Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Like I said a few pages back ;

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Perhaps everyone should bear in mind that those ntl staff who do become involved, in whatever capacity, do do off their own backs. Their presence is not required here, or on any other ntl-related forum, but instead they voluntarily (sometimes in their own time) have conversations with ntl's customers.


IMHO, these people are to be commended for their involvement, no matter how limited it is, simply because they do it through choice and not because they are told to by ntl.

ntl the company needs to wake up and start talking to their customers in an official capacity instead of leaving it to a small minority of the more enthusiastic employees to do in their own time.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Now now Mick come off it a bit here.

I believe and know there is more to it than that as well you do.

I am not going to get into the politics about the date but my main point was that you knew or maybe not yourself personally but those concerned were well aware of the iminent closure of .com and stopped on the gravy train (payroll) defending them right up until the plug was pulled and then when you had the whistle blown over here came clean.

Like i said before in the past i sort of accept the reasons for this but lets not try and gloss over it.

Again you misread what i have said NTL will not ignore a customer panel because of the Members of this site more the case they will be well wary about getting their fingers burnt by the Admin of this site.

And yes I agree they are petty and full of politics.

Again to reiterate it has happened so move on as many have done.

:)

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

What did he reply out of interest?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Basically that it was not his department so he had no interest at all and in any case his involvement with any forum is not as an NTL emplyee as such so he rarely even posts in that capacity even when it is his department.

So sadly Erol's suggestion led to a dead end but I live in hope a more willing individual can be located eventually that can speak for NTL so we can move this project forward.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I don't know about willing, but we can definitely find the person who can help us with this idea. It's not a bad idea at all, and hopefully we can get something off the ground soon. I will PM you about it.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

That's great Keyser.

Sorry I sort of let this thread lapse over the holidays :blush: but it is certainly time to have another try to get it moving so I look forward to getting the PM.

EDIT: Thanks for the PM I see now why holding off for a few was appropriate so less :blush: now. :)

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I wasn't suprised Sociable at the time of you contacting him some on here was attacking him for not posting on here.

He is after all only working with those who trial products what we need is a general manager who is interested in moving the company forward.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

What we need is someone in a position of responsibility who is willing to get their hands dirty and try and sort out some of ntl's worst problems in conjunction with customers who aren't going to go away.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

:tu: dont hold your breath m8 !!!

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

perhaps a few from each area could arrange a visit on the same day. Like a co-ordinated effort to get these area managers to look at the idea for the future of NTL.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Thanks for that Sociable I think it is difficult to judge what this means when we do not know what you asked him? For example you mention "department" twice.

I think the "willing" is a bit unfair given his active participation in .com when it was around and other forums today. Of all NTL employees I think he has consistently supported us customers the longest. Is this lack of willingness towards individuals or this site?

I wonder if maybe the wrong questions were asked maybe the right questions in the wrong way maybe it should be one of the formal NTHW team who asks?

Thanks again for your efforts.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

At Peter's request the discussion we had remains "Private". It may, however, help if I restate the main conclusions.

The reason for contacting Peter specifically was that Erol had inferred he was the right person to talk to about moving forward with the scheme and was willing to discuss the issues with me.

It was only after having had an initial discussion with him this proved to be incorrect and that, despite Peter's continued interest in providing information and advice specifically within the area of Customer Trials, he was not able to get involved at all with the sort of scheme we are proposing here.

Peter is not now, and does not wish to be, a spokesperson for NTL.

To quote the Signature he uses on forums:

"Any opinions expressed as 'Peter M' are entirely my own, and in no way are intended to reflect the views of ntl:. Any assistance or advice offered, is given in good faith, but if I didn't think it was good advice I wouldn't give it."

Willing in this case was, therefore, specific to the notion of participating in a customer panel scheme as an NTL spokesperson along the lines described in this thread and the earlier one at .com no more than that.

This was not linked in any way to the idea having come from .co.uk but simply that he felt that participation by himself in the scheme was outside the scope of his position within NTL and the way he prefers to be involved with the various forums.

So where to next?

The problem for us, at least in the short term, is that NTL themselves are currently re-organising and so it is not possible to identify who would be the most appropriate person to contact.

Hopefully this situation will become clearer before too long and we will be able to progress this idea further. Until then it still makes sense to continue to discuss and refine our ideas so that as and when we can proceed we will be better prepared to get a positive outcome.

I hope this clarifies the current state of play and apologise for any confusion or wrong impression given by my earlier post regarding this matter.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Thank you for that Sociable. At the risk of sounding like a dog gnawing at a bone I do still wonder if your initiative towards him should still be supported by an equivalent one from the Admin team.

Isnââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t Pointman the Customer Trials person for NTL?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Yes he is :)

EDIT: And as you will see we are actively working with him with regard to the next trial involving broadband diagnostics:

http://forum.nthellworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7520

As for the initial point this is a group effort and my approach to Peter was in response to posts and comments earlier in this thread and also PM's from Erol which gave a wrong impression about Peter's possible interest.

The team, as well as everyone else, were aware I was doing this and will also be involved as and when we are in a position to progress it further with A. N. Other at NTL at some point in the future.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

If ntl becomes 'under new management' to any extent, then it will certainly be more worthwhile, trying to negotiate with them.

How meaningful a discussion would be, would depend on how true, the intent of ntl was, in having a meaningful discussion.

The sign, that ntl really had a 'true intent' of meaningful discussion, with anyone from this site, would be if ntl reopened .com.

Otherwise..............

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I would keep an eye on Alan Grant and pointman I think they might be more willing to guide us in the right direction. I am still willing to meet up most days I finish work early afternoon giving time to get through to their offices....

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I now understand he is a casualty of this http://forum.nthellworld.co.uk/showt...335#post140335, and is no longer part of NTL Home hence your comment in post 107 †œThanks for the PM I see now why holding off for a few was appropriateââ ¡Ã‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ�

Respect for not making a big deal of this unfortunate occurrence.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

This is a different Peter we are talking about. What Sociable meant was that we need to see how the new structure pans out and who is responsible for what. We'll then have a better idea of who to approach.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Imo its clear that Socaible and I are talking about the same Peter, and its not Peter w ;-)

Reorganizations at NTL = job cuts so the idea that after a reorganisation we will discover a saviour is nonsense.

If that person hasnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t come forward in the past two years then they are unknown and untrusted to the members of these forums. What did the past bring †“ most recent was Ash G, before that Tim ? who was such a prolific poster?

If you want known and trusted the list just got shorter.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I would hope that if someone from NTL came here to try and help build bridges between customers and managment they would be given the chance to prove themselves. Most are willing to try and give NTL the benefit. I really would like to see something happen that makes it better for customers. The staff also need to be happy and know what they are doing. A trust between customers and staff needs to be rebuilt. I really do find most staff to be really friendly and helpfull. I do go by how they talk to me I do a mystery shop job where I have to monitor how customers are greeted by staff. It is really good when you have someone who is polite and helpful.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

It is hard to see ntl starting to listen to .co.uk, when ntl didn't even listen to their own site, .com, which spent years telling ntl about their faults that were never corrected.

If ntl wanted to start talking to a feedback site and build bridges, surely ntl would reopen ntl's own feedback site, and talk to that site.

It just doesn't make sense to me, of there being a situation of .com being kept closed, but ntl talking to the offshoot, .co.uk. There is no logic to it, why would ntl do that.

Were such a peculiar situation as the above, to happen, and someone from ntl did talk to us, I'm sure he would be treated on merit and given a chance, as Ash G and Tim R were. Though many would be sceptical of how productive it would be, and perhaps even of ntl's motives.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Before NTL had control and was slowly about to stop the freedom of speach part the discusions.

Now they have no such hold they are back to before they took control of .com. When customers have problems they are very vocal its a shame when things are going well most never say anything but this is all ISPs not just NTL.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

First three paragraphs - spot on.

Look earlier in this thread to see how Peter was treated on merit
So he cannot choose which forum he joins?
From someone who a few posts earlier said
and along the way added

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I bookmarked this post and find it very astute.

I wonder if this site is not shooting itself in the foot with threads like this http://forum.nthellworld.co.uk/showt...572#post146572

In parallel other sites like ntlhell and chetnet have gone about their business, worked with ntl and set up Technology Trials forums like this http://www.chetnet.co.uk/portal/forum/index.php?c=6 announced today.

The ntlhell one is for members only and has been around for a while.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

You seem to forget that Chetnet is moderated by one of NTL's directors, plus the fact they did offer users of this site the opportunity to get involved with the Technology Trials.

Last but not least don't forget that the team here at .co.uk have already tried working with NTL over on .com, and look where that got us.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Not to mention the fact that the thread referred to is a joke. It would appear that some people need to get a sense of humour.

That thread is hardly representative of the whole site, is it?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

That would be "ex" Russ he doesn't work for NTL HOME any more ;-) see post 120 in this thread

Interesting observation - †œplus the fact they did offer users of this site the opportunity to get involved with the Technology Trials.ââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ�

But we arenââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t talking about just †œgetting involvedââ‚à ƒâ€šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� the setting up of dedicated forums is a whole different ball game and shows initiative from those other forums.

I also donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t think we are talking about †œTechnology Trialsââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ�. Read the definition of Technology Trials on Chetnet because they very DEFINITELY arenââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t the same as Newsgroups and Broadband Medic.

So Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢ll ask a few more questions:

Where on this forum does someone from NTL †œoffer the opportunity to set up a Technology Trials Forumââ‚ƚ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�?

Or, was this offer made in private to the Admin Team here?

If it was made †œin privateââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ� why donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t we have Technology Trials Forums here?

Did the Admin Team here decline to co-operate with NTL, and if so when did this happen?

Why weren't the members told?

Why isn't this site following this initiative?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Peter McKain no longer works for NTL? That's news to me.

NTL are weary of working with us as it's been tried in the past on .com. We saw what they're like.

See above.

Were you not aware that the majority of the admin team here used to be admins on the NTL-owned nthellworld.com? And Peter Mckain IIRC used to post here but then decided not to.

We've tried, by jumping jiminy jacob we've tried.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Really? Sorry we're so uninnovitive.
Where on any forum does ntl officially offer this opportunity? AFAIK, all these "opportunities" are made available to visitors of said forums by ntl employees on a personal basis under their own initiative.
It may have escaped your attention, but Chetnet is a dedicated Cable Modem website. As such, Internet Technology trials are very relevant to their website. This site, however, has a much wider remit in that it covers all ntl product lines and their "customer service". So in my personal opinion, we don't have any Technology Trials Forums on this site because our visitors haven't asked for one, and because all those ntl employees on "other sites" do not post on this site.
I think you'll find it was the other way around when ntl decided to close down nthellworld.com without bothering to get the opinions of any of the admin team.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

:nworthy: And for this we are grateful

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Not all of you are. I can state that as fact.
As was pointed out to me this week this sites name is NTHELLWORLD and I should take that into account.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

I went there but there is no way to register for the trials, I assume this means they closed shop now on new registrations?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Members were under the misapprehension that Peter was officially representing ntl, that was making an unmerited snub on this site, an offshoot of .com that ntl had just closed. It was clarified later, that Peter was under his own steam, and IMO, being aware of ntl's sensitivities towards us, went elsewhere first. That's my take on it.

This site does in fact speak and make communication with ntl, with the likes of ntl members that join the site, (such as the 'on merit' discussion in the cap thread) and only just recently by email to ntl, which NTL responded with a reply that loosely said, 'off.

The site was (in diplomatic speak) open and forthright in the next email. Good British diplomacy at it's best!

This site is communicating with ntl, but better communication is achieved, the stronger you are, and this site is in the process of getting bigger and stronger. We haven't given up.... we will be back, in good terminator style. ;)

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Any recent progress?

Has anything changed recently at NTL that might help this along?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Ditto the above - what news guys?

Now the changes are is in place at NTL is any progress being made on ?

Have you spoken to the new "Heads and Directors" in the Internet Teams at NTL?

Its a shame the news about the Tier Speed increases came out elsewhere first.

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

is it already happening or is it this NTL & customer pannel idea that has started to come to life again ?

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

WoW, that has to be the oldest Bump I've seen in a long time!!!!

Re: Proposal for a "Customer" Panel
 

Jesus, I posted that in November 2003 (only about three weeks after joining !!!!).