1meg STBers - Has your box been swapped yet ?

[JonR]

Update:-

They were finally able to sort my new box out today.

Following Monday's debacle and after waiting for their phone call from them to arrange a replacement box (and not getting the phone call), I phoned them yesterday - but no one knew what I was talking about. Another hour being pushed from department to department - all of whom proclaimed that it wasn't their department that handled such problems. The phone calls ended again with the promise that someone would phone back within 2-4 hours.

Four hours later someone did phone back but was convinced that our problem was with the Interactive TV system which I'd never mentioned. Oh, and broadband problems were not their department... cue another endless cycle of waiting for phones to be answered only to find out that they didn't deal with broadband either. Finally I was told that an Engineer would phone within 24 hours who would talk me through some changes required on the STB.

Not convinced, I began scouring magazine ads for BT Broadband, Tiscali, and anyone else that didn't have "NTL" in their name.

Then, at about 10.30 this morning, I found a message on my answerphone from an NTL guy saying that they'd sorted it all out at their end and a 2min reset on the STB would make everything hunky-dory. And he was right! Thank Heaven there's at least one person at NTL who knows something about NTL Broadband.

Why do their customer support department(s) constantly give customers the runaround? Do they have too many customers and they want them to go elsewhere? Is their motto "the customer must be avoided at all costs"..?

All this because they want us to change to a service that we didn't want to change to in the first place. I was happy with the 1Mbit service. One of the dozens of NTL phone people admitted that this was true of a lot of their 1Mbit-ers who were not happy with the hassle.

I think the most annoying this is that, while trying to convince them that the broadband wasn't working, all the recorded messages kept saying how wonderful NTL Broadband was. And then to have your nose rubbed in it by someone saying the upgrade to 1.5Mbit was for free. Do they seriously believe that they've effectively conned anyone with that line?

Anyway, the story ends, the broadband works again, and if I ever need to talk to NTL's customer support again it'll be a millennia too soon.

[Kneebs]

Glad to see its sorted at last. Now you've just gotta wait like the rest of us for the STB speeds to be upped to 1.5Mb.....(coming soon )

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by JonR

<snip>
Why do their customer support department(s) constantly give customers the runaround? Do they have too many customers and they want them to go elsewhere? Is their motto "the customer must be avoided at all costs"..?

It's not the CS reps motto, but they are marked on how many calls they take per hour.... If they fall below the targets set, it's not unknown for disciplinaries etc to happen... A bit ruch coming from our wonderful management who's favourtie saying is 'putting the customer first'...

All this because they want us to change to a service that we didn't want to change to in the first place. I was happy with the 1Mbit service. One of the dozens of NTL phone people admitted that this was true of a lot of their 1Mbit-ers who were not happy with the hassle.

On the contrary, I think most customers were quite happy with a 50% speed increase (for free or for the £3 price rise that happened previously however you view it, it's not a bad deal either)

I think the most annoying this is that, while trying to convince them that the broadband wasn't working, all the recorded messages kept saying how wonderful NTL Broadband was. And then to have your nose rubbed in it by someone saying the upgrade to 1.5Mbit was for free. Do they seriously believe that they've effectively conned anyone with that line?

ntl haven't conned anyone. They've given an increase for nothing. And it does work for the majority too. Cases like yours are frustrating, unfortunate, and thankfully not to many - if you look at the poll on another thread about Samsung boxes, the majority are quite happy with their performance.

Anyway, the story ends, the broadband works again, and if I ever need to talk to NTL's customer support again it'll be a millennia too soon.

I'm glad your service is back online, and I hope that if you should need to speak to CS again, your experience is 110% better than this one.

[JonR]

Originally Posted by orangebird

It's not the CS reps motto, but they are marked on how many calls they take per hour.... If they fall below the targets set, it's not unknown for disciplinaries etc to happen... A bit ruch coming from our wonderful management who's favourtie saying is 'putting the customer first'...

I'm sure the people themselves are doing the best that they're able. I know it's a job that I wouldn't want to do.

Originally Posted by orangebird

On the contrary, I think most customers were quite happy with a 50% speed increase (for free or for the £3 price rise that happened previously however you view it, it's not a bad deal either)

It's not the speed increase that I'm suggesting prople might not have been happy with - it's the hassle associated with the change (even if it's only for a minority of us who get such hassle).

Originally Posted by orangebird

ntl haven't conned anyone. They've given an increase for nothing.

All I know is that my broadband bill went up last month and the broadband speed goes up this month (or, at the very least, the box was changed ready for the speed increase). To say that one doesn't pay for the other is just marketting baloney.

Originally Posted by orangebird

And it does work for the majority too. Cases like yours are frustrating, unfortunate, and thankfully not to many - if you look at the poll on another thread about Samsung boxes, the majority are quite happy with their performance.

One interesting point is that one of the many phone conversations implied that the new STB had already been registered to someone else and that this may have been causing the problem. However, the inconsistency of replies you get when you keep repeating the situation to upwards of six different people each time you phone up didn't fill me with confidence that this, or any other suggestion, was the cause of the problem.

Originally Posted by orangebird

I'm glad your service is back online, and I hope that if you should need to speak to CS again, your experience is 110% better than this one.

I hope so too. Thank-you for replying.

[ZrByte]

Well it was done today, I'd forgotten all about phoning and they just turned up unannounced while I was at work this morning. My Mum was home so she let him in and he sorted it all out though he couldnt test the box due to the way how I have my TV connected to it. Basicly I was just lucky it all worked when I got home though I am impressed with the new Box and Remote

[Atomic22]

ntl swapped my 1000 c&w digibox for the samsung , no problems , he was here 15 mins ,telly and pc working perfectly with no re-installations of software or loss of speed etc etc......
i have been informed my speed increase will come on 1st september....
my 1000 was 100% reliable from the day i installed broadjump many years ago and i am hoping the samsung does the same.....
a few of my friends that have had the odd problem with connection all used ethernet cards.....i use usb , this may make a difference to reliability.......
all in all (apart from the odd email problems) i cannot fault ntl and have always been a satisfied customer (gimme a discount please)

[BloodyL]

An engineer has just turned up to replace my Pace 1000, which is all fine and dandy until you realise that I'm using a Stand Alone Cable Modem!.
I've been having constant connection dropping problems and this is the fourth STB I've had, I was fed up and decided to move over to the SACM instead.
It appears that this changeover hasn't filtered down through the company yet.

[Elysium]

Called NTL and told them about the "letter" .. seemed like they couldn't do a thing regarding the Samsung box as its allocated as and when the 'area' is being swapped over.. "Worsley" (Manchester), apparently, has not had a single Samsung box swapped over.. so it could be months yet before they get round to me. No amount of quibbling with them seems to progress matters either..

[ZrByte]

So does anybody have any idea when I will be upped to 1.5mb?
Im in Ex CW area and Ive checked on the NTL website and it seems to think our road has allready been activated. Im not in any rush mind you, im just interested

[Kneebs]

You're area could well of already been done, at least for SACM, and 150 or 600 STB users. 1meg STBers all have to wait till all paces have been swapped out for samsungs. Rumour has it to be the 1st of Sept.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Kneebs

You're area could well of already been done, at least for SACM, and 150 or 600 STB users. 1meg STBers all have to wait till all paces have been swapped out for samsungs. Rumour has it to be the 1st of Sept.

I really can't understand why we have to wait, as we are the ones who will benefit the most; i.e for the simple fact that when using the whole 125ks download stream it then takes up to "2 English Minutes" to change a ruddy channel via the remote (no, the batteries are fine) ..

I'm sure that the Samsung boxes would solve, for the most part, this problem with its bigger buffers, etc.. 600 and lower users don't have to suffer this problem; besides, they are the swines who are paying less than us too! -)

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Elysium

I really can't understand why we have to wait, as we are the ones who will benefit the most; i.e for the simple fact that when using the whole 125ks download stream it then takes up to "2 English Minutes" to change a ruddy channel via the remote (no, the batteries are fine) ..

I am not making excuses here, as I am one of the STB users with 1Mb, and am quite angry that NTL haven't ugraded the 1Mb STB users, but NTL are having to replace a lot of Pace boxes. This is obviously taking some time, This could be for many reasons (people out when the engineer calls round, replacing faulty STBs, lack of qualified techs etc).

It would be nice if NTL were a bit more forthcoming on when they aim to upgrade us STB users though. At the moment, we are paying the same as 1.5Mb SACM users, but for two thirds the service.

I'm sure that the Samsung boxes would solve, for the most part, this problem with its bigger buffers, etc.. 600 and lower users don't have to suffer this problem; besides, they are the swines who are paying less than us too! -)

I have no problems with my Samsung box. Didn't have many with the Pace either, although that was too slow for interactive.

[Kneebs]

Originally Posted by Elysium

I really can't understand why we have to wait, as we are the ones who will benefit the most; i.e for the simple fact that when using the whole 125ks download stream it then takes up to "2 English Minutes" to change a ruddy channel via the remote (no, the batteries are fine) ..

I'm sure that the Samsung boxes would solve, for the most part, this problem with its bigger buffers, etc.. 600 and lower users don't have to suffer this problem; besides, they are the swines who are paying less than us too! -)

So are you still on a Pace with 1meg ? If so I'd give 'em a call, just to make sure you haven't slipped through the net..

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Kneebs

So are you still on a Pace with 1meg ? If so I'd give 'em a call, just to make sure you haven't slipped through the net..

I have .. on two or three occasions (being very polite about it too) -- and they just keep saying that there is nothing they can do. It's as though I'm asking for something I am not actually entitled to; even though I have problems with the PACE box.. i.e all they say they can do is replace the PACE box with *another* PACE box.. its like I'm asking for gold or something.

[Kneebs]

Well, theres a post from someone also in Manchester on the first page - he said he rang them to get sorted with a new box as he'd not heard anything. Although he doesn't say that he got a samsung, what he says implies he did.

I guess it must depend on who you get through to...