NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Discovered a problem with my digital box in the bedroom - the picture looks fine but the sound is very faint with lots of interference. All my analogue channels and the dvd/video are fine though - and have checked and re-checked all the connection and they all seem fine. Phoned up customer services to report the fault and they have no engineers available until after xmas - that's more than a week away. Imagine a 4 day xmas break without my cable TV - normally the time it would get used the most. This is not good.
So I wonder......are there an unusually high number of faults such that the engineers are really busy - which means that NTL have substandard service?
Or maybe they just have no engineers having laid them all off in time for xmas as I read in the papers?
Has anyone any ideas why this might be happening or maybe its happening to someone else too?
Any ideas would be appreciated.
NB - The main box in the living room is not experiencing any issues.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

hi and :welcome: to the site , having been involved in the service industry but not connected in anyway to ntl , i would suspect that they will have reduced there manning to allow as many tech's as possible to have a xmas with their families ;) , as for your problem , have you tried swapping the boxes over to see if the fault is the same or travels with the box ???????? :) , i hope you enjoy your stay here btw :)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Try taking the scart leads out and then reseating them firmly, sometimes they can work a little bit loose which can cause sound problems. Also check that the pins inside the scart leads are ok and not broken as well or try another scart lead.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

i dont suppose there could have been any little ppl fiddling could they :erm: :D :D :D

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I think it's more likely that engineers have booked time off over Christmas. They have families too!

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I can remember at primary school other kids heaping scorn on me when I was talking about my father - "No one's dad works on Chrismas day!"

He was of course. He was an engineer for the electricity board and was out fixing faults so other people could cook their Christmas dinners. My brothers had to chase round on their motor bikes, carrying turkey sandwiches and flasks of hot coffee, trying to find him.

Eeeh, when I were a lad.....

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

At 3pm on Christmas Eve (just before I was going out) - my box decided it will not provide any access to any channels.

Called NTL CS and they said the earliest time slot they had for my areas was Monday afternoon.

I assumed a mistake had been made with Monday being a public holiday.

But an engineer arrived with a new box on Monday afternoon - I wasn't actually expecting that to really mean Monday - I thought they meant Wednesday.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Thanks for your repolies everyone - the engineer has finally arrived more than 7 days after the fault occured - and replaced the box - it was a fault with the box. Never-the-less I still find it hard to believe that a service industry such as Cable TV would find a 7 day wait acceptable. I have already requested and been granted a refund on the days that I was without cable - now lets see what gets credited. I have also asked for further compensation for distress caused as a result of missing some very key programmes that are only aired over the festive period. They are sending me a compensation request form - let's see what comes of that.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I had my credit added without filling in any paperwork - I think it is a refund for each day lost.

Previous refunds have appeared on the next bill.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Distress?????????????? Caused by missing a television programme? :rolleyes:
Give over..... :dozey:

Fancy losing half your family, your home and your friends in Thailand due to an earthquake under the sea..... THAT'S DISTRESS. :upyours:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

sorry but for something that is non essential then i think at this time of year , a 7 day wait is not too bad , now if it had taken 7 days to get your phone sorted then i would be a damned sight more concerned ;)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

A refund for the days when you were without service is reasonable, but distress? Please.

As the previous poster says, being without a phone for 7 days would be one thing, but TV is hardly life-or-death. You still had the terrestrial channels, after all.

And it was only actually 5 working days you missed -- or do you expect engineers to be making house calls on Christmas and Boxing days? 5 days, when they'd be operating with reduced staff numbers (because engineers would have booked holiday), with a large number of new installs to complete, and giving priority to phone line problems... am I alone in thinking that's not actually unreasonable?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Oh Please!!!! - xmas is the time that people such as myself are stuck at home the most and hence would watch their Cable TV the most. Companies such as NTL should know better that if they deliver such substandard service, customers will start to walk. And where would they be then, with fewer customers, they would be able to afford to pay even fewer engineers, which means higher prices and worse service. I know a few unsatisfied NTL customers that have already switched, and at this rate I am likely to switch too.
Not to mention the power of word of mouth advertising.....unsatisfied customers do not recommend a substandard service to potential new customers......and I had 30 people over at my house at various times over xmas - some of which have decided to opt for sky instead of NTL after hearing my story. So NTL have already lost out.
Its just basic fundamental economics.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

at the end of the day if you are not happy then vote with your wallet :tu: , i still stand by my stance in saying that the service you recieved was adequate , not brilliant but adequate :tu: , just because you choose to use ntl does not meen that they should be at your beck and call 24/7/365 , especially as it is a non essential service , like i said , if it had been your phoneline then i would have posted differently :)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

My friend waited/is waiting 2 weeks for sky to come and fix a fault over the festive period .....so the grass isn't always greener, and as OB says if you think that, that is distress you should get out more :)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Getting out more has nothing to do with it - there is no need to get personal.
XMAS day - the world is closed - so it's my choice if I choose to sit at home and watch TV on that day.....that's what I'm paying for......got nothing to do with whether I have an adequate social life or not.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

quite right , although i dont think he was being ' personal ' just trying to point out that there is more to life than dtv ;) :)


edit :- a word of advise , try not to get drawn into things , it only wakes the mods up :disturbd: :disturbd: :disturbd:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

nothing personal abt it, just trying to point out that not having dtv is not the end of the world, lets face facts here.....all services have faults from time to time. waiting 7 days to get it fixed over xmas IMO is acceptable, you have been given comp for the days without it and i honeslty hope you don't get anymore as i don't hink your case warrants it again only my opinion :angel:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Am I reading this correctly? I.e. is it only in the bedroom that you had no TV for seven days?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

NTL Staff.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Sorry to say but I expect a 24/7 service from a company which offers a 24/7 service. I do not expect to be without my TV, Broadband or phone for one minute if I can help it.:mad:

Unfortunately too many members of this forum work for NTL and are apologists for them. I repeat what I have said in other threads. If NTL can't supply the goods move over and let someone else play.
:disturbd:
NTL takes our money but baulks at supplying good quality service. Who cares that its Xmas? Easter? Friday? Sunday?

We all pay enough for NTL to employ people to fix our problems as and when they occur.

No I don't feel sorry for staff working on Xmas Day or Easter Sunday. Me or my family have worked Bank Holidays all our lives. Don't play the sympathy card!!

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I really do not think there is any need to relate the current issues with the quake thats caused thousands of deaths, yes it is very distressing loosing loved ones over than not having no tv for a week but I really feel it should not of been brought up in this thread at all.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

If you require any faults you have fixed "as and when" I would suggest that you move over to a business tarriff and pay for an agreed SLA. The residential phone, TV and broadband service is not provisioned with guarantees of being fault free, nor does it have a short "as and when" SLA, and as such the price structure reflects this.

You may want to familiarise yourself with ntl's terms of service.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

The Sale of Goods Act "fit for the purpose" Trade Description etc etc.
Why do you want to weasel out of providing a quality service?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Why do you say "you"?

By the way, did you ever read the contract you signed? It said (and I can't remember the exact wording, but maybe someone can dig it out) "we do not guarantee that the service we provide will be fault-free. We will make reasonable efforts to fix faults after you notify us".

Now out of curiousity, what would you consider a reasonable timeframe?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

please don't turn this into Pace vs Samsung thread. you have been put in your place wrt that so please go and eat your humble pie.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

10. Faults and Matters Affecting the Services

10.1 We cannot guarantee that the Services will be fault free. If a fault occurs you should notify us by contacting our customer management centre.

from the T&C

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Threadbare...you are talking out of the back of your head..go back and read the thread. :o :o :o

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

And what will customer management centre do?
I want my service fixed asap.
Where does it say 7 days is acceptable?
I want an engineer the same day if possible.
Why are you guys giving me a hard time on this issue? Don't you want good service too?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

that's ok I only need to read it once.

I think you may need to read my posts again though, but to save you the trouble, let me reiterate. you do not pay enough for engineer to be on your beck and call.

(it might help if you read it s l o w e r)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Not sure where I'm giving you a hard time or saying 7 days is either acceptable or unacceptable :shrug:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Its "at your beck and call" actually.

And on what authority do you decide I do not pay enough?

As I and many others have said this site is inhabited by vested interests. It seems incredible that people who consider themselves knowledgeable regulars will not stand up for consumer rights.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

NTL want you to have a fault free service and any fault that may occur fixed as soon as possible.

NTL will get an engineer to you the same day, if it is possible.

If you are not satisfied with the service from NTL then choose a supplier that you are happy with.

If you can find a supplier that will always fix faults within the timeframe that you find acceptable then let us all know who it is.

If you consider NTL service is not as good as it should be then what would you consider to be an acceptable price for NTL to provide the service that you consider they should be giving.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I can assure you that the charges for the residential service, that you subscribe to, are insufficent to guarantee a same day engineer fix. An engineer will dispatched to you on the same day if one is available. There is a guaranteed SLA on the business tariff as business users pay a lot more.

Hence, you do not pay enough and no they are not at my beck and call.

(edit) If you consider it your consumer right to have a same day engineer then perhaps you should subscribe to a service that provides this. Again I think you should familiarise yourself with ntl's terms of service.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I have no vested interest in NTL nor do I work for them

I used to have NTL DTV but changed to Sky because NTL could not provide me with an acceptable DTV experience. They changed my STB several times and tried to fix the problems but were not successful. In their defence I will say that they tried hard and each time that I requested an engineer one was with me within four hours max.

NTL still provide me with broadband and telephone which are very good value for money and provide as good, if not a better standard of service than I believe other companies can offer.

I live in the real world with realistic service expectations for the price I am paying.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Sorry Mick, but I think it's entirely relevant - just trying to get a sense of perspective out to gizzmo. :rolleyes:

If you were that 'distressed' about missing a tv program, would gettig a credit on your account make you feel better? Would it eliminate all that 'distress'? No. It jolly well wouldn't. He/she is on the take, pure and simple. As I said and I'll say it again. Watch the news and learn a little about what REAL distress is. :mad:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

OK people I've had some reported posts in this thread - let's keep things calm or I'm going to lock it down for a while - if you have an issue with someone then please take it to email or msn.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Well look, let's be honest. NTL in general is below the service standards most people would expect. Now, this has nothing to do with the people who work there or anything like that; we must take care to take individuals out of this. But as a business it still needs to think longer and harder about what makes people feel satisfied. I'm sorry but the "price issue" is not really the point. They are OK competively no doubt, but people look at how much they pay a month when they don't feel the service is up to scratch. The argument that they could "find another servive" is ultimately flawed because many people do not have a choice in their homes.

I actually think NTL are doing a lot more than us uninformed people know and should give them a break. Their customer service does stink though most of the time and I'm saying that from personal experience. There's some really good polite and nice people working there too and that shouldn't be forgotten.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Not in my experience, I have never had any cause to complain in almost 4 years, phones, no faults whatsoever, TV, still have both original boxes, apart from interactive issues, perfect. BB minor niggles with e-mail and proxies a while ago but overall very good. CS/TS staff have ALWAYS been very helpful and polite without exception.:tu:

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

and i still say 7 days to fix a non-essential service at the time of year was not brilliant but acceptable , like i said , there would have been more of an issue if it had been a phone problem ;)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Fairly sweeping statement there DHLennon - You got some hard data to back that up?

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I have no cause to complain about NTL's customer service either. I phoned them 2 days ago to say that I could not get most of my digital channels. They couldn't send someone out the same day - that's fair enough, as it was late afternoon - but offered to send someone yesterday. Unfortunately I was out so it had to be made for today. The engineer has just been, fiddled around with the set top box and hey presto, everything's working fine again. He couldn't have been a nicer guy, friendly from the word go, a lovely person, and that's the first time I've needed to call them out since I started with them, around 8 years.

I am a faithful customer to NTL and wouldn't dream of going elsewhere. I am completely satisfied with their service. ;)

Carrie

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

Personally if my TV was out for 7 days I would be annoyed. On the plus side I would have a great excuse to catch up on my reading/write my first novel/paint a beautiful picture/go to the pub/teach my son the forward defensive.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

but it wasnt 7 working days as it was over the xmas break , i still say it was reaonable for a non essential service ;)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I agree, others wouldn't. It's still annoying though you must admit.

Anyway, As my TV is working OK I think I will put off the novel for another week.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

What might not be essential to you Paul might be essential to someone else, take something away that you enjoy for a week, that might not be essential for living, such as your pc, would you find that reasonable? It is each to our own. It is lousy timing to lose the TV service without any quick arrangements to get a resolution to the problem.

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

couldnt agree more , but it still goes back to it being a non-essential service and a fault that happened at the wrong time of year , if it happened say ' tomorrow ' then quite rightly i would expect an engineer visit the next day or the day after at the latest :Peace: :D :D :D :D

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

The important lesson to be learnt is that you should have contingency plans to cover the loss of something that you consider essential. Backups are essential for everything, not just for preserving computer data. If you consider something is essential then you should be asking the question "WHAT IF".

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

And how do you backup a TV problem that can suddenly occur, smack bang in the middle of the xmas period Ian? :)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

roof top aerial , and before you say it , i know not everyone has got one :)

Re: NTL Digitial Cable Television - Shoddy Service
 

I knew you were going to ask that. :)

Your response to Paul was that something he regarded as non essential could be essential to someone else. If something is essential to them then they cannot do without it and should make contingency plans to view that essential something by some other means. I am talking about "essential" things, not "desirable" things. If there was something essential that I wanted to watch I could make plans to watch it elsewhere or use one of my backups. I have more than one TV, more than one Sky digibox, an external aerial and a video sender that works perfectly with neighbours Sky, NTL, Freeview and Terrestrial systems, neighbours who are always willing to help out with "essential" viewing.