A suggestion for NTL

[Gareth]

Everytime I phone them up, no matter what day of the week nor what time of the day, I get a recorded message saying they are currently experiencing a large number of calls and there's a delay of x minutes. If there's always a large number of calls, why don't they employ more people to answer the phones?!?

.....in fact today is probably the exception to the rule, as today when I try to report the error I have with this month's bill, the line is engaged. Maybe they've got problems with their phones, or maybe I'm not the only one trying to report an error with their bill.

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by GDW1975

Everytime I phone them up, no matter what day of the week nor what time of the day, I get a recorded message saying they are currently experiencing a large number of calls and there's a delay of x minutes. If there's always a large number of calls, why don't they employ more people to answer the phones?!?

.....in fact today is probably the exception to the rule, as today when I try to report the error I have with this month's bill, the line is engaged. Maybe they've got problems with their phones, or maybe I'm not the only one trying to report an error with their bill.

Maybe - or maybe there's just a lot of people actually paying their bills over the phone?

[Russ]

NTL often get agency people for things like this....

Originally Posted by GDW1975

If there's always a large number of calls, why don't they employ more people to answer the phones?!?

How true it is that the simplest ideas are usually the best. Sadly, thanks to several years of profligate spending by Barclay Knapp and co, coupled with endemic bad practice in the management of NTL's customer-facing operations, the company is in a mess with no obvious way out.

NTL is now owned by a load of bankers (no miss-spelling there ) and they are determined to get their £17 billion back any way they can. They can't just sell their shares, so they have to cream the profits off instead. And NTL is not well known for making profits, so to try to remedy that they have started sacking everything that moves, people being the biggest cost of any business. In the short term, the bankers may get some of their loans back, but customer service went to hell in a handcart years before NTL went into 'Chapter 11' bankruptcy protection, and now there's nothing left in the pot to do anything about it.

[Stephen]

The centre I work in have been hiring loads of new staff to try and keep up with the increase in call volumes. More people seem to have started calling us recently.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by orangebird

Maybe - or maybe there's just a lot of people actually paying their bills over the phone?

Good point, didn't think of that.

Chris T, that's something that I didn't actually know - interesting stuff. I get enough hassle for repayments of my student loan, so I guess when you owe £17Bn you get even more hassle Maybe they should make the call an 0898 number instead of 0800, and then they could earn £17Bn from the profits.

Well, I'm off to find a plaster for the blister on my finger from pressing redial all day *sigh*