Help - NTL refusing to pay compensation/refund for loss of service

N00N00 · 22-02-2005, 17:39

Hi I've had an intermittent BB connection for over 3 weeks and NTL finally fixed it today after a few attempts. The engineer said there was something loose in the box in our street - and he agreed that it would have been the cause of an intermittent connection. I didn't intially both calling NTL about the problem as we get a pretty poor service round here anyway and problems tend to come and go (though they're nothing like as bad as this one has been). Also I do have a wireless network so I checked over all of my equipment and software several times over to make sure the fault wasn't caused by me.

My neighbour called them out a week ago so they could try fixing the problem (it seems it has been affecting everyone in the street) but they failed to fix it then.

Anyway, I called NTL this afternoon to request a refund for the loss of service and inconvenience. It truely has caused me immense problems over the last week - intermittent faults are the worst as they give you a false sense of security and are generally always clear up the moment an engineer appears (the service started working the moment he appears today, though it did die just before he left)!.

They are basically refusing to pay as my neighbour reported the problem and not me (apart from today). This seems unfortunate to me as it was clearly a fault in their equipment (and they have admitted this) and obviously they could have easily sorted it out last week.

Don't know if anyone has any power or influence that can help me. I wasn't expecting any significant payment, just seems wrong to be paying for a service I can't access when i want, and I would expect that a refund for the time I was without a proper service would be the least they could do.

Perhaps i'll have to ask them to pay my neighbour instead, but he's the sort of guy who doesn't like to complain so I doubt he will be sucessful either. TBH there should actually be some sort of payment for everyone in the street seeing as it must have affected everyone (there are only 6 on BB I think). Who would i contact to request this?

The woman i spoke to regarding the issue was not very pleasant and said that we "must complain MORE when things aren't working". and that they want "every single instance reporting - otherwise they can't take any action".

I can appreciate where she is coming from here, but TBH I can only spend so much time on the phone to NTL.

I have reported many many problems in the past and made plenty of complaints - especially back when I had the TV service. There' no way NTL customers can report every single problem they have though is there - just imagine how much time you would be on hold for.

Incidently i expereinced the wonders of the NTL Indian call center tech support for the first time today. The guy there was very nice and did promise me a full refund several times. However, neither of us could actually understand each other for most of the call, so I'm not sure whether his promise is valid or not.

th'engineer · 22-02-2005, 17:43

TBH think they are right

scrotnig · 22-02-2005, 17:55

To be considered for any type of service refund you need to have reported the fault yourself I'm afraid.

SLM · 22-02-2005, 20:12

2 points......

1, you should have reported the fault a little bit ealier than 3 weeks
and
2, I think in your T's&C's it states that ntl can't guarantee a faultless service.

I would advise you next time to report a fault if its not cleared within about 24-36 hours.

N00N00 · 22-02-2005, 20:48

Sorry I forgot to add that i tried to phone after two weeks but couldn't get through to customer services. i also checked the service status line on numerous occasions.

I know they can't guarantee a faultless service - but TBH an intermittent service is little better than no service at all.

Also I didn't phone earlier as I used to get conflicts between my wireless network and base station. Additionally i managed to fix the fault myslef occasionally (I think) by rebooting the cable modem thus averting the need to report the issue.

I suppose at least my neighbour will get compensation - will it be paid automatically or will he have to ask for it?

nostra · 22-02-2005, 20:58

he will need to ask for it unfortunately

i also believe there could be some implications of the DPA if you were to ask them to study a fault on someone elses account...

that and also it was only raised as an issue for them and not you

unfortunate sorry,

you really do need to report these faults on the system

N00N00 · 23-02-2005, 01:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by nostra

you really do need to report these faults on the system

Don't worry - i will do. In fact, I'll go have a look for some faults tomorrow. I've well and truely learned my lesson now.

In fact, I've already got a couple of faults in mind that will keep them busy - afterall they said I HAVE TO REPORT EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM AS SOON AS THEY OCCUR. Hope everyone takes this on board - if they do NTL will soon regret saying it

BTW Have to say that although the guy in India was totally incomprehensible and had no idea what I was saying (despite my lack of a strong accent), he was at least polite and pleasant unlike some NTL staff in this country.

Still don't think NTL's policy is right here though. If they fail to provide services to a whole area for 3 weeks we should all get a refund. What if I was on holiday - I wouldn't have been able to report it then, but the FACT is that they hadn't provided what they were being paid for to my property during that time.

i know for a fact that they've had phone calls from other people in the street too. Also we shouldn't ha ve to beg for compensation either - it should be automatic

etccarmageddon · 23-02-2005, 07:21

but if you were on holiday then you wouldnt have experienced any personal loss if you werent getting a service.

nostra · 23-02-2005, 08:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by N00N00

i know for a fact that they've had phone calls from other people in the street too. Also we shouldn't ha ve to beg for compensation either - it should be automatic

i wonder how many companies offer automatic compensation??

i believe bt do if you raise a fault, but without contacting them you will get nothing

gavnad · 23-02-2005, 18:30

can't say i can condone the practise of "finding" things to report,the lines are busy enough as it is,best way to overload an already overloaded sysytem

poolking · 23-02-2005, 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavnad

can't say i can condone the practise of "finding" things to report,the lines are busy enough as it is,best way to overload an already overloaded sysytem

Well you do get charged if you report a fault and an engineer comes out and finds no fault.

testcard · 23-02-2005, 20:27

Any issue that prevents you using the service you have paid for should be reported, ask Cs to log it, get a service number.

After collecting a batch of service numbers phone ntl again, best to wait for another issue, and ask for some compo.

Be polite, stick your guns and see whats on offer.

I have no sympathy whatsoever now after years of being understanding.

fatnose12 · 23-02-2005, 21:24

This will be my first time on a forum, but let me share a few little things I have found out, regards complaining to NTL, find out who the current MD is and his address. It took me some time. Write to him specifying problems,dates times etc. I had a problem of massively slow speed, disconections, over a 3 month period. I got a reply from him in 2 days,and a follow up call from the local (Luton) office. Get the name of the poor sap you are going to vent your anger at and gentlely remind he or she that you will call them every day relentlessly until the fault is fixed. They sent out their senior tech, who over a cup of tea and a fag told me that the Luton proxy server was kak and was being overhauled, but the public was being told it was a numerous amount of problems, viruses seeming to be the biggest lie, the engineer then promptly set my PC up to use the Swansea proxy server, as it is the server their tech support uses, and hey presto access to the world wide wait was back. But be warned you need to keep the pressure up, keep writing and keep putting the pressure on, at the end of the day I got 2 free months access

. And when it failed again 2 months later, I got 3 months free access

And of course tomorrow morning I am going to be Pi**ing someone else off at NTL because I have no Email access, I wonder what I will get this time.

Doofy · 23-02-2005, 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by N00N00

Hi I've had an intermittent BB connection for over 3 weeks and NTL finally fixed it today after a few attempts. The engineer said there was something loose in the box in our street - and he agreed that it would have been the cause of an intermittent connection. I didn't intially both calling NTL about the problem as we get a pretty poor service round here anyway and problems tend to come and go (though they're nothing like as bad as this one has been). Also I do have a wireless network so I checked over all of my equipment and software several times over to make sure the fault wasn't caused by me.

My neighbour called them out a week ago so they could try fixing the problem (it seems it has been affecting everyone in the street) but they failed to fix it then.

Anyway, I called NTL this afternoon to request a refund for the loss of service and inconvenience. It truely has caused me immense problems over the last week - intermittent faults are the worst as they give you a false sense of security and are generally always clear up the moment an engineer appears (the service started working the moment he appears today, though it did die just before he left)!.

They are basically refusing to pay as my neighbour reported the problem and not me (apart from today). This seems unfortunate to me as it was clearly a fault in their equipment (and they have admitted this) and obviously they could have easily sorted it out last week.

Don't know if anyone has any power or influence that can help me. I wasn't expecting any significant payment, just seems wrong to be paying for a service I can't access when i want, and I would expect that a refund for the time I was without a proper service would be the least they could do.

Perhaps i'll have to ask them to pay my neighbour instead, but he's the sort of guy who doesn't like to complain so I doubt he will be sucessful either. TBH there should actually be some sort of payment for everyone in the street seeing as it must have affected everyone (there are only 6 on BB I think). Who would i contact to request this?

The woman i spoke to regarding the issue was not very pleasant and said that we "must complain MORE when things aren't working". and that they want "every single instance reporting - otherwise they can't take any action".

I can appreciate where she is coming from here, but TBH I can only spend so much time on the phone to NTL.

I have reported many many problems in the past and made plenty of complaints - especially back when I had the TV service. There' no way NTL customers can report every single problem they have though is there - just imagine how much time you would be on hold for.

Incidently i expereinced the wonders of the NTL Indian call center tech support for the first time today. The guy there was very nice and did promise me a full refund several times. However, neither of us could actually understand each other for most of the call, so I'm not sure whether his promise is valid or not.

I too experienced the indian call centre the other night over a query i had and all i can say is it was a pleasure to deal with the gentleman he was super polite and very very efficient, mad a nice change from the usual **** i get from NTL when i ring them.

Chris W · 23-02-2005, 23:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatnose12

This will be my first time on a forum, but let me share a few little things I have found out, regards complaining to NTL, find out who the current MD is and his address. It took me some time. Write to him specifying problems,dates times etc. I had a problem of massively slow speed, disconections, over a 3 month period. I got a reply from him in 2 days,and a follow up call from the local (Luton) office. Get the name of the poor sap you are going to vent your anger at and gentlely remind he or she that you will call them every day relentlessly until the fault is fixed. They sent out their senior tech, who over a cup of tea and a fag told me that the Luton proxy server was kak and was being overhauled, but the public was being told it was a numerous amount of problems, viruses seeming to be the biggest lie, the engineer then promptly set my PC up to use the Swansea proxy server, as it is the server their tech support uses, and hey presto access to the world wide wait was back. But be warned you need to keep the pressure up, keep writing and keep putting the pressure on, at the end of the day I got 2 free months access

. And when it failed again 2 months later, I got 3 months free access

And of course tomorrow morning I am going to be Pi**ing someone else off at NTL because I have no Email access, I wonder what I will get this time.

interesting fix... and interesting information as well.

Tech support is on the ntl corporate network- so is not routing through any of the ntl customer proxy servers, but on the corporate network and behind the corporate firewall and proxy.

Also routing everybody through one particular proxy won't help anyone because that proxy will then become overused and unreliable.

Thirdly, problems with a proxy server won't cause disconnections.

Oh and finally, did you actually ring technical support about this, because specifying an alternative proxy server is something that they will try fairly near the beginning of the diagnostics, or did you just go straight to the MD??