Compensation for loss of service?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by scastle

Actually, I thought that was the point we were trying to make?

It was/is, I was just trying to get away from the 'how much do you think he should get for his phone line being down for 3 days as phone lines aren't really that important these days as everyone has mobiles" kind of thinking.

Originally Posted by Neil

It was/is, I was just trying to get away from the 'how much do you think he should get for his phone line being down for 3 days as phone lines aren't really that important these days as everyone has mobiles" kind of thinking.

With respect Neil, not everyone has a mobile phone, yes a good majority of people do, but does that mean that the fact that somebody's line was down is not an issue.
I read more and more about phoneline problems that NTL customers suffer on here, the issue is where problems are recurring on a regular basis, the question has to be asked whether NTL are fit to run a telecommunication business.
I do not expect not to have a problem, but when it happens I would hope it is a rarety, and without asking I would be properly compensated, people may ask by how much? I will put my head on the block and say £50.
Yes, it does seem an extreme amount to some to pay for a line that is down at the least a day or so, at the extreme longer.
But what this would do, if companies had to pay that amount of money out to customers, they may soon get their acts together.
How much money is invested in the quality of the wiring/systems used by NTL? at a guess I would say as little as they can get away with.
So if poor quality infrastructure is in place, what can people expect?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

<Snip>

I think you've misunderstood me m8....

I wasn't saying that way my point of view, I was just trying to steer the thread 'mentality' away from that way of thinking, as that is where it was going.

I still think that ntl cocked it up and handled it badly, & that deserves compensation from ntl-if only to say "we acknowledge that we treated you (our customer) poorly.

The fact that they offered £1 sums up some people's attitude towards their (wage paying) customers to me.

In other words, they still don't seem to give a fig IMO

Originally Posted by Neil

I think you've misunderstood me m8....

I wasn't saying that way my point of view, I was just trying to steer the thread 'mentality' away from that way of thinking, as that is where it was going.

I still think that ntl cocked it up and handled it badly, & that deserves compensation from ntl-if only to say "we acknowledge that we treated you (our customer) poorly.

The fact that they offered £1 sums up some people's attitude towards their (wage paying) customers to me.

In other words, they still don't seem to give a fig IMO

Neil, very sorry, jumping in with two feet on my behalf comes to mind, sorry.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Neil, very sorry, jumping in with two feet on my behalf comes to mind, sorry.

No worries at all m8, no offence taken whatsoever.

[scrotnig]

A lot of people are missing the point.

The service went down, and putting it right was botched.

The original poster should have been given more than a quid. That's a joke. I don't care if it works out at exactly the pro-rata of the monthly rate, that is NOT the point.

Most ntl staff do treat customers with respect and dignity, this is one case where that didn't happen.

Part of the company's 'turnaround' process, in getting back to an excellent level of service, has got to be getting out of this habit of never admitting we got it wrong and never saying sorry. Too often we go on the defensive all the time. This is wrong. It is less widespread than it was, but it does still happen, as it does in so many large companies.

One cannot allow the urine to be extracted obviously, but a little understanding and acceptance of a botch up wouldn't go amiss.

This is something I am always banging on about. And it's not always about money. Some customers really don't want money off. I even had one guy refuse it the other day. He just wanted the service to work...and as a customer myself, I know exactly where he's coming from.

Thankfully we got him fixed and I gave him the money off anyway...he can always argue about it when he gets the bill

I know the terms say the service is not guaranteed to be fault free. Do we really think a customer reporting a fault needs to have that flung in their face when they call up? No they don't!

Sorry to rant. This is a big one for me. Standards are everything, businesses grow faster that way.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Mark B

A lot of people are missing the point.

The service went down, and putting it right was botched.

The original poster should have been given more than a quid. That's a joke. I don't care if it works out at exactly the pro-rata of the monthly rate, that is NOT the point.

Most ntl staff do treat customers with respect and dignity, this is one case where that didn't happen.

Part of the company's 'turnaround' process, in getting back to an excellent level of service, has got to be getting out of this habit of never admitting we got it wrong and never saying sorry. Too often we go on the defensive all the time. This is wrong. It is less widespread than it was, but it does still happen, as it does in so many large companies.

One cannot allow the urine to be extracted obviously, but a little understanding and acceptance of a botch up wouldn't go amiss.

This is something I am always banging on about. And it's not always about money. Some customers really don't want money off. I even had one guy refuse it the other day. He just wanted the service to work...and as a customer myself, I know exactly where he's coming from.

Thankfully we got him fixed and I gave him the money off anyway...he can always argue about it when he gets the bill

I know the terms say the service is not guaranteed to be fault free. Do we really think a customer reporting a fault needs to have that flung in their face when they call up? No they don't!

Sorry to rant. This is a big one for me. Standards are everything, businesses grow faster that way.

I couldn't have put it better myself Mark.

Originally Posted by Mark B

A lot of people are missing the point.

The service went down, and putting it right was botched.

The original poster should have been given more than a quid. That's a joke. I don't care if it works out at exactly the pro-rata of the monthly rate, that is NOT the point.

Most ntl staff do treat customers with respect and dignity, this is one case where that didn't happen.

Part of the company's 'turnaround' process, in getting back to an excellent level of service, has got to be getting out of this habit of never admitting we got it wrong and never saying sorry. Too often we go on the defensive all the time. This is wrong. It is less widespread than it was, but it does still happen, as it does in so many large companies.

One cannot allow the urine to be extracted obviously, but a little understanding and acceptance of a botch up wouldn't go amiss.

This is something I am always banging on about. And it's not always about money. Some customers really don't want money off. I even had one guy refuse it the other day. He just wanted the service to work...and as a customer myself, I know exactly where he's coming from.

Thankfully we got him fixed and I gave him the money off anyway...he can always argue about it when he gets the bill

I know the terms say the service is not guaranteed to be fault free. Do we really think a customer reporting a fault needs to have that flung in their face when they call up? No they don't!

Sorry to rant. This is a big one for me. Standards are everything, businesses grow faster that way.

and they failed to re-deploy you, why?

if the 'role play' was the problem, then the test is wrong, you are evidently 'customer focused'

It makes me when a good employee is binned because they do not fit into a 'KPI style' structure - who should say what the 'key' factor is, in the relationship with the customer - certainly not Marketing, for a start.

- oh, & it's up to you, but I will miss you, if you decide to stop posting here

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Mark B

A lot of people are missing the point.

The service went down, and putting it right was botched.

The original poster should have been given more than a quid. That's a joke. I don't care if it works out at exactly the pro-rata of the monthly rate, that is NOT the point.

Most ntl staff do treat customers with respect and dignity, this is one case where that didn't happen.

Part of the company's 'turnaround' process, in getting back to an excellent level of service, has got to be getting out of this habit of never admitting we got it wrong and never saying sorry. Too often we go on the defensive all the time. This is wrong. It is less widespread than it was, but it does still happen, as it does in so many large companies.

One cannot allow the urine to be extracted obviously, but a little understanding and acceptance of a botch up wouldn't go amiss.

This is something I am always banging on about. And it's not always about money. Some customers really don't want money off. I even had one guy refuse it the other day. He just wanted the service to work...and as a customer myself, I know exactly where he's coming from.

Thankfully we got him fixed and I gave him the money off anyway...he can always argue about it when he gets the bill

I know the terms say the service is not guaranteed to be fault free. Do we really think a customer reporting a fault needs to have that flung in their face when they call up? No they don't!

Sorry to rant. This is a big one for me. Standards are everything, businesses grow faster that way.

Well put!

[Neil]

Originally Posted by homealone

and they failed to re-deploy you, why?

Becasue Mark is not what ntl want (customer focused)

Originally Posted by homealone

if the 'role play' was the problem, then the test is wrong, you are evidently 'customer focused'

He is, we know him of old.

Originally Posted by homealone

It makes me when a good employee is binned because they do not fit into a 'KPI style' structure - who should say what the 'key' factor is, in the relationship with the customer - certainly not Marketing, for a start.

Since when have ntl & logic gone hand in hand-their attitude as described by Mark above, is no different to when I 1st got their services, & when Frank 1st started .com some 4 years ago. Now I'm sorry, but if you can't change that cancerous attitude to customers int hat amount of time-you ain't never gonna....

Originally Posted by homealone

- oh, & it's up to you, but I will miss you, if you decide to stop posting here

A lot of people will miss Mark's help if he goes-he know that we don't want to lose him, come what may.

[scrotnig]

I believe the company really do want to put the problem right. As time has gone by, there are more and more managers and team leaders coming into the business, including my own, who have high standards of service as their top priority, because that's where the business will grow now. And although I'm a victim of it, I *do* now believe that the company is right to want to reduce the number of call centres. It really is hell on earth sometimes trying to get a customer through to the right person, and even when you do the systems and processes are not consistent.

A shame about the redundancies, but from an unbiased point of view something had to be done. My department prides itself on high standards, but we only serve a tiny part of ntl. Other regions may have different rules and processes. Standardising all those is nigh on impossible.

I'll be sad to go. I truly wanted to be part of harmony and the changes and improvements. I wanted to be able to stand at the other end of all this when things are pretty much ok and say "I came through that. I was part of that. I did my bit to help fix it". But I won't be able to. Never mind, some you win, etc. I don't believe there is any conspiracy to not employ me...I just can't do the roleplays, and it's got to be the same rules for everyone. They can't make an exception for me because I'm crap at it.

[mattf]

Quick update - interesting discussion. Having had a read through and calmed down a bit I realised it wasn't really about getting compensation - it was about acknowledgement and ownership of the problem. I wrote an email to Mr Hussain in the end putting my case as briefly as I could. I have an acknowledgement of the complaint.

Sadly, my phone service then died again on Thursday evening - eta is now Monday for a fix. I've posted a log of my contacts with NTL so far (no full names used) and the text of my letter to them.

Anyone any other thoughts? Or should I just quit now - I don't want to as it will mean either unbundling the cable and wrangling over how to cost it, or just dumping it altogether (and once you've had CBeebies, you can't go back).

[Neil]

Originally Posted by mattf

Quick update - interesting discussion. Having had a read through and calmed down a bit I realised it wasn't really about getting compensation - it was about acknowledgement and ownership of the problem. I wrote an email to Mr Hussain in the end putting my case as briefly as I could. I have an acknowledgement of the complaint.

Sadly, my phone service then died again on Thursday evening - eta is now Monday for a fix. I've posted a log of my contacts with NTL so far (no full names used) and the text of my letter to them.

Anyone any other thoughts? Or should I just quit now - I don't want to as it will mean either unbundling the cable and wrangling over how to cost it, or just dumping it altogether (and once you've had CBeebies, you can't go back).

I don't really think you need our opinion on what to do (by that-I think you already know what the best course of action is)

Any company that treats it's customers the way you have been treated (remember you are still without a phone line)-does not deserve a penny of anyone's hard earned cash IMO.

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by mattf

Quick update - interesting discussion. Having had a read through and calmed down a bit I realised it wasn't really about getting compensation - it was about acknowledgement and ownership of the problem. I wrote an email to Mr Hussain in the end putting my case as briefly as I could. I have an acknowledgement of the complaint.

Sadly, my phone service then died again on Thursday evening - eta is now Monday for a fix. I've posted a log of my contacts with NTL so far (no full names used) and the text of my letter to them.

Anyone any other thoughts? Or should I just quit now - I don't want to as it will mean either unbundling the cable and wrangling over how to cost it, or just dumping it altogether (and once you've had CBeebies, you can't go back).

I can give you Mr Hssuains direct dial (and that of his PA's too) if that's any use to you?

[mattf]

Originally Posted by orangebird

I can give you Mr Hssuains direct dial (and that of his PA's too) if that's any use to you?

Ok - thanks.