CableForum & NTL to meet

[Nemesis]

Over the last few weeks we have been talking to Simon Duffy (NTL CEO), in regards to a Customer Service Article that we intend to publish in the near future on this site. Some other aspects of Customer Service were discussed with examples given of Customers who had nowhere to turn.

Out of the blue Simon Duffy requested that Mick and I meet with him and Peter Wilcock.

Simon

Hope you had a good Easter. I think it would be a good idea if you and Mick could meet with Peter Wilcock and me to discuss what we are doing, what you think about what we are doing, what you think we should be doing and whether there is some way we can cooperate in the interests of ntl's customers. Let me know if you would be interested in such a meeting. If so, I will ask Gill, my PA, to liaise with you to set something up.

Best rgds,

Simon.


Simon Duffy
President & Chief Executive Officer
ntl:

This meeting has been arranged for tomorrow afternoon 2:00 in Manchester.

We will be bringing up several issues with Customer Service, amongst other things and have a hefty agenda to get through.

We hope that we can forge links with ntl to address many of the problems you, as customers are having, and the problems we can see from an overall point of view.

Please be assured that any examples taken from the CF database will NOT include any personal details of the posters, just the subject matter.

We will obviously let you know the outcome of this and any further meetings.

[Raistlin]

I think that just about sums my thoughts on the matter up.

[punky]

Excellent!

Hopefully if you get a dialog going, you could eventually bring up how some employees are being persecuted on here for trying to help people in their spare time. Some kind of official descision and policy about it would be good to clear it up?

[Jon M]

If they offer you jobs, just say no

[Jason1]

Nice to see they still have a interest in this site and our views.

After ntl pulled the plug on nthellworld you must have a article that will raise cause for concern for duffy to show a active interest in what you intend to publish here ?

[MetaWraith]

WTG Team,
Let's hope something positive comes from this.

oooh just noticed that was my 1000th post,
nice for it to be on what will hopefully be the start of something good, and not on a slag off/complaint type thread.

[Russ]

Let's make this clear - there will be no discussions about buy-outs of websites

Originally Posted by Russ D

Let's make this clear - there will be no discussions about buy-outs of websites

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

If they offer you jobs, just say no

They can offer me a job anytime

[jonifen]

Great to hear links could be made between the forum and NTL... I hope it works out positive for both parties for future development!

/me signs off wondering if the big guy is a member on this forum... dont think it'll be an obvious nickname though

[Halcyon]

Good luck. Sounds like a good idea.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by punky

Excellent!

Hopefully if you get a dialog going, you could eventually bring up how some employees are being persecuted on here for trying to help people in their spare time. Some kind of official descision and policy about it would be good to clear it up?

This is something I took up with Simon Duffy some time ago and this is part of his response. The last sentance refers to associates unofficially helping on forums during their working hours with NTL. Simon was unaware that associates had been warned about helping out on sites such as this and had to refer to Aizad Hussain for clarification of what was happening.

Thank you for getting in touch. The response immediately below sets out the
facts. Many of our associates do help customers in their own free time,
usually via web based forums, and we acknowledge and applaud their efforts.
The last thing we would do would be to discourage them. No-one is being
gagged. However, as I'm sure you appreciate, when managing a complex
customer care operation we need to know that our staff are doing what their
managers need them to do, otherwise planning and scheduling become
impossible and service deteriorates.

[kronas]

Originally Posted by Russ D

Let's make this clear - there will be no discussions about buy-outs of websites

aww i was about to type: i wonder if duffy brings his cheque book

seriously i think this is a step in the right direction, i think having employees on here in an official capacity can help if allowed.

im sure the talks will allow a 'clearing of the sir' between the users of this site and NTL customers, i dont think we will see huge changes but atleast we will know NTL's position for the future hopefully about its direction and customer service deployment.

well im only hoping here

Nicely done - hope they have sympathetic ears. My personal gripe is being told email is not an integral part of the broadband service (and therefore I cannot moan when it collapses, though to be fair it's been reasonably OK recently). Not sure what planet they live on but, say, if I don't get email notification re products ordered online or bank statement prompts, then that's an issue. I know they say email is free but we all know that, like lunches of that ilk, there's no such thing. Sorry, rant over

[Derek]

I would like to know if they have a plan to get the Customer Service back on track.

Back when I joined the company it was actually quite good (in my region anyway) but over the last year or so has been eroded away by little or no training and new staff being taken on as temps instead of actually working for Ntl (and giving them even less incentive to stay)

You used to have to go through a phone interview and then a formal assessment centre before getting a CS job (Out of my interview group there were only two who made it) and then you had 4 weeks training including job visits to different depts so you knew what happened outside your own little bubble.

Now there are people taken on without any interview whatsoever and unsurprisingly the customer service has dropped through the floor.

[jonifen]

Originally Posted by kronas

seriously i think this is a step in the right direction, i think having employees on here in an official capacity can help if allowed.

Thats a great idea as people who can get access to this could voice their queries that they're not sure are worth a phone call to CS or not. May improve waiting times for getting through to CS at times when its really hectic.
I work on a support helpdesk, and when we're experiencing high levels of calls, we always get a few who wait 10-20mins to ask a really silly question that doesnt deserve to be put onto the logging software as having been raised.

I'd like to think of myself as being pretty useful with things like the TV and Internet and do all the checks possible and get the results from the checks down on paper to have next to me on the phone. That way they can get my problem sorted quickly and move onto the next guy/gal in the queue. There's nothing more off-putting than looking at the wallboard in a call-centre to see 20+ people waiting in a queue for your assistance!