ntl's email problems explained

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by orangebird

You don't think any of that is positive??

Not really I'm afraid:

Reworking the whole hardware solution, becuase the one they spec'd originally isn't up to the job - I'm reading between the lines there, but that's what he's saying to me.

Allowing customers to manage their own spam - I don't understand why this didn't happen a long time ago. Whilst the end result will be positive for customers, it will be far more beneficial to ntl. It is also something that most other email providers have been doing for a long time.

And certainly no positive in the last section. Six more gruelling weeks of a wholly inadequate email system holds no joy for me whatsoever.

The positive, as I said, is that the information was forthcoming and their level of openess (or admission of guilt as I am thinking of it) is to be congratulated.

Originally Posted by Neil

People are happy about what they have seen (even me! ), but they are just sceptical based on ntl's track record/tendency to BS it's customers, & I don't think the the sceptism is unreasonable where ntl's email 'service' is concerned, seeing as it has been ongoing for over a year.

Completely agree. Personally I think that things should not have been allowed to slip to this level. I'm not blaming Simon Dufffy personally for this, I'm sure as an internet professional he made the people who hold the purse strings aware a long time ago (or at least I hope he did). I wonder if their internal email system is suffering the same problems or if the money was spent to ensure that it works properly?

Originally Posted by Frank

What is not so impressive is that the original e-mail and the follow up were addressed to Bill Goodland and Aizad Hussain, and CC'd to Simon Duffy. Neither Goodland or Hussain, both of whom are closer to ntl Home issues than Duffy, bothered to reply

A sad state of affairs for sure, and another very poor show by these two. They learned from Knapp well! Or maybe their email still hasn't arrived

Originally Posted by XFS03

Why wasn't this information put on the service status page? Surely it would have saved a lot of CS calls. And don't forget, it is only the minority of NTL customers (those that read these forums) who still know what is going on. Until NTL are truly open & honest, the majority of customers are still in the dark!

A very good point sir! As I mentioned before, this apology and explanation should be sent to every single ntlworld customer. They could eveb resort to putting it in with the bill if the email server couldn't handle it.

[zovat]

Originally Posted by trebor

I would like to say thanks NTL for the explanation about email.
I hope this new attitude to customer service, and openness continues.

I agree - it is nice to see NTL being open as regards the issues.

As a techie, I am aware of the problems that migrating an Email system is likely to generate.

As stated in the origional text, they got hit my a massive increase in traffic, whilst in the process of migrating, this means that they have (probably) had to divert people who were working on the migration back to the current system in order to resolve these issues.

NTL are not claiming to be perfect, but rather they are stating that they got caught out by the increase, which happened at the worst possible time in terms of the migration project.

Personally, I applaud NTL for being big enough to stand up and say "we got caught out, but we are working on it".

[seaneeboy]

Blimeh, hurrah for that - NTL actually come out with a statement which honestly explains and describes the troubles they've been having, certainly not too "techy" to confuse the avarage user, and tells us what they're doing about it.

Not many companies at all would give you that. Muchos applause to them there.

As for who actually replied, I'd not read too much into it - The emails were sent to three people and one of them replied - surely that's why he was CCd into it in the first place?

It's still a high-level management reply - and that's more than good enough for me!

[ian@huth]

I wouldn't read too much into who replied to Micks emails. The three of them probably discussed the situation and Simon may have told the other two to leave it to him.

Simon is in the USA on business. He could be negotiating for new kit or kicking backsides where they need kicking. For all we know all three of them may be over there together.

NTL have had their problems and will continue to have problems. They are taking action to give customers faster, more reliable internet experiences and get rid of as many problems as they can. As much as we all want them to wave a magic wand and do everything instantly, unfortunately there are no suitable magic wands listed on Ebay at the moment. Patience is a virtue.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

unfortunately there are no suitable magic wands listed on Ebay at the moment. Patience is a virtue.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/magic-wand_...QsosortorderZ1

wouldnt one of them do it

Lol joking aside its good that they are doing someit about it but in the mean time it means more mail problems

i think most of my email comes into my gmail account or thought my domain now (gmail makes an execllent place to send all them forum someone has replied notifers )

i still have a few things goto my ntl email account although i sometimes wander how many emails im not getting that i should be? hopefully none

[xraymitch]

As someone who used to make a living by providing on site PC support I am very aware of the problems that beset all the major ISP's, hence my "better the devil you know" approach I have taken with NTL up till now.

I echo much of what andygrif said in his post. Look at the statement on the Blueyonder page regarding the email problems they had early July. I doubt you will get such a public admission from NTL.

My perception gathered over the last 6 years is that NTL management takes a somewhat cavalier attitude towards it's domestic internet customer base - and after all it's only a leasure pursuit / activity is how I have come to perceive the thinking at NTL. This may change as customers become more PC and Internet literate and realise that it's not their PC systems or inexperience and start demanding that NTL actually deliver on it's contractual obligations.

I gave up long ago contacting NTL support in it's various forms, but after a week of email problems, and with no expectation of getting a meaningful reply, I used their website to register a complaint mainly to vent my frustration.

So whilst heartened by Simon's reply I would ask him to reflect upon the fact that if I am actively seeking an alternative ISP how many other NTL customers may be thinking likewise ?

Ultimately I believe NTL will only sit up and take notice when it's customers start voting with their feet.

For what it's worth, here is the message I sent :

Hi,

Please be good enough to inform your superiors that I am no longer prepared to tolerate the email problems that users have had to endure for over a week now, and as I write are still ongoing (3 hours so far).

Your superiors only have to look at the Server Status logs for the past 4 years to see the same faults occurring time after time after time. I do not exaggerate when I tell you that over the last five years your own records will show there has not been a month free of registration problems to name but one recurring problem.

Given that email provision is one of the core services provided by an ISP, I am also appalled at the frequency and number of email faults that occur.

This is a customer of five years and more who has had enough of mediocre service and I now put NTL on notice to fix the email problems and the like once and for all, or I and others like me shall be taking their business elsewhere.

I await eagerly my automated reply and doubt that I will ever get a response from an individual which will only be par for the NTL course.

Many thanks.

PS Do shareholders in NTL actually use any of the Internet services provided?

Originally Posted by xraymitch

Ultimately I believe NTL will only sit up and take notice when it's customers start voting with their feet.

Have you read the whole reply from Simon? NTL are working flat out to get these email problems sorted and spending alot of money to get these email problems finally fixed thus ntl are sitting up, infact I think they are standing up never mind sitting.

Believe me, I have been just as frustrated but now we have been given a full explanation of the real problems and just what is actually being done about it. I feel abit more reassured that something is being done, where as before we knew absolutely nothing and a lot of the time not knowing anything can be worse than the actual problem that is at hand.

[chopsmcp]

Originally Posted by Mick

Have you read the whole reply from Simon? NTL are working flat out to get these email problems sorted and spending alot of money to get these email problems finally fixed thus ntl are sitting up, infact I think they are standing up never mind sitting. <snip>

Yebbut... do they have a strategy that's likely to sort things out? I'm not convinced. The hardware's struggling to cope with current traffic volumes... well, those are only going to go up over the next few months, so what happens then? And what exactly is this tool that allows people to manage spam before it gets into their mailbox? On the face of it, that doesn't sound like it's likely to make much impact on overall traffic volume, so what's their strategy to avoid another hike in spam bringing about another collapse of the email service?

imho, their strategy ought to be universal server-side filtering, coupled with their legal bods coming down like a ton of sh*t on the wanadoo dialer spammers, who are a large part of the problem. At the very least this would deter anybody thinking of trying the same trick.

[fred]

This is being treated as if email was a fancy add-on like chat or pop videos. For many people the email service is as important as the telephone or electricity or gas.
I doubt that the populace would tolerate either of these three services being off for an hour or two let alone the time that we have been without any reliable email service.
So the answer given by the NTL management that they will fix this when they can is not good enough. This is the real world and they are playing in the big league now!
I believe the statement by NTL management was only made after persuasion by this forum and has only been published on this forum. So why haven't all of the NTL email suibscribers been advised aboiut the problem, by NTL? I think we all deserve to be informed since we are all having to pay for this problem.

Nigel

[Jon M]

Is this supposed to be a reply to an existing thread?
If not, can I just say "uh?" for me and whoever else stumbles in here.

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

Is this supposed to be a reply to an existing thread?
If not, can I just say "uh?" for me and whoever else stumbles in here.

Indeed, I have merged it with the most recent e-mail topic as he refers to Simon Duffys response.