but on the other hand Andre removed the *'s from TOS...

Puzzling, contradicting .....

Andre, was in no way vicious to erolz. Though I can't understand why you mention erolz in this thread, he is not an ntl employee.

NTL employees are welcome here as much as everybody is.
Remember that this site is more relaxed on free speech here, however, under no circumstances should anyone abuse other members, this also including ntl employees. I hope this makes sense to all our members here. :)

Sir Entiellot

28-06-2003, 19:39

Originally posted by Dr. Plummer
Andre, was in no way vicious to erolz. Though I can't understand why you mention erolz in this thread, he is not an ntl employee.

Ok, I went back, I read the message, it was definetely strongly worded (If you prefer this characterisation). Ok, erolz is not an NTl guy.

But what about the other NTL guys leaving?

Escapee

28-06-2003, 19:46

Sir Entiellot saidBut what about the other NTL guys leaving?

I don't want to start trouble, but I had a run in with one of thos guys over at the ntl owned site. I released some information that was not good news and didn't please a few pro-ntl people.

I was called a liar, but about 6 weeks later the information was leaked there by one of their own and I never got an apology.

I basically got ganged up on because they wanted to defend their employer, most people believed them because they were ntl employees and were giving the impression that they were in a position to know what was going on.

I later found out what the persons position was in the company.:p

kronas

28-06-2003, 19:46

Originally posted by Sir Entiellot

But what about the other NTL guys leaving?

i dont know what was behind grums leaving something about site direction but i dont think NTL would be too happy seeing there employees on a site like this :rolleyes:

Escapee

28-06-2003, 20:20

kronas saidbut i dont think NTL would be too happy seeing there employees on a site like this

I think many disgruntled employees will speak out here, it's all that ntl deserve for the way they treat customers and employees.

I think one of the main reasons behind ntl buying the other site, was to silence the disgruntled employees.

I think many will remember that negative employees postings with a few exceptions dissapeared overnight!
some departments were warned about posting on the site when ntl took control, and that was harshly denied when I repeated what I was told fom an employee meeting at the time.

kronas

28-06-2003, 20:23

Originally posted by Escapee
kronas said

I think many disgruntled employees will speak out here, it's all that ntl deserve for the way they treat customers and employees.

I think one of the main reasons behind ntl buying the other site, was to silence the disgruntled employees.

I think many will remember that negative employees postings with a few exceptions dissapeared overnight!
some departments were warned about posting on the site when ntl took control, and that was harshly denied when I repeated what I was told fom an employee meeting at the time.

indeed i agree with your points i think your last paragraph summed it up of how NTL like to 'censor' there employees ofcourse they arent going to admit it are they ?

Bigtone

28-06-2003, 20:53

Even though I have problems with ntl and sometimes their poor service levels. I will not hold this against anyone here who works for them. ;)

dozysplot

28-06-2003, 23:01

Im new here and don't know what went on b4... I heard about this site on theregister.co.uk a couple of days ago when they told the story of this new site forming after NTL took over the other site.

I work as a Techie at PCworld and am a customer of NTL so I sort of sit on the fence and see both sides. I can simpathise with customers who get bad service but also, having worked previously at an ISP call centre (not NTL) as a support techie I can appreciate how difficult telesupport is. It's very difficult supporting computer/networking issues when you cannot see the computer you are working on.... esp when the customer is as thick as 2 short planks..
( I once had a guy call me saying he couldn't get a connection, when i asked if he was in front of the computer, he said "No, I'm still in Bed" :confused: :spin: :confused: )

From reading this thread I think:

1. Its important that this site is a place where both NTL Workers and Customers can swap Info/help/etc. This will help customers sort issues and Workers to get good feedback.

2. In all large companies, you get bad service, nobody's perfect, and ceretainly NTL's reputation is worse than most. But bear in mind that the people you speak to are the workers, the ones who do the work, as appose to the Managers who monitor the calls and tell them what to do...

3. Abusing the NTL Staff who actually take the calls is not productive at all. If you are genuine to them they will be genuine back and try their best for you. It might amaze some of you but the are human at the end of that telephone cord...

Incidentally, I seem to be blesses as I've never had any real problems with my internet, phone or tv service !!!!!

ntlrebel

29-06-2003, 09:55

Good morning all.:wavey: As you can tell by the avatar I am an NTL employee. Feel free to vent all your anger and frustration about NTL products at me. As long as it doesn't get personal to me, rant away.:)

At the end of the day, I am in a customer facing role, and choose to put myself in the firing line, so to speak.

Nobody forces me to come to work, and the doors here work both ways, in & out.

How then can I complain when a customer starts to rant & rave about poor NTL service ? Exactly I can't and I don't. All I can do is apologise and try my best to resolve the problem as quickly possible.

I must add that it is as much frustrating to me as it is to customers when things go wrong with NTL. Not because it generates more calls for me but because I think that we should be supplying the best possible products and customer services that we can.

Not all of us bad apples. If you have any problems fel free to PM and I will do the best that I can.

I work in dial up at the moment but will soon be trained for broadband as well. Multi skilled eh !!

Look forward to being able to help.

:p :p :wavey:

Undisputedtruth

29-06-2003, 10:43

Out of the hundreds of calls to NTL - not once have I started to rant and rave. I tend to have polite, matter of fact tone of voice.

There is no doubt that the majority of the staff are rude and unprofessional (I can only speak from my own experience).

There were a couple of times certain NTL associates wind me up chronically.

The first incident came about broadband availability - he retorted by saying "do you think we have it under our desks?"

Second incident - came about when I asked to speak to a manager. After 5 times of repeating this request I had to raise my voice. Customers service should train their staff on how to listen.

Sometimes I wonder whether NTL associates deserves the abuse they get.

Undisputedtruth

ntlrebel

29-06-2003, 11:25

Hi ' Undisputed ' truth :wavey:
I used the term rant & rave tongue in cheek, I had already used the word complain earlier in the same sentence so didn't want to repeat myself.

The point I was trying to make was, if an NTL call centre employee couldn't handle customers complaints, or abusive comments or rants & raves, then they are in the wrong job.
As the saying goes ' If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen '.

Sorry your experince with us hasn't been a good one, but I can understand where your coming from.

We can't get it right all of the time but some of the time would be nice.

:p

Stuart W

29-06-2003, 11:35

OK ntlrebel, I'll take you up on your offer.... (kind of)

<rant>Why is it that a lot of people on CS feel as though ntl is 'theirs' and any decision / statement they care to make is written in stone.
All too often I get a 'snotty' CS rep who makes company type decisions, then when I ask to speak to their supervisor / team leader they tell me that I can't. Usually fobbing me off with "I can see the supervisor from here and he/she is very busy at the moment" or the dreaded "I'll get someone to call you back"
</rant>

Now, would it not be a good idea to have some team building activities within ntl?
There seems to be a whole load of employees who think "TEAM" begins with "I"

ntlrebel

29-06-2003, 12:51

Hi Stuart W :wavey: Like your avatar.

I'll try to be as honest as I can in reply to your question.

Some tech's here do consider themselves to be above our customers. Why ? I don't know but such is life.

In the past NTL employees' have had as much a bad time as our customers, with regards to how we have been treated. Now I know that you are thinking, well what has that got to do with us, and I would have to agree with you.
However due to human nature low moral does, and will continue to have a knock on affect. If you are treated badly you will treat other people badly. I am not saying that this is done intentionally but it does happen.

NTL have recognised this as a major concern and have put measeures in place to try and make it better. From a personal point of view I can only see this as having a positive effect which will hopefully show when customers do need to call us.

Being an NTL customer before joining the company has allowed me to see things from both points of view.

If you do have to call us and the tech that you are speaking doesn't speak to you with a curtious manor than you have the right as a human being to ask them why they are treating you this way. Don't just let them speak to you in that way.

Hope this helps to explain a bit. I am not trying to defend NTL as a company but hope this gives a little insight behind the scenes.

ntlrebel

29-06-2003, 13:07

kronas

29-06-2003, 13:13

im trying not to repeat myslef here but i think there are employees in NTL that are genuine interms of helping customers with whatever they need help with

im not excusing the fact there are some who are negligent in there work as there are and i have experianced that

but if i ever need to contact them im always polite and curtious and be patient in return i get a great service sometimes i am frustrated by certain employees failing to execute what i need them to do but its the luck of the draw on who you speak to but on the whole we should not be too hard on all employees of NTL

Hell Fighter

29-06-2003, 14:57

Originally posted by Undisputedtruth
Out of the hundreds of calls to NTL - not once have I started to rant and rave. I tend to have polite, matter of fact tone of voice.

There is no doubt that the majority of the staff are rude and unprofessional (I can only speak from my own experience).

There were a couple of times certain NTL associates wind me up chronically.

The first incident came about broadband availability - he retorted by saying "do you think we have it under our desks?"

Second incident - came about when I asked to speak to a manager. After 5 times of repeating this request I had to raise my voice. Customers service should train their staff on how to listen.

Sometimes I wonder whether NTL associates deserves the abuse they get.

Undisputedtruth

UDT,

I'm sorry about the experience you've received during your dealings with ntl.

Truthfully, there are some people within ntl who aren't the best of folk to deal with customers, however, there are some of us customer service guys who will genuinely do their best to help you - this is our job.

If a customer asks for a manager or supervisor when I'm not able to help the customer, I have no hesitation in transferring immediately.

Originally posted by Stuart W
Why is it that a lot of people on CS feel as though ntl is 'theirs' and any decision / statement they care to make is written in stone.
All too often I get a 'snotty' CS rep who makes company type decisions, then when I ask to speak to their supervisor / team leader they tell me that I can't. Usually fobbing me off with "I can see the supervisor from here and he/she is very busy at the moment" or the dreaded "I'll get someone to call you back"

During the course of a phone call, we generally have to make a decision within a short space of time. This decision, or statement, is usually in line with company policy, although there are some instances where the CRAs should be making some concessions (not monetary - decision-wise).

But in respect to making decisions on behalf of ntl:
While you're on the phone to a CRA such as myself, I'm effectively your personal representative of ntl and as such I will make decisions based on the facts which I'm presented with. If "wrong decisions" or mistakes are made, then this will be fed back to me by other associates and my line manager and identified as a training issue.

Saying that, the exact decisions/statements you receive from every CRA will differ, but you will find that the majority will be similar ideas, just different variations.

- Hell Fighter -

Escapee

29-06-2003, 17:12

ntlrebel saidIn the past NTL employees' have had as much a bad time as our customers, with regards to how we have been treated. Now I know that you are thinking, well what has that got to do with us, and I would have to agree with you.However due to human nature low moral does, and will continue to have a knock on affect. If you are treated badly you will treat other people badly. I am not saying that this is done intentionally but it does happen.

I am certainly impressed by your honest admission to that fact ntlrebel, as an ex-employee I have been publically slated or ignored for making such comments elsewhere.
Whilst at the same time I have received PM's and emails off ntl employees who have said "Thanks for letting the truth out"
The local guys who I used to work with also read these sites and often give me the things to post that they are afraid to themselves.

ntlrebel:cool:

ntlrebel saidNTL have recognised this as a major concern and have put measeures in place to try and make it better. From a personal point of view I can only see this as having a positive effect which will hopefully show when customers do need to call us.

I will take your word for it that your department is trying to improve matters, but if you spoke to the service/Network Technicans in South Wales and they were to reply honestly without fear of identification, they would say it's worse than ever for them.

They are trialling a new structure that is not working, I had a PM from an ntl employee in the callcentre (No Names) he said thanks for your post, it now becomes clear why it has taken "Four" days to get a network fault fixed!

All the network tech's were given eleven service calls a day, and had to leave their normal duties. This resulted in a huge backlog of network faults that they couldn't cope with.

I was also told by one tech that he visited customers and had to refer/pass back the fault because it was network related. he then had to visit the same customer the very next day with his network tech hat on, some customers were not very amused that the same guy was returning and didn't fix the fault the previous day. It was all because they overbooked service calls, and are trying to force more tech's to work weekends.

South Wales is a shambles it's falling apart at the seams, technicians have been threatened with disciplinary action and even dismissal to get them to sign new contracts and change their working conditions, and it's all down to the unsuitable people that they have placed in the field operation managers positions, It's a joke and it's not working.

But will those managers resposible feed the truth up the line, or will the new structure be passed off as a success and be implemented across all regions.:rolleyes:

ntlrebel

30-06-2003, 10:57

Honesty is the best policy in my book. :p
If you don't know, find out. Don't blag. Too much of that goes on.:p

albone

30-06-2003, 11:49

As a customer I would rather hear that the person has no idea as to why or what, than have a load of BS that turns out to be false. And imo I think the majority of customers would say the same.
Honesty does pay off, as in many situations a customer will be more likely to let you try and sort it out if you are seen to at least try. The frustration sets in when you try and BS your way and it then becomes obvious over time that you don't have a clue as to whats going on. :shrug:

albone

30-06-2003, 11:56

Here Here!! The days when I could except the BS have long gone. And with better knowledge comes the ability to know/smell it..:smokin:

georgepomone

30-06-2003, 12:01

Hi All,
I've got to post my first one on this site.Firstly I want to thank anyone who is an employee of ntl for posting because I can imagine what has been said to them about posting on any site not belonging to ntl.Not an easy position for any of them.
Myself, I am a customer and am grateful for any help I can get when I have a problem. One of the main problems I used to have was losing my temper before I even started because it happened so often. I then thought about it and realised no one gets paid to take this nonsense from anyone customer or not.
When contacting C/S you will get more help by being reasonable, it took me some time to learn this. Don't ask to speak to Managers or supervisors as it is likely they are the root cause of problems not being sorted. I once wrote a letter to a Customer Relations Director. The answer I got was unbelievable.
It was to the point of calling me as a customer a liar.That person is still around. If they speak to customers like that, pity the poor employee. But I have to say ntl aren't the only company like this nowadays, I work for one that is much the same.For those involved in setting up this site Thank You.
Best Wishes, George

Macca

30-06-2003, 12:53

Originally posted by georgepomone
Hi All,
I've got to post my first one on this site.Firstly I want to thank anyone who is an employee of ntl for posting because I can imagine what has been said to them about posting on any site not belonging to ntl.Not an easy position for any of them.

Quite correct but as long as you watch what you are saying and use common sense then ntl are ok with you visiting this site (this is my experience).
I am an ntl employee and registered on here last week, then I rec'd an email from our Investigation Dept. Did get a bit of a fright but they just advised me to get someone from Admin @ .co.uk to amend some of my details (contacted Russ regarding this and I'm sure he will get someone to sort it once things have settled down) and that they had no objection to me visiting or posting on this site.

Moox

30-06-2003, 13:09

Originally posted by Macca
Quite correct but as long as you watch what you are saying and use common sense then ntl are ok with you visiting this site (this is my experience).
I am an ntl employee and registered on here last week, then I rec'd an email from our Investigation Dept. Did get a bit of a fright but they just advised me to get someone from Admin @ .co.uk to amend some of my details (contacted Russ regarding this and I'm sure he will get someone to sort it once things have settled down) and that they had no objection to me visiting or posting on this site. I'm sure Russ will keep you in the clear with NTL ;) At least he's experienced in matters NTL related from just about everyside of the fence ;)