[Frank]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

Will be interesting to see if ntl really are serious about moving things forward. The cynic in me suggests that they just want to play more lip service and fob you off. At least that's what happened when anticap met Bill Goodland and his team. ntl have and always will have an agenda. Sites like cable forum are little pin ***** in their sides to be brushed aside whenever they look like getting too big for their boots.

Perhaps they are doing lip service... However, everyone deserves a chance, so this is Duffy's chance to prove himself, and I wholeheartedly welcome that. Wilcock was around (in a very similar role) when I worked there and showed absolutely no interest whatsoever in nthellworld.com as it was then, or the work I was doing. I won't bother talking about Goodland as I have better things to do.

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

To get staff officially able to post would get much closer to the ideals of Frank when he originally established the nthellworld operations.

Hmm good luck with that buddy... For this to happen would require a massive shift in thinking and culture at ntl. ntl don't have the balls to do this, plus the fact that this method would not give ntl enough control. Control is the key word here. Hell, they couldn't even organise support on ntl community, a site that they owned and had branded. ntl are scared of web forums full stop, because they cannot control them and people can post in real-time, nor do they trust their staff enough to post custom-written replies on a forum.

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

I know cost may be an issue, but at what stage does lack of proper support loose ntl customers?

It's a numbers game dude, ntl don't do qualitative analysis, which is one of the problems. They only care about quantative analysis. This is a long established fact.

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

It will be interesting to see how the meeting goes. I hope it is fruitful, and if some progress on customer service can be made, it will open up a means for future dialogue on other concerns of customers.

I too hope that Duffy, someone who I haven't seen "in action" much, can think outside the ntl box.

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

ntl don't have any means, that I can see, of assessing customer satisfaction and happiness levels. (Many of us will pay, and keep paying, just 'cos we don't want the hassle of upping sticks - just like very few move bank accounts despite knowing we could save money). Yes they know how many calls they get, and a big rise in numbers will suggest something went wrong, but how do they get opinions of the silent majority. Forums can serve as a barometer.

Hehe. Well they did have a nice Responsetek flash feedback application on their website for a while some time ago. I'm sure that collected much quantative feedback and cost ntl a fair bit. Or perhaps nobody bothered to read the results, much like the thousands of unread emails that were sent to the Power Users mailbox when Goodland came up with the idea of a Power Users consultation group to pacify customers. And yes, I looked, and lo-and-behold, I'd guessed right.

Anyway, I wish my colleagues here at CF a productive meeting (I guess they are in there right now), and I hope that many good things come out of it. We shall see though, ntl screwed us last time, now they have everything to prove.