NTL Broadband 60 day free offer

Originally Posted by Kits

Can't see what the fuss is over it always happens when new customers dry up some bright spark thinks up a new way to attract customers.

The offer closes on the 31st July but who ever signs up will be stuck for 12 months. 365 days so they get 60 free they still have 305 days of paying for the service. If they have a good service they will stay if they have a lot of bad experiences they will leave.

The old saying you win some you lose some comes to mind.
Nothing will ever change all the deals are kept for those joining or to try and keep those leaving.

Kits, the offer as I understand it is, that you contact NTL to accept their offer free for 60 days, it does not cost the prospective customer a penny, the engineers come out and fit the equipment free.
If before the end of the 60 days you do not want to continue, you call them and cancel, you pay not a penny more.
But given the reputation that NTL have in dealing with people's cancellation requests, the 60 day offer will be fun and games.
I certainly would not want to try it, with in the back of my mind a court order popping through my letter box because there has been the inevitable mix up at NTL customer cancellations.
I just find it a bare faced cheek, but that is my opinion.
I have had problems with their service, never once have I had a discount of any kind as compensation, but once I find another way of getting a service from another provider I am out of there, they really are so dire.

[Florence]

I thought it would be part of the 12 month contract they are trying AOLs marketing tactics. Has AOL Mamangement moved over to NTL without anyone letting the customers know.

I am lucky that if I can't get my problems sorted by NTLs phone call I can go to others who work withing NTL and it gets sorted. Shame not every customers has this chance for when things go wrong..

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

NTL = Free service period for new customers, heavy discounts to those who threaten to cancel. Loyal customers on top tier service price rise.

ADSL = Same price for all with odd special offer offering free activation, if the company can afford it they drop price for new and current customers.

Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!

This is the same old 'aren't all the ADSL companies wonderful' crap.

So I am supposed to believe that the ADSL suppliers sit in marketing meetings saying things like 'well, it would be nice to do some special offers for new customers, but that's not really a moral and proper thing to do. We'd better not bother trying to aggressively attract new customers, because it would be right and proper to use any discounts for existing customers. Oh, and can you ask the finance people to let me know if we start making too much money, because we will need to reduce our prices immediately, because that's moral and proper as well'

Pink fluffy elephants, that is the biggest load of rubbish I've read in long while. ALL big companies are trying to win new business by promoting and discounting, and a large number also offer retention deals to persuade leaving customers to stay. This is perfectly normal business practice, everyone does it, and if people are that unhappy with it, they should go and live in Russia.

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by Kits

I thought it would be part of the 12 month contract they are trying AOLs marketing tactics. Has AOL Mamangement moved over to NTL without anyone letting the customers know.

I am lucky that if I can't get my problems sorted by NTLs phone call I can go to others who work withing NTL and it gets sorted. Shame not every customers has this chance for when things go wrong..

I am no fan of AOL.

However, their marketing is amazing in that it works and they win shedloads of business.

I don't personally like the idea of free, no committment trials such as ntl are now offering, however, it has to be said, full marks to ntl for taking this bull by the horns and trying to do what the successful already do. 'Free trial' would have been an unthinkable phrase at ntl a year ago, and it also shows some confidence in the product.

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Kits, the offer as I understand it is, that you contact NTL to accept their offer free for 60 days, it does not cost the prospective customer a penny, the engineers come out and fit the equipment free.
If before the end of the 60 days you do not want to continue, you call them and cancel, you pay not a penny more.
But given the reputation that NTL have in dealing with people's cancellation requests, the 60 day offer will be fun and games.
I certainly would not want to try it, with in the back of my mind a court order popping through my letter box because there has been the inevitable mix up at NTL customer cancellations.
I just find it a bare faced cheek, but that is my opinion.
I have had problems with their service, never once have I had a discount of any kind as compensation, but once I find another way of getting a service from another provider I am out of there, they really are so dire.

I work in such a department at ntl, and if the request is received, it's actioned. there's a sophisticated filing system in place so that written requests are date stamped with the date of receipt (which is the date any notice period is actioned).

Phone requests are simply dealt with there and then.

In my experience, the main causes of problems are when the account holder's mother's cousin's best friend's aunt rings up and says that she pays the bill so she can cancel the services. We have to tell her 'NO', she hangs up, says 'well tough ****, as far as I am concerned it's cancelled', and goes and unplugs all the cabling in the property. No cancellation takes place, the customer gets a big bill 6 months later, rings ntl and rants on and on about 'I cancelled ages ago so take me to court'.

Happens daily. People need to understand the laws on these things a bit more.

" Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish! "


Mark, I thought he made a very valid point.
On the subject of cancellations, your take on the matter bares no truth to the reality.
I have known people on this and other forum's who have phoned NTL themselves and still had problems, NTL just cannot be relied on to carry out the simplest of requests.
Kits, you should'nt need NTL inside contacts to get problems sorted, that is what you pay your monthly payment for believe me or not.
There seems a lot of dead wood in NTL that needs burning imo.
A person has more chance of getting a problem sorted by a small corner shop than by a so called BIG company called NTL.

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Mark, I thought he made a very valid point.

What, that all ADSL providers operate solely by high moral standards whilst ntl just want to fleece customers? It's rubbish! Sorry!

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

On the subject of cancellations, your take on the matter bares no truth to the reality.

Well, I cannot speak for other regions, but cancellation requests is what I do, and the department operates efficiently and with a high degree of integrity and professionalism. What's more, the management team are committed to that.

Why are there so many unhappy customers mark? you made a statement that the only time there was a problem was when a person's wife, aunty, uncle, brother, cat phoned up to cancel, this is not the truth mark, as I said before, I have read numerous accounts of people who contact NTL by phone themselves and it is still fuc456 up !

Do'nt give me the " Not in our area " sh89, it just shows how out of step NTL are as a company, their performance targets should be applied uniformly accross the country, maybe if I move over 200 miles I may get something approaching decent service? bullsh67!

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Why are there so many unhappy customers mark? you made a statement that the only time there was a problem was when a person's wife, aunty, uncle, brother, cat phoned up to cancel, this is not the truth mark, as I said before, I have read numerous accounts of people who contact NTL by phone themselves and it is still fuc456 up !

Do'nt give me the " Not in our area " sh89, it just shows how out of step NTL are as a company, their performance targets should be applied uniformly accross the country, maybe if I move over 200 miles I may get something approaching decent service? bullsh67!

Well if you insult staff on the phone like this it doesn't surprise me if they don't wish to help.

However, to take your points in turn.

The 'aunty' situation I mentioned happens daily. Some customers do not understand the law on these things and blame us when it all goes wrong.

I am NOT saying things don't go wrong. Part of my job is to sort it out when they do. The very fact that ntl allow me great freedom and time to do these things shows they take it seriously.

I am not making this stuff up, it's my job, I do it every day.

Your point about standardising things is in fact the very reason the company is making 2000 or so staff redundant (including me) so they can centralise things and have a consistent experience throughout the country. My job moves to Coventry at the end of the year, and they will deal with ALL cancellation requests.

arcamalpha2004 - I have already edited the unnecessary bad language out of one of your posts today, stop deliberately using this unnecessary language in a manner designed to insult other members and bypass the filters.

Sorry to hear about your imminent job loss and other people's, hope you get yourself sorted with another job.
If they want a consistent experience for customers throughout the country, I do not see that they will get this solely by doing what you say.

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Sorry to hear about your imminent job loss and other people's, hope you get yourself sorted with another job.
If they want a consistent experience for customers throughout the country, I do not see that they will get this solely by doing what you say.

No it's not the only thing that's going on.

The company is trying to change is fragmented operations and implement better policies to deal with customer calls of all types.

Sadly some jobs are going in that, but others are being created. I'm hoping to get a new role within the company, or I may even follow my existing job to its new location, as I have few ties where I am now.

The plan is tha it will all be better. the company is genuinely attempting to get there, but they don't have vast funds.

I think the thinking is, they have actually improved things a huge amount within the current setup, but the feeling is, it cannot actually get much better still without more drastic changes.

Though I don't like all of the planned changes, I do actually think that if that's been the motivation, the changes are the right thing to do. I have worked in the current setup for years and I cannot see how it COULD improve much more as things are, it's just too fragmented. ntl in one part of the country is not ntl in another part. It's silly.

Originally Posted by Mark B

Those are the rules, arcam, that's the way it is.

Yes, but the remarks that pem removed were not aimed at you individually or anyone on this forum.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Yes, but the remarks that pem removed were not aimed at you individually or anyone on this forum.

Irregardless, please be aware that some people may object to what you posted and the way it was posted.

No more comments on this please, on with the discussion.

Russ, I merely said that NTL were conning buggers, but it would seem there are some NTL sympahics around, using words that are in the english dictionary seems a problem on this site, better go elsewhere I think, best wishes everyone.