Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

So would you agree that for a tech to come on here and say that would have any kind of impact on the figures of the people who say they have problems with the email servers would be pretty lame?

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

You got it. Mistyping logon details has nothing at all to do with the email problems. May cause a few customers to ring customer services saying they had a problem, but I doubt it.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Although there are mail problems, a misconfigured account is by far the largest driver of email related calls into TSB. It would certainly colour any stats you analysed about email problems unless you could filter user error out of the results.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

There you are folks, straight from the horse's mouth, there's very little wrong with NTLs email system, its just us poor customers that can't type correctly. They don't really need to spend anything on upgrading it. We should have a vote on what we think about the tech's responses.
1. They are right, we are all wrong - there's nothing wrong with NTLs email system.
2. NTLs techs are living in cloud cuckoo land
3. We stopped calling NTL a long time ago regarding email problems because they don't take any notice.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

This is slightly off the hotpot issues guys. Perhaps argue in the mail problems thread?
I say we all stop arguing and sing songs. I feel in that sort of mood.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

No I don't think that's what he meant at all but this indicates why we get so frustrated with techs who seem to want us to think it's something like a username and password problem when we know it isn't. For example, since I reformatted my machine last september I've not changed anything in Outlook Express. So if a tech tried to suggest maybe I've got my username and password wrong, their idea would go straight out of the window.

Even then I'm sure they'd still be partially convinced that's the problem....

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

thats not what he said or implied is it ianathuth?

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

no what we are talking about here is a lot of ppl not a few

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

oooh this so annoys me.
So how come one minute my inbox works straight away and the password/username is ok(it's stored on my HD)then the next it's not.I haven't altered my details in the meantime and it still doesn't work.Yet next time it works just fine and again I've altered nothing.You can't keep hiding behind the same old excuses.Unless you are ntl of course.

Incog. :rolleyes:

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

no I am not "ntl". I did not say ntl dont have problems with their mail servers, far from it, what i did say is that some ppl perceive that there is a mail problem when in fact there isn't b'cos they are not typing their details in correctly

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

But what about (what I'd consider to be) the majority of us who know it's nothing to do with entering details because we've never changed or altered them??

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

you guys are still in the minority when we reflect on ntl's customer base

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

you keep saying this like some mantra but then you say you aren't from ntl.

how do you know this for a FACT?

Anyway EVEN IF I'M IN THE MINORITY IT'S STILL NOT FECKING GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!

Incog.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

becuase I dont work for ntl?

ooooooooo - somebody got out of bed the wrong side.

pointless debating with you. ntl has network and email problems like any other ISP - they are of course continually striving to improve them - again like most ISP's

as i said the grass isnt always greener - but hey this waaaaaay off topic now (and has been foir ages) and it starting to get ugly

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Yep but still, we're in the minority so it's not that important!

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

That attitude from ntl is why this site is here, and dotcom before it.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

I never said it wasn't important

edit: in fact if you remeber I was talking about persceptions of problems not the actual problems themselves

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Please don't troll, that was neither said or implied. I'm on your side ianathuth.

NTL has a great deal of email related issues that are nothing to do with customer mistakes but the largest call driver over email is user error.

I personally will not be happy with the mail system until there is a large reduction in calls driven by mail server problems. That still does not change my statement though.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Yes but I'm continually getting problems with my emails that has nothing do do with my entering my details wrongly.I've had better service with Dial-up from other ISP's than I've had with NTL who's service isn't just erratic for some and for others almost non-existant for days.

What has got up my nose about NTL's attitude is that email isn't a service I pay for it's a freebie and I should be grateful for a cr@p service at that.However all the advertising pushes the emailing service as being a very important part of the service.It's the one service ALL ISP's push for all their worth.So please excuse me if I really don't share your sanguine attitude to a poor service. :rolleyes:

Incog.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

i am not trying to be trollish but simply stating that your explanation, as a NTL tech, is that the most frequent problem taken by TSB regarding email problems are caused by user error in inputting details. I fail to see how this can be the case when most users (the ones that I know and the many ones that I have worked on their systems) input and remember their details and use them for long periods with no problem. Whilst this may or may not be true, is this "fact" based on your interpretation of what the error might be or what it actually is. I keep getting the popup box telling me that I have input my details incorrectly when I know that I haven't. If I were to phone you up saying that I had this problem would you insist that I input the details again or would you accept that it was a problem with your email system? Would you log the call as a user eror or a NTL problem?

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

My email is mostly OK

This (last) evening in the middle of this thread, it stopped working.

I use mailwasher, which 'remembers' the username + password and checks every 10 mins..

For the last 5 hours it has been unable to connect - username/password error.

Suddenly it sprang into life and gave me 20+ notifications from this site.

Clearly Mailwasher has the facility to ring TS and reset the username in the background whilst I am at the pub.

Apologies to all at TS for another user incapable of typing the username/password correctly - I will have a word with the software concerned, and trust it was polite in its conversation with you in my absence.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

I agree with David25, I take more calls setting up email accounts than calls regarding mail issues.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

This may help a little.

An error occurs in webmail "Unable to contact message store" when the storage server times out.

This does not happen in M$ applications for email. (I am told that a more relevant error is displad in Mozilla) Instead Outlook throws up the "Please enter password" box. Why I dont know - its Microsoft. I press "Cancel" because I know i have the correct details. Aparrently by pressing "OK" a number of times corrupts the entry on Outlook (OE) and it will then never validate the password - because its not the right one (corrupt). The resoloution is to remove the account entry from Outlook (OE) and re-add it with the correct information. This works EVERY TIME. On occasion (very often) people will be unaware to their password, some believe they can use any of their choice and some use other ntl security information they receive at registration, obviously this information is incorrect and still cannot access email - to them its ntl's fault.

In conclusion - its a combination of customer awareness, customer understanding of the technology, client software ambiguity and ntl email problems.

As I said earlier, I have NEVER had to re-add an account on Outlook, the "Password" comes up frequently on an IRREGULAR basis but i always press CANCEL when it appears and have never had a problem - email service quickly resumes to normal and i do not experience any great loss of service.

Again :notopic:

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

I would ask you to remove and readd the account as standard in case it was user error. Of course in your case it would not be and it would be logged as a mail server error.

However, as an example, the number of calls we get where the user has specified 'pop3' instead of pop.ntlworld.com is very large. As is the number of calls where people are inputting the name of their dog as the password instead of w01276676 (or whatever).

The point is, I am not counting your error as user error. I am literally only counting obvious ones.

Of course, the people who know what they are doing are not going to be calling up because of these reasons. However as broadband has become a mass market product, there is a greater number of users without the technical know how to realise even simple errors, and this is what comes through to the TSB.

It's not a personal dig at you, or anyone for that matter. Neither is it a defence of NTL mail servers (which I am happy to admit have problems), just a statement of fact.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

Just out of interest m8 -

Do you have separate servers for authentication of the user ? When I used to use NTL boxes and had errors on the username and password it allways looked like an autentication problem as I could allways telnet to the mail server, even when the mail was off due to maintenence ect...

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

If I am reading it right, it would appear that NTL techs on here are saying that most of the problems that are put to TSB are from new / inexperienced users. Could it be that more experienced users just do not get in touch with TSB as they know it may be a long wait in the telephone queue or a frustrating session where they have to go through all the simple basics that they have already tried many times and ultimately be fobbed off with "there is nothing wrong at our end, it must be your PC" or that it is a known issue that is waiting to be resolved, "soon".

If these more experienced users don't bother getting in touch with NTL regarding the problems that they are experiencing do NTL fault stats give them a completely wrong idea of the magnitude of some of the problems. They may think that there is a problem with some part of their service but it can be pushed to the back of the queue of problems to be solved because hardly anyone rings in regarding the issue.

I thought that when NTL announced their "Community" site that it would quickly develop into an avenue of help which would reduce the number of calls to TSB and CS, if NTL promoted it in the right manner and gave access to it via the DTV system. They could have also used the old dotcom site in a proavtive way to ask customers using it for their experiences of various aspects of the service. NTL have destroyed one of the best management feedback tools that they have had and seem to be of the attitude that they will succeed no matter what and customers will stay loyal to them. The manner in which some NTL staff post and the content of their posts tells a great deal about what NTL think of its customers, products and pricing.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

One to ask JANoob. Us schmo's do not need to be clued up on the mail server topology.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

Yes.

Quite possibly.

I don't follow your logic, can you elaborate?

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

The manner in which NTL staff are slated & treated by many (not all) in this forum is disgraceful and I'm suprised that any of them still come here to post and help at all.

I know if I worked for them I would think twice about coming to this site - they should be applauded for their continued support - every little bit counts.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

I welcome NTL staff who come on here and help customers with their problems and add to the spirit of the site. What I do not like is the NTL staff who only come here to unfairly bull up NTLs image and try to trash the image of NTLs competitors. There are some who will argue that black is white to try to show that NTL services are better, cheaper and more reliable than its competitors. I could name names and quote examples, but I won't as most forum members know who I mean and what they do. I will name one though that tries to be honest, impartial and helpful, that is Orangebird (even though she has given me a red rep today).

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

Never show signs of weakness. They can smell fear.

If we stopped posting here it would be like giving into the enemy. Posts about how crap ntl are would be up 100%, 90% of them started by niel.
The site would become less helpful and would push the boat away from the ntl infrastructure eventually become a 110% beach site. Including online java/flash games like 'pie the ts rep'

We keep the balance and more importantly keep the reality in the stories
(not a guarantee)

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Thanks for the reply cjmillsnun. I do respect what the tech's tell me but I've had so many different responces, when reporting the same problem, that I've just become a little sceptical. However, regarding the network card being the cause of my poor latency. I have just found a new monster Pc to buy on PcSpecialist.co.uk. This will be coming with an Ethernet card, so I'll soon find out if it is my current card at fault.
If the new PC is no better I will try the 20 metre Ethernet cable an engineer gave me. Even though I only need about 3 meters of it.

Just an "off topic" question: For 3D gaming what is the best card. The Radeon 256MB 9600 or the Radeon 128MB 9800 All in wonder.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

there is nothing wrong in being proud of the company you work for

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exsist?????
 

Irrelevant though it all seems now, I got ya details AdyBee, will let you know when I have some info (was sure there was a point to this thread somewhere).

EDIT: OK got some info, will send privately.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

Absolutely. :D

In the main, the NTL staff who post here are helpful and polite.

Sometimes they get bitten by a troll (but then who doesn't :naughty: ) and get defensive, but that just shows that they care about the company (or more likely their own/team) image as portayed at times here. ;)

I for one feel that this forum would be worse off without the support and guidance (albeit unofficial) of these people....

Lets not bicker about it, lets just get on with helping solve peoples problems...

:ghugs:

(back on topic) I for one (being non NTL employed, and contacting them as little as possible) have never heard of the HotPot team, but the idea is a very good one :D

Just my 2â ¡ÃƒÆ’‚¬c :angel:

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

I cannot disagree with that at all. What I do disagree with are posts by NTL staff and some others who make claims about NTLs services that just aren't true. You cannot make claims that NTLs services are the best, cheapest and most reliable as this is plainly not the case, but some NTL staff do so through NTHell forums.

At the end of the day every persons needs and perceptions are different. Some NTL customers will never have had a problem with their service that they consider significant whils others may be plagued with problems that they consider important. Nothing that I or anyone else on here says will alter a customers own perception of the service that they are getting. All I would ask of every poster is that they post true facts about the subjects being discussed.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

I agree.

And in the spirit of that, one also cannot make the claim that they are the worst, the most expensive or the least reliable.

Re: HotPot team?? Do they exist?????
 

Works for me and in the interest of all here I am going to close this thread.