[ian@huth]

There are several reasons why customers stay with NTL even though they are not getting a decent service or even though it normally would be more expensive. I say normally because many customers, myself being one, are getting the services at a reduced price as a means of keeping their custom. Others are getting reduced prices as an incentive to move to NTL or upgrade their services. You can put up with a lower level of service than what you would wish for if the price is right.

Many people put up with poor service levels because they do not like to complain. Others do not want to go to the hassle of moving suppliers. There are a lot of customers who cannot go elsewhere for their services because Sky dishes are banned or they are too far from a ADSL enabled exchange. A lot of customers probably have other things that they can do when problems hit their NTL service so don't complain and put up with it knowing it will probably right itself before too long.

I had NTL DTV for a couple of years and had constant problems with it but it didn't bother me too much as we also had the full Sky DTV service. The only reason I started with NTL was because of their introductory offer of £9.99 for base DTV, telephone line and Dial-up internet. The only reason I still have BB and telephony is because of the discount retention department gave me to stay.

Having said all that, NTL is not alone in having customers with problems, most if not all companies do. The big question though is how companies deal with customers problems.