NTL at fault - not me!
 

Hi
My next door neighbour just knocked on the door and apologised for opening one of our letters - although it was addressed to his house, it was in my name. I live at 82A - he lives at 82. So it was incorrectly address.
My neighbour works away for quite long periods at a time.
Anyway I'll get to the point, NTL have now added a 10.00 late payment charge to the bill - in which they sent to the wrong address. And also, they have added a 15.00 service charge which I have no clue to what that is for, as I have never paid it before and dont intend to start paying it now. (this is my phonebill I'm talking about aswell, forgot to mention that bit).

So, after a call to NTL, they have refused to drop the late payment charge because they say that our address is correct on their system. They dont care that we have the letter to hand which IS incorrectly addressed. And also, they said that the bill DOES NOT include a service charge - but yet again, it clearly states on this letter SERVICE CHARGES - 15.00.

Is this matter doesnt get sorted I will definitely be cancelling my policy with them because they are getting to be more hardwork than what they are worth. Not only that, everytime I try to ring them, I am struggling to get through to the customer services. 45 minutes today is quite good compared to the last few times, in which I got sick of waiting after nearly an hour and half, so hung up.

Where do i go from here? Any advice appreciated
thanks

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I had similar thing with BT once, they installed a new line somewhere further up the road (about 1/4 mile up the road), got our house number on their system and then kept trying to bill us.

Everytime I rung them up and told them it was like arguing with a brick wall to convince them they had the wrong address and that I wasn't the person with the BT line (was with NTL and had been for a couple of years). Each time they said they would stop the bills and correct it.

Then about a month later another reminder would arrive, this went on for about six months, until they then sent a court summons. I rang up and went ballistic and it finally was sorted.

The moral of the story is, its not NTL, its endemic of customer service these days in most firms, and in reality its probably not really the customer service people. They are probably so stressed with non working systems, crud wages and so on they dont have a chance to do the job right.

I would suggest a letter (recorded) to the complaints department, simple and clear, they have the wrong address, they have made a charge because they have the wrong address and you didnt get the bill in time, please cancel the charge. Include a photocopy of the incorrectly addressed bill which also shows the disputed service charge.

If you dont get a reply within 2 weeks, resend another copy of the letter with a note stating this is the second letter.

This way, with it done in writing you should have recorded documentation.

Good luck.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Ok, then thats what I shall do!
Will get a nice polite letter typed up tomorrow.

I completely understand its not the customer services staffs fault - but for them to deny that we are being charged a 'service charge' when we have it in black and white seems to be ignorance more than anything. Surely this is the kind of thing that they are employed to tackle.

thanks for the reply.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I think in most cases 'customer services' are solely employed to fob people off. However, I did get somewhere yesterday when the first thing I said to the Customer Services Rep was 'I wish to make a formal complaint in writing, can ou give the address please?". Which was met with - "have you spoken to a manager about your problems - I can get one on the line for you straight away".....If you ring up and ask to speak to a supervisor straight away, they the CSA usually mumbles something about not them not being available or that the CSA is there to assist customers and you dont need to speak to a supervisor.......

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

you absolutly correct there. The CSA is there to assist customers and most times you dont need to speak to a supervisor, working in customer services do you know how many calls i get a day where the first thing the caller says is i want to speak to a supervisor? its lots, if i were to say, yes certainly sir ill put you through to one now before finding out what the problem is there would need to be more supervisors than CSA's on the phones.

Some people think that if they talk to a supervisor/manager they are likely to get a better result. often thats not the case, most supervisors arn't taking calls all day, so dont have as good systems knowledge as most CSA's they have a higher credit limit but thats about it.

Also the adress for a written complaint is on the back of the bill, i would suggest sending it by recorded delivery. Whats the difference between a formal complaint and a complaint?

Finally, previously it did used to be dificult to speak to a supervisor and usually meant having to have a call back, however the process has changed in the past few months, and it CS at least there is always a supervisor available if you need to speak to one, however a CSA will not transfer you before finding out what the problem is and at least trying to help.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Lots of excellent points in your post, lostandconfused! I've only snipped for length..

Assuming that NTL:TW has policies similar to other call centres when it comes to this, I just thought I'd underline that in most cases, the CSA is not allowed and will get in trouble for just transferring you/escalating the issue to a supervisor before finding out what the problem is and at least trying to help.

When I was working helpdesk (not for NTL:TW) I would have LOVED to be able to act upon every single request for a supervisor to take the call immediately. Seriously: 1) try to troubleshoot with Mr. Angry Sometimes Profane Unhappy Customer or 2) transfer him so he can yell at your boss instead, and go make yourself a nice cup of tea! LOL

The worst kind of calls are the ones where you know the client doesn't want to talk to YOU, but your job duties oblige you to try to help them before escalating (which often sets you up for abuse). A lot of customers expected us to act like our jobs would be in jeopardy if they mentioned to the boss that we didn't fetch them a manager right away, when the truth of the matter is that we're more liable to run into problems if we DON'T follow the procedures set out by management -- however painful those extra steps might be for customers and CSAs to go through before getting that manager on the line.

I do have to wonder why the ball was dropped with regard to cherylsmith1982's problem, though:

The way I was trained:

1) Check cherylsmith1982's address on our system, and see that it IS correct. (Preemptive strike against the bigger problem of her info being wrong in our files!)

2) Confirm that the bill that cherylsmith1982 is holding in her hand right at this moment is NOT addressed correctly.

3) Make a note that if the bill was generated automatically by our system, the customer's address has got to be wrong in there somewhere, even if it's not in a part of the file that I have access to.

4) Re: Late Payment Charge -- If this bill was sent to the wrong address, assume that the one the client never got (and therefore, couldn't pay) went to the wrong address as well. Contact supervisor for permission to waive the Late Payment Charge given these circumstances.

5) Even if I don't see a Service Charge on the client's last bill on the system, assume that the client can read and does, actually, see the words Service Charge in front of her on the bill.

6a) Escalate the issue to find out if the £15 'Service Charge' the client sees really means that a service charge has been applied to the account, and if is in ANY WAY related to a delay paying the bill because of the address mixup, get permission from management to waive this charge as well, given the circumstances.

6b) If 'Service Charge' could mean 'It's Not A Service Charge Per Se, But We Like To Use Generic Terms For Things In This Company Just To Mix Things Up A Bit!', find out what the charge is for, in this specific case, and.. if it's in any way related to the address mixup, get permission from management to waive the charge, given the circumstances.

7) Log the details of the call and all steps taken so that if the customer does have to call back, she doesn't need to explain everything all over again.

8) If call logging software allows it, why not follow-up on this ticket in a week or so to make sure that any charges to be refunded were applied, and to see if we've found out yet where that wrong address was hiding in the file. (If it happened to one client, it WILL happen to others, and we should find out where the problem is before it spreads.)

It doesn't seem like rocket surgery (lol!) to me. Hopefully the OP's issue will be resolved soon!

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

You're entirely right there. We were always told to (and worked on the basis that) we were taking the calls, and we need to decide whether passing the call over to someone else was going to make a difference.

In other words, get details of the problem, if you can sort it yourself, then do it, if you can't, then pass it over. Sometimes it can take about 4-5 minutes to find a manager, and then fill them in on the details, then the caller has to start again from scratch - in which cases, it's quicker to deal with it yourself if you can.
Yeah, that's probably because the CSA didn't think it was appropriate for him/her to deal with it... and decided that it would be better for you to speak to someone higher up.

If you ask for a manager straight away that is likely to mean you're going to get fobbed off or something, because it's almost like saying to the person "Oh by the way, I have zero confidence in your ability to do your job" without actually knowing.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Before writing a letter, I'm going to try calling them again. Maybe I just got a useless CSA?
If I write to them and dont get a response, I dont want them to be adding more charges on the bill in the meantime.

I'll keep you updated - if I manage to get through to someone.

thanks again for your replies.

I am new to this forum and I'm finding it, sorry to say, but very reassuring to know that its not just be that seems to have problem after problem with ntl

---------- Post added at 13:14 ---------- Previous post was at 13:13 ----------

hmmm, just noticed a complaints number on the back and I'm now wondering if its worth calling that one instead.

---------- Post added at 13:33 ---------- Previous post was at 13:14 ----------

:clap:
Very glad now that I rang them back. I spoke to a very nice man (a very very nice man), who was very helpful.

A copy of the bill in question has been ordered for me and should be in the post as of today. The late payment charged has been dropped because of the circumstances (wrong address). The address on the system WAS correct but he said that they have recently had a new system installed so the error could very well be down to that. The bill that I have actually received anyway is completely different to what he could see on his system so even that is a complete cock up! :Yikes: I am being told that there will be no service charge on the bill that is being sent out (as that is an error anyway) and no late payment fee's.

This is the exact reason why I cancelled my direct debit with ntl!

10 out of 10 for that customer advisor! :tu:


:xmas:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Woo and Yay for getting a resolution on this! :) :tu:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Thing is, somebody, a human being, has ballsed up somewhere, there is no such a thing as computer error, somebody has to input the information, somebody explain how this persons address could have been mistaken apart from somebody, not a computer, actually inputting the wrong address.
Furthermore I see this as a confidentiality matter as far as data protection is concerned, I would report them.
Hope everythings ok now ;)

---------- Post added at 11:48 ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 ----------




If on the other hand " I " and not the csa decide I am getting nowhere I have a right to speak to a manager, some csa's are not the brightest pennies in the bank, and at the end of the day I pay towards the wage bill.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

very well said arcamalpha2004

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

you do have the right to speak to a sueprvisor, the point i was trying to make was that you have to let the CSA try and deal with the issue first before asking / insisting on speaking to a supervisor as they wont be able to put you through.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Yeah... if everyone did that, in most call centres there would be more supervisors than normal call agents.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

At a few call centres I've worked at, when a client was flat-out refusing to give any details and just demanding a supervisor, quite often they'd just be transferred to another agent who would pretend to be a manager to get details of the issue, and then (if necessary), would escalate to "the 3rd level manager", as we were not permitted to escalate issues without trying to assist/getting more information about the problem. I remember those methods when have to call customer service/tech support departments. I'd rather take a few moments to explain something than speak to a pretend manager! :LOL:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

And it's those sort of tactics that really **** customers off - your compeny must have done something really bad to them for them to demand a manager in the first instance and then to lie to them.

I've had that happen to me before and I've gone ape when I've found out and I've even writen to the MD of the company telling them how unacceptable it is (I'm looking at you Canon - well your contractors).

Indeed, when you think that the customer will probably never use your company again if that's the way you deal with them (Canon were pretty good when they found out their contractors were doing this and threw about £350 worth of goods at me to say sorry - so I would buy from them again :) ).

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

what would you sugest the agent does then?
customer comes through, demands to speak to a manager, wont give any account details or any details of the problem. you then get a supervisor on the line, the wont take the call as you have no details?

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I used to work in a call centre for *Cough*Broadband/Yahoo/Connect/DialUp and everything else. Was a shambles of a place and probably still is. But had some fun while working there.

But in my experience, and I practice this myself now, if you speak to the the agent on the phone with a nice polite tone and explain clearly your situation without getting irate. That CSA will probably go out of his way to assist you in fixing the fault.

If you fire in like a pitbull, barking like a fool, you'll get muted and laughed at by everyone around the agent with you on loudspeaker for all to hear. Then when you're done ranting and raving you'll get fobbed off because in my view, if you have no manners (no matter what the problem, length of problem, cause of problem) CSA wont want to help you.

I certainly wouldn't and didn't help anyone without manners. Obviously, sometimes someone would bark a little and you get them to calm down, explain the problem and fix it. Job done. Just took 5-6 minutes longer because the customer wanting to shout that it was MY fault his emails weren't downloading. Never mind the fact that he'd sent HIMSELF a 36Mb file attachment from his office Broadband to his home DialUp.

At the end of the day it's a case of treat people as you expect to be treated. Or suffer.

Enjoy.

JG

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

You and your manager should ask yourselves why the customer is so upset - they don't tend to just pick up the phone and shout for no reason.

---------- Post added at 14:56 ---------- Previous post was at 14:50 ----------

We're not talking about people with no manners - we're talking about upset customers that have been treated like **** by one of your collogues and are feeling helpless and annoyed.

If you guys want to blame someone for the upset call from a distraught customer then look at your colleagues.

If you seriously think fobbing the customer off Jamgood is going to fix the issue then you're a fool. The customer will just either call back and be even more upset or they'll take their business else where. I only hope that you experience it from the other side when the agent sits there laughing at you and see how you handle it. Are you telling me you'd not get annoyed?

I've worked in call centres and I appreciate where the customers were coming from.
I used to give them my full name, extension number and take their number and name so they feel they wouldn't get cut off/fobbed off again and 99% of the times they'd let me help them - to just fob them off is unforgivable.:mad:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

yes i agree someone isnt going to be so upset without a reason, but if the customer wont tell the CS agent what the problem is, as they are demanding to speak to a manager then there isnt anything you can do,

the main reason a manager wont take a call without knowing what the reason is 99% of the time the agent can deal with it, i take a lot of calls a day and quite a few of those start the call with i want to speak to your manager, most people are fairly reasonable and once you have found out what the problem is, sorted it etc as you said give my name extention number they are happy, i rarely have to escalate a call, but many customers feel that speaking to a supervisor will get the problem sorted quicker.

but if a customer wont give you any information after all reasonable efforts to talk to the customer. what do you do? pass the call to a colleague, (generally it would be someone that has been there for a long time and would know as much as a manager anyway) and say they are a supervisor and get the problem sorted. or the only other option would be to release the call, you cant help they dont want you to help and you cant transfer the call to an actual manager.

also from a previous post, why should a customer be allowed to shout at anyone when they call a company? does it get your problem sorted quicker if you shout at someone? yes your probably frustrated and upset but that doesnt give you the right to shout at anyone.
if i were to call you up and scream and shout down the phone, i'd bet you wouldnt be too pleased about it, yet it seems ok to do it to someone that is employed to help you because they are working for a company that has ballsed up your bill/installation etc

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Exactly right. :tu: Or a manager takes the call, having no info on it, and then tells the client they'll be put through to someone who can assist.. who ends up being a regular CSR anyway. Not sure why it makes such a difference to some people, but the change in attitude and manners when they deal with a manager (even one who sends 'em back to 1st line) is staggering.

I envy those blessed individuals who have worked CSR/tech support jobs and have been lucky enough never to have been shouted at, sworn at, or had death threats made against them because Mr. Client didn't understand a bill, or was unable to locate the Start button on their own computer despite being self-proclaimed computer experts. Or whose clients have only been irate because the company was actually at fault, and not because of an error or misinterpretation on their part.. However, just as you will find drivers who are rude/inconsiderate for no damn reason, you will sometimes get clients who feel entitled to abuse the individual answering that toll-free/freephone number for no rational reason.

Unless.. all those 'We will prosecute people found to be verbally or physically abusive towards our staff' signs that you see.. oh, EVERYWHERE, are really there just there for decoration? :rolleyes:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

The customer is asking for a manager as generally they think the way they have been treated by one of your colleagues is disgraceful. Either they've been cut off, fobbed off, or they've had to call again as the agent hasn't done their job. I personally if this sort of thing happens to me want the individual monitored and retrained/reprimanded - you should too as it'll make you life easier. Can you honestly say that if the customer tells you about their issues you're going to report a colleague of yours to the management for what possibly could be the sack?

The customer doesn't want that - they don't trust you IME because the previous agent wasn't trust worthy - and why should they? Trust is earned - that's why I used to give them my full name and contact details so they would begin to trust me and allow me to help them.

Have you ever asked yourself why?

But why is that? is it because the previous experience with your company was poor? IME it is.

Have yo never had to call a company several times to get the job done and on the third attempt just thought - bugger this I want someone in charge to sort this, I've got better things to do than explain this for the third time?

If you've not then you're very lucky.

I'm one of the most polite people you'll meet but I won't suffer fools gladly any more, I've wasted too much time on them in the past. I'll be the best customer until I get treated badly then I'll insist on a manager to get things done - why should I be put out because someone in a company messes my account up with them? I shouldn't I'm the one paying - this is hoe most people are becoming now.

So the customers' been messed about - potentially lied to before, has no trust in you because of it, which is why they want a manager and you think lying to them again is going to improve the situation?

Who do you work for again - just so I know not to buy from them, if they teach you to release calls you can't handle I don't want to have anything to do with them. Your company should have robust processes in place for calls like this - generally they can be turned into a positive experience for both the customer and the company if a train competent manager takes the call on. Releasing them just makes things worse for both parties.


Again - why should they trust you to do what others probably haven't?

In all fairness shouting doesn't fix anything buy some people when they feel helpless don't know what else to do - a good agent should be able to resolve this.

You took the job on as did I when I worked in call centres and being shouted at occasionally is part of the job - you represent a company that by it's very nature will **** some people off. You're paid to clean the mess up - being shouted at is part of that process.

I don't personally, but yes it does I've found as the company knows your annoyed.

But it does give you the right to ask for a manager higher up who can take ownership of your problem and investigate your issue and fix it.

Pay me a decent wage for the hour and you can shout all you like - that's the job.

Again I don't shout but I would be very angry and I probably would ask for a manger if you were the second person I'd had to call to get the one thing done. Again the issue is with your incompetent colleagues or rubbishing processes.

---------- Post added at 17:02 ---------- Previous post was at 16:45 ----------

It's because they feel they now have someone who will take them seriously after being messed about for so long and sort their problem with the minimum of fuss - something they should have expected from the first agent before they had to call you.

Obviously this trust is mis-placed in your company as the manger by the sounds of it doesn't give a stuff and just fobs them back onto the 1st line agent.

If the manager took ownership of these issues and traced the problem and fixed it then you should get al ot less complaints - happier customers and a lot less work for the managers.

It really isn't the customers fault your companies messed up but they are expected to put up with it and explain themselfs for the second, third or even forth time as the previous agents haven't done their jobs. Hardly fair. -you're getting paid for being there the customer isn't :(


They don't exist as this is what the job is about.

[1]Did your boss terminate their account with you and inform the police? That was the process at all call centres where that happened that I've worked in.

Did you not realise that a support job involved dealing with idiots? I didn't think it was an IT industry secret. Again it's part of the course in your job. I'm not saying it's right but it is.

A good agent should be able to identify if this is the case and show them where the problem is with tact so that they don't feel stupid but don't need to call again over such things. I'm sure you do this but there's no need for it to be a problem - it's part of the job. If they feel stupid next time they won't call they'll just go else where.

This is where the release button comes into your job - or it did mine. If they have no real reason for a complaint tell them so and say your goodbye - BUT only if they have no real reason - not being able to deal with their issue isn't a valid excuse.

Did you manager do as I said over the death threats? (See [1])If not then yes they are I'm afraid. A sign means nothing unless you enforce it.


I really think that people who work in call centres need to get over the "them and us" mentality that is forced on them by so many company's (I experience it myself from British Gas). 99.99% of customers are just trying to get a job done the same as you are, and really don't want to get messed about - if your company messes them about then try and help (I'm sure the posters here do) - they don't want to be on the phone complaining the same as you don' want to be there listening to it.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Re: Death threats -- yes, police were informed, recordings of the call (with threats) provided, accounts of abusive customers cancelled. That sort of thing did indeed happen.

My point was more that I've seen the threats and abuse start for no good reason and not ALWAYS because the company/previous CSR had done anything wrong. THAT is the sort of thing I find unacceptable.

I can understand wanting a manager after you've not been helped/fobbed off the first couple of times, definitely. (Personally, I ask nicely twice/give 2 chances to get things right -- and THEN I get upset and ask to be escalated, etc.) It's the first-time callers who feel more important than all the other customers and entitled to a senior tech/manager/someone higher up than the person who answers the phone the very first time around that puzzle me.

I think the reason that some people are irate (before even been given a REASON to be angry) is because when you deal with certain companies, you really DO have to kick up a fuss to be helped (or even listened to.) It's shameful that some places only give attention to the abusive customers, because the polite ones don't get taken serously. It ruins things for the call centres that value their customers.

Some companies only seem to reward negative behaviour (yell loud enough and you get a discount so they can get you off the line!) Then, when these people call companies where the CSRs/techs really DO care and want to do the best they can, the client is already acting abusive from the start, because in their experience, it's the only way they've been able to get help from other companies.

Dealing with idiots/angry clients/complaints is part of the job, yes. Being a verbal punching bag for a dissatisfied customer who doesn't know how to deal with another human being in a socially acceptable manner is NOT part of the job, as far as I am concerned. EVEN if he's been given a hard time by the company/previous CSR, I don't consider that a valid reason to act like a psychotic.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

yes i honestly can say that i would 100% report it, if its just a one off and an agent has made a genuine mistake then their manager would hopefully use common sense and not sack them there and then, but if its a reoccurring problem then to be honest i woulndt want them working in the same company

---------- Post added at 04:31 ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 ----------

:tu:
absolutly spot on

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

The reason for my asking for a manager/supervisor may have no bearing on giving the csa the opportunity to resolve a problem, it may well be that the csa had previously told me a problem would be resolved, but experience post csa has shown them not to have done their job, now given that scenario they either get a manager/supervisor off their backside or they transfer me to retentions? point taken?;)

---------- Post added at 12:34 ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 ----------


And maybe if NTL got their act together there would be no need to ask for a manager/supervisor?

---------- Post added at 12:35 ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 ----------


Oh I understand now!
So next time I have an issue I will just call retentions!

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

That used to happen quite regularly at ntl's tech support up until a few years ago and going on reliable reports, still does happen. Unless teams are regularly monitored, it will continue to happen as it would in any such callcentre.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Maybe now that kaysquirrel has blown the cover on this sham people will just call retentions, putting up with a csa who does not know how to deal with a problem is one thing, I would not put up with a lying one.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Just for clarity, I do not, nor have I ever, worked for NTL.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

any why would retentions be any different? they have the same training as other staff and not all of them are supervisors either

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I'm guessing that arcamalpha2004 meant they'd call retentions to cancel instead of contacting CS to try to fix an issue? I don't think NTL has given any indication of caring about turnover.. have they?

Here's another 'sham i can blow the cover on' (I love that, it makes me sound all investigative-reporter-y, when it's really just common sense!):

Customer Services reps are logged into a call distribution queue, and answer calls.
Faults reps are logged into logged into a call distribution queue, and answer calls.
Retentions reps logged into a call distribution queue, and answer calls.

If NTL wanted everyone to get to speak to a manager right away, managers would.. (wait for it, now!) be logged into a call distribution queue, and answer calls.

Ignoring the debate of whether or not the customer should be able to speak to a manager right away/without giving the CSR any information, the fact is that NTL doesn't want managers answering calls. If they wanted to do away with CSRs and have a herd of managers answering customer queries, they would. Hell, why not just make all the CSRs officially managers and end this whole debate once and for all!? ;)

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I don't give a stuff what Ntl want - or any other company- I'm the customer here and I want service.

If I've been messed around, been lied to and played, telephone ping pong for 1.5 hours I want satisfaction If that goes against want the almighty Ntl wants then that's just tough*.

Have you guys never heard of the saying - (S)he who pays the piper, calls the tune.

If the company wants my business then they'll have to jump to it.

*and it was I dumped that bunch of jokers a long time ago - them and Barclay's, Dell, Sainsbury's, Orange. In fact any company who's staff think I'll put up wit their crap. When they can show me they've improved they'll get my custom back (Vonage, Capital One, Sky).

Edit-

Oh and if the call centre is run properly the management (well some of them) should be plugged into a hunt group (read: "call distribution queue") for easy access by the agents.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Well for some reason, when I have called retentions the issue has been solved to my satisfaction, why could the issue not be resolved pre retentions? so I would say that retentions obviously know how to solve the issue, csa's are saying basically that they want the chance to solve the problem, they are given the chance, they have by me, I have never been off hand with any of them, for christs sake I dont have to perform some kinda butt licking to get decent service and when a problem is reported have it sorted the first time every time, and not be lied to with the promised call back which then forces me to call retentions!
The fact is NTL dont give a toss about even half decent customer service, until this is sorted they will fall behind further.
The only good thing ntl give me is the broadband, I would not trust them with the tv service, botched up boxes, never off the phone reporting freezing up etc, and dont even ask me to go back to their sub standard phone service.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

thats fair enough if your going on past experience. It means theres less calls in the CMC queue. i'd also like to add that i have never transferred a call to somneone on my team posing as a supervisor, i just know it does happen and i can understand why in some situations.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I agree with you, Shaun. I'm not saying that what goes on at a lot of call centres is right, just that it does go on.

(Ah, hunt group then. I wasn't sure if the term ACD is used in this country?) Bold, underline, and italics added by me. I fully agree with you there. As a customer, I want it to be easier to speak to a manager, if 1st line or whatever has been unable (or unmotivated) to help me. As a call centre rep, I want it to be easier to access a manager to escalate a call to after I have done all I can for the customer. It'd be great if things changed, but the business model a lot of call centres seem to be based on doesn't allow much for customer satisfaction, just the quick and "efficient" processing of calls. Perhaps they think the loss of revenue from clients who took their business elsewhere is less than the money they would need to staff extra managers to take calls? Who knows.

Ah, the elusive 'call back'. I'm usually wary of those from most companies, but with NTL I've had almost no success of getting called back!

No, they don't seem to care, as a general rule. I don't know what would work to give them the kick in the butt they need to start sorting things out from the bottom up. Clearly there are reps (both here, and when you call NTL) that are helpful, polite and efficient.. but they seem to be in the minority, as far as I've personally seen.

Broadband is the only thing NTL haven't managed to mess up for us, yet. (We've still got 'em for TV and phone because they finally got em working right -- but if that changes, I think we're off!)

At the place I worked where this went on (it was even unofficially sanctioned BY management that this be done -- hey, if they make the reps pretend to be managers, the REAL managers don't have to work as hard, eh? :rolleyes:), I would mention that there was a more experienced/senior rep than me who may be able to assist further, as the manager was unavailable/not going to take the call/whatever the issue. It meant that I could escalate the call without having to lie about who I was escalating it TO. (And I'd be assured that the person senior than me would be able to help -- and right away -- instead of waiting for management to get around to it.)

Even if the senior rep had the same account access & etc as me, and even if they didn't do anything different than what I would have done, sometimes it did help the client feel more secure that their problem would be sorted properly to know they'd gotten someone a little 'higher up' on the food chain. Plus, it meant that I didn't have to butt heads with someone who I couldn't help because they wouldn't let me.

My point in posting the 'pretend managers' thing wasn't to point and laugh that this happens to customers, but to warn people that it goes on! I think having worked in a call centre has turned me into a more demanding customer. If I get transferred to a manager too quickly (as in, before being asked for more info, or anything), I generally assume that they're pulling the pretend manager trick, give them a general idea of what my issue is and ask to speak to THEIR manager. It's stupid to have to 'play the game', so to speak.. but hey, whatever works, hm?

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

I think it does partly because you know what can be done for a customer (and expect it for yourself) and partly because you know the flankers they get upto. :D

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Well the update on this issue is that I never received a new copy of the bill. And in the meantime they are still continuing to send me bills to next door.
Getting really peed off with them now as they are continuing to tell me that my address is correct on their system :shrug:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Gah, sorry to hear they still haven't sorted it out!

I don't know how NTL's systems work, but it seems to me that there's no way your address can be correct *everywhere* in their system if you are still getting automatically generated bills to the wrong address.

Any luck in getting a Manager to call you back or anything?

I wonder what NTL would do if you got your neighbour to send back all those bills with 'return to sender, no such person at this address' on them. Have you tried this with any of the wrongly addressed mail?

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

It may be worth getting the neighbour to return the mail with in big letters " LIVES NEXT DOOR ! "
;)

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Even better! :Yes:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

well i could do that anyway as he does eventually bring the letters round to me.
On top of all the agro that NTL are giving me, they have now tried to charge me 4 pound for a copy of a bill - which I was told was free of charge, coz i never received it. AND they have also tried to charge me 4.00 for a non direct debit payment. I havent paid by direct debit for 2 years and have never been charged for this before - so I dont intend to start paying it now.
I am sick and tired of phoning them to sort this problem, because I know everytime I speak to an advisor - nothing happens.

I have written a letter but have not yet posted it, I just need to get a few photocopies of the letters that they are sending to next door as proof.

Oh, and the last advisor told me that they dont have a 'complaints' address - is this true? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

The complaints address is usually on the back of the bills.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

The non DD charge has always been there but somehow you have got away with not paying with it till now. No doubt the new billing system has now rectified this and you are now in line with the rest of NTL customers.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...php?t=33606458

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Well - I had never heard of this 4 pound charge! I've read the other post about it - thanks for that.

Just wondering though - shouldnt you actually receive something in writing about that? As far as I am aware I have had nothing to inform me of those charges. And when I rang a couple of year ago to get my direct debit cancelled - they never informed me of it either.


I sent NTL a not very polite email a few days ago and this morning I have received a letter saying ....

'thank you for you letter dated 26th Jan - sorry you have had to get in touch with us etc etc etc. It is now in the hands of a customer concerns advisor and they will be in touch shortly'

or something along those lines.

I must say, I am impressed that they managed to send it to me and not next door! Hope they are on a role with it now.

I'm definitely considering moving my custom elsewhere if I dont get the feedback I want from the email. Any advice on who's best? I'll want broadband and the phone line with evening and weekend free calls.
Its looking like Tiscali upto now.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Well the update on this is, that there is no update!!
No follow up what so ever to the letter they sent me - no bills either.

Just rang 150 and the very unhelpful CSA would not put me through to a manager/supervisor because they would only say the same as her. Which is that 'sorry i dont know what it is you want me to do because it does say 82A on the system and not 82.

so once again I have requested the previous 2 months bills for which I am owing, and they should be here within 5-7 days. This is really getting me down, so if nothing is here within 7 days, I'm gonna cancel my contract. I can bet if they do arrive though, there will be more late payment charges and a few more extras.

Re: NTL at fault - not me!
 

Sorry to hear they are still unable to sort a simple problem.
The "system" obviously needs a sledge hammer taken to it if it is saying one thing and your envelope another.
The pathetic attitude of the csa doesnt help either.
Take the matter up with trading standards, there is a clear data protection violation here.