Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

That was why I was careful to state that I was referring to those that I had personally had dealings with so I wasn`t tarring you with the same brush. While I concede that there are those that do their job well and are genuinely helpful, I would have to say that those people are in the minority.

A good start would be for them to realise that just because they have had a minimal amount of training and have some tech support scripts to walk through doesn`t necessarily mean that they have a greater level of knowledge than those they are dealing with.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

no tech has scripts to work from at ntl tech and anyone eho says they have is rather misinfomred - i have friends who work there.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

aren't they isntalling/trialling new caches? cant remember the name of them

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I find that even more disturbing, that a large number can demonstrate such a lack of independent thought without something in front of them guiding them.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I realised I made a mistake in one of my earlier posts, I did get *one* TS guy once who was bang on with his knowledge and fixed the problem in about 10 seconds, so credit where credit is due.

However, his competency simply highlighted just how poor some of the TS staff can be. The guy who helped me was the third person I spoke to. The first two swore blind that they had never heard of the problem before and had no idea what the solution could be. The third one immediately knew what the problem was (my USB controller not liking the cable modem) and suggested I switched to Ethernet which solved all the issues.

How can one person know exactly the nature and solution to a problem, and describe that it was a common issue, when two others haven`t even heard of it?

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

thats hardly a fix - more of a workaround

a good tech would have ficed the problem and advised u to use e/net if the problem re-occurrs

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

a large number? so how many techs have you spoken to? were they new starters or all very experienced? what exactly are you basing your opinion on?

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I understand fully and I am not having a pop at you personaly so please dont take it that way. However - The person I speak to on the phone is the face of the company...He is the company to the customer. Perhaps more time should be spend weeding out the crap customer service staff that make you all look bad. I have seen you offer help and assistance to loads of users on this forum and we all thank you for that.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

Well, if they don't use scripts, they do have a standard set of replies. Perhaps you friends live higher up the food chain than some of the tech support people I've come across.

I grant you, that this is not always the case. Some listen and then give good advice, but the ones I call the "A4 people" definitely have a limit to their knowledge, and I've found the first thing they want to do is blame it on the customers setup, despite the fact that we are not all computer networking dummies, and we tell them straight away that certain things have been checked.

I'll give you an example of my mate's (SJ) conversation regarding his less than performing new 1Mb service.....

[SJ] - My 1Mb connection still feels like a 600k. If downloaded files from Microsoft and the Beeb and I'm getting 72k (Bytes) top.
[TECH] - Try this file from www.bbc.co.uk.
[SJ] - Yes, I'm getting 98k, 85k, 80k, 70k Okay stable at about 70k.
[TECH] - Yes that's right. It started at 98k though.
[SJ] - No, it always over estimates the speed. On large files, it eventually settles to the right speed (which is 70k, and should be more like 120k).
[TECH] - Hang on, no 72k. That's 1Mb.
[SJ] - No, 72k Bytes multiplied by 8 (8 bits per byte) is 576k bits ( a 600k approx connection). THis is the same on every site I've tried for the past fortnight.
[TECH] - Yes but some sites will not give to speed.
[SJ] - I know that but Microsoft and the BBC normally do, dont they?
[TECH] - Er. yes. Well, I'll have to log your problem, and get an engineer out to you.

After this, no-one called. He phoned back and got someone with a brain, who said that some of the CM's in the STB's were not performing as they should, and said he'd then arrange for a standalone CM to be installed. This duly happened and his connection then went up to it's expected speed.

Does the above sound like a well-informed tech support agent? I don't think so. *edit* talking about the former tech agent, not the latter who did seem to know his onions!

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

So what would you suggest that the tech did, redesign the USB controller while I was on the phone? I`m fairly certain that a knowledge of IC design doesn`t come under their job remit.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

You don`t expect me to keep a detailed record of the numbers do you? Do you expect me to grill them ahead of the conversation about their level of technical competency? I am basing my experience on the calls I have put in to NTL TS before I realised that I was wasting my time and money on the phone calls.

But here's another good illustrative example for you. The first home computer I got on the internet was my Amiga 2000 using a dial-up connection, external 56k modem with a third party TCP/IP connection (Miami for anyone interested).

The first commercial dial-up provider had people there who could tech support that set-up, and not just in a generic sense, they had people who knew about the hardware and software I was using. You should also take into account that this was after the Amiga had stopped being a commonly used mainstream platform.

So, we have a situation with a relatively obscure hardware/software configuration and tech support being provided by a small, independent ISP, yet they were able to provide accurate and useful information.

Now we have a situation where the hardware and software are massively standardised and a multi-national company trying to provide tech support, and in the main they are unable to do so. You don`t have to be a genius to conclude that something is not right within NTL when it comes to ensuring they are able to provide a service.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

that agent clearly has limited knowledge but may have been anew starter and hence will hopefully know how to sort out such problems by now

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

I just thought you might have a general idea.

true but amigas are still far more reliable than PC's and i would much rather fix a problem with my old miggy than have stab at usb on win 98

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

A new starter should still be technically competant, even if he isn't fully up-to-speed with NTL's systems.

Are you are suggesting that NTL employ tech support agents who do not know the basics regarding data transfer, and networking on a Windows based PC system? If so, then this would explain and back up many of our complaints against NTL.

Re: NTL Proxy advice
 

not suggsting that at all

my point is that it can be very difficult to fix a problem when a new agent comes up against a knowledgeable customer. it can be quite intimidating for them and it is easy to make a mistake