Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

No i am sure many customers dont have problems but i have had an account for 3 years not through choice ntl were the only ones able to serve my property with broadband. In all my experinces i have never got of the phone to ntl and felt satisfied with the out come due to such poor training and lack of knowledge of the products they support. With all the call centres ntl have i wished they would use their resources more allowing customers to deal with any call centre not the one allacted to thier postcode

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

That's exactly what's happening now.....

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

It was never claimed it was going to be instant. It's a long programme, and was always intended to be.
There are already three less billing systems within ntl than there were before Harmony started. It's progressing well.

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

Problem is its another coming soon Ntl have wound me up so much with such a 2bit services its to late to retain have order for bt adsl downgrading from 750k with ntl to 512k with bt but the downgrade is well worth it i now get an acceptable level of customer service and a FREE 24 hour tech support line

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

If you've had a poor service, then that's the right thing to do.

I don't know the situation in London, I do know up here I'd rather have cable broadband than ADSL even if ADSL was free! However, I acknowledge that this is not the case in all areas of the country.

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

Exactly. In the words of Aizad Hussain, "Our customers just aren't interested in what's *coming soon* - they want to know when it's here".

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

From what I've heard from ntl associates & people on the Harmony Project, it's far from what it is cracked up to be, & not very far from being a waste of ntl's money.....

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

Well that explains a lot.

Aizad - Our customers just aren't interested in what's *coming soon* - they want to know when it's here. BTW, how are those updates coming?

Flunky - They're coming soon

Aizad - In that case our customers aren`t interested in them, cancel them all.

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

:LOL: That actually sounds like the sort of thing he would say too! :LOL:

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

You didn't see them bringing in the metal detectors? ;) :p:

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

In an ideal situation maybe but not everyone has the opportunity to call back later.

Also that message is usually a standard message on the IVR system in the hope that the customer will abandon in the first 20 seconds so that the call is not counted as abandoned as most systems have this 20 second rule in place to constructively enhance their stats.

Agreed but as ever nothing much has changed since my time there as I still remain in close contact with varying levels of NTL peeps from my days at NTL in the Caradog House days and some of them are now working in Swansea.

The fact still remains the same they have all the tools to evaluate the call flows but choose not to use them in the best way they can.

I currently operate a call routing system which cost £20k and performs perfectly when configured correctly which pails in comparison for example to the £8 million pound system they currently use in the NTL Call Centre in Swansea.

The one thing that stick in my mind and always will is a senior NTL Director who visited Newport when this software was being installed was an ex COCO (as in COCO the clown) saying ooh that looks pretty what does it do.


See my post above as the recorded announcement is an attempt to get the customer to abandon in the first 20 seconds too boost the stats and make the reports look good.

Also hazarding a guess I would say that the warning message is there regardless of how many calls are waiting or whether it is busy or not.

And yes I am with you on this one the customer does have the right to complain.

And again thumbs up Bills would not have to rise largely to manage a decent call centre/centres just the ability to use the software system they have would need to better understand.

NTL in my opinion is so different because they rely on advice from the people selling this kit like for example shall we say Swansea when they bought Genesis a type of soft phone call routing all in one wonder package.

The problem started when they rolled this out in Newport was that it looked remarkable when being sold by the consultants and looked good when then consultants were on hand to ease it in but as soon as they left they never really had a clue how to utilise it properly.

Well done Mark for having the balls to say your first two opening paragraphs and as many have said this is the one of the reasons for you being an asset here and to the company.

As for the bit about restructuring etc jeez sorry that wonââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t wash, how long has this been going on well for me and many other too long?

Things appear to be getting better well lets hope so.

As for the occasions of huge call volumes, again this is down NTL needing to learn how to utilise some of the phone systems they have and analysing peaks and troughs and using their IVR and call vectoring systems properly.

The virtual call centre is a great idea providing NTL outsource this to someone who knows how to mange it as in all fairness it seems to me they have like they always have got the tools but they fall over on not having the people to know how to use these tools to their full potential.

Anyhows enough from me and will close with the following.

Again as many have said with NTL the rot starts at the top and migrates it way down.

From personal experience I have seen at times 60 to 80 calls waiting in the Tech Support Q for Cable Modem support and at this time there have been 40 to 60 agents on calls and then 4 †“ 6 people on the supervisors desk beeping the agents who have been on calls for longer than 10 minutes as a pointer to move onto the next call.

Further to this there have been 6 †“ 8 seniors manning senior lines for escalations only (myself included) who were not allowed to jump on board and help out and that coupled with the fact there were probably 4 †“ 6 team leaders walking around the office.

Their policy then was to allow this happen rather than allow them to man the phone in an all hands deck type of situation.

At one point they actually disabled the wall boards in the office that showed the calls waiting and abandonment rates to allow the CCOD Desk to post morale boosting messages and jokes when they could have been reducing the call waiting.

It also got worse than that towards the end of the Caradog Crew days to the extent agents knowing they were on redundancy notice ended up answering a call and placing the customer on hold saying they would check their power levels etc with the server status team and then going for a smoke on the balcony and coming back after 10 mins saying to the customer all ok now reboot modem and problem sorted.

Of course the problem was not sorted but team leaders turned a blind eye to that and the agent was safe knowing he was never likely to get the same customer back and the notes on the account never reflected exactly what happened.

They also used to play games and answer the call and proved the point that the customer after waiting xx amount of minutes never listened to the opening line of the agents welcome speech i.e. you could say welcome to the indidan tandoori can I take your post code or account number please.

As long as the customer heard the can I take your post code or account number part the first initial greeting was overlooked.

Anyhow I could write a book on the **** that happened within tech support and no doubt it would be a best seller †“ lol..

I am a firm believer that for NTl to have a clue what customer service means they will need a clear out from top to bottom and remove all the deadwood.

:D

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

eh hello ntl r pulling people off the streets just now!! canvassing in shopping malls and bars! before i left the intake was like 4th years high school level, all spikey hair boy racers and ned-etts! with burberry and short skirts on dress down days! 2 girls had to be told to cover up! the iq level is that of a snail with brain damage!;)

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

Ive always been dealt with swiftly and efficiently whenever ive called NTL :)

From 1 satisified customer.

All I need now to make me more satisfied would be a 3meg+ Internet connection :) (Coming soon?)

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

I sense a little bitterness and ill felling... :erm: :rofl:

Re: NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test
 

Something I have been saying for a very long time. :tu: