NTL at fault - not me!

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

any why would retentions be any different? they have the same training as other staff and not all of them are supervisors either

Well for some reason, when I have called retentions the issue has been solved to my satisfaction, why could the issue not be resolved pre retentions? so I would say that retentions obviously know how to solve the issue, csa's are saying basically that they want the chance to solve the problem, they are given the chance, they have by me, I have never been off hand with any of them, for christs sake I dont have to perform some kinda butt licking to get decent service and when a problem is reported have it sorted the first time every time, and not be lied to with the promised call back which then forces me to call retentions!
The fact is NTL dont give a toss about even half decent customer service, until this is sorted they will fall behind further.
The only good thing ntl give me is the broadband, I would not trust them with the tv service, botched up boxes, never off the phone reporting freezing up etc, and dont even ask me to go back to their sub standard phone service.

[lostandconfused]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Well for some reason, when I have called retentions the issue has been solved to my satisfaction, why could the issue not be resolved pre retentions? so I would say that retentions obviously know how to solve the issue, csa's are saying basically that they want the chance to solve the problem, they are given the chance, they have by me, I have never been off hand with any of them, for christs sake I dont have to perform some kinda butt licking to get decent service and when a problem is reported have it sorted the first time every time, and not be lied to with the promised call back which then forces me to call retentions!
The fact is NTL dont give a toss about even half decent customer service, until this is sorted they will fall behind further.
The only good thing ntl give me is the broadband, I would not trust them with the tv service, botched up boxes, never off the phone reporting freezing up etc, and dont even ask me to go back to their sub standard phone service.

thats fair enough if your going on past experience. It means theres less calls in the CMC queue. i'd also like to add that i have never transferred a call to somneone on my team posing as a supervisor, i just know it does happen and i can understand why in some situations.

[KaySquirrel]

I agree with you, Shaun. I'm not saying that what goes on at a lot of call centres is right, just that it does go on.

Originally Posted by Shaun

Oh and if the call centre is run properly the management (well some of them) should be plugged into a hunt group (read: "call distribution queue") for easy access by the agents.

(Ah, hunt group then. I wasn't sure if the term ACD is used in this country?) Bold, underline, and italics added by me. I fully agree with you there. As a customer, I want it to be easier to speak to a manager, if 1st line or whatever has been unable (or unmotivated) to help me. As a call centre rep, I want it to be easier to access a manager to escalate a call to after I have done all I can for the customer. It'd be great if things changed, but the business model a lot of call centres seem to be based on doesn't allow much for customer satisfaction, just the quick and "efficient" processing of calls. Perhaps they think the loss of revenue from clients who took their business elsewhere is less than the money they would need to staff extra managers to take calls? Who knows.

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

I dont have to perform some kinda butt licking to get decent service and when a problem is reported have it sorted the first time every time, and not be lied to with the promised call back which then forces me to call retentions!

The fact is NTL dont give a toss about even half decent customer service, until this is sorted they will fall behind further.

The only good thing ntl give me is the broadband, I would not trust them with the tv service, botched up boxes, never off the phone reporting freezing up etc, and dont even ask me to go back to their sub standard phone service.

Ah, the elusive 'call back'. I'm usually wary of those from most companies, but with NTL I've had almost no success of getting called back!

No, they don't seem to care, as a general rule. I don't know what would work to give them the kick in the butt they need to start sorting things out from the bottom up. Clearly there are reps (both here, and when you call NTL) that are helpful, polite and efficient.. but they seem to be in the minority, as far as I've personally seen.

Broadband is the only thing NTL haven't managed to mess up for us, yet. (We've still got 'em for TV and phone because they finally got em working right -- but if that changes, I think we're off!)

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

i'd also like to add that i have never transferred a call to somneone on my team posing as a supervisor, i just know it does happen and i can understand why in some situations.

At the place I worked where this went on (it was even unofficially sanctioned BY management that this be done -- hey, if they make the reps pretend to be managers, the REAL managers don't have to work as hard, eh? ), I would mention that there was a more experienced/senior rep than me who may be able to assist further, as the manager was unavailable/not going to take the call/whatever the issue. It meant that I could escalate the call without having to lie about who I was escalating it TO. (And I'd be assured that the person senior than me would be able to help -- and right away -- instead of waiting for management to get around to it.)

Even if the senior rep had the same account access & etc as me, and even if they didn't do anything different than what I would have done, sometimes it did help the client feel more secure that their problem would be sorted properly to know they'd gotten someone a little 'higher up' on the food chain. Plus, it meant that I didn't have to butt heads with someone who I couldn't help because they wouldn't let me.

My point in posting the 'pretend managers' thing wasn't to point and laugh that this happens to customers, but to warn people that it goes on! I think having worked in a call centre has turned me into a more demanding customer. If I get transferred to a manager too quickly (as in, before being asked for more info, or anything), I generally assume that they're pulling the pretend manager trick, give them a general idea of what my issue is and ask to speak to THEIR manager. It's stupid to have to 'play the game', so to speak.. but hey, whatever works, hm?

[Shaun]

I think having worked in a call centre has turned me into a more demanding customer.

I think it does partly because you know what can be done for a customer (and expect it for yourself) and partly because you know the flankers they get upto.

[cherylsmith1982]

Well the update on this issue is that I never received a new copy of the bill. And in the meantime they are still continuing to send me bills to next door.
Getting really peed off with them now as they are continuing to tell me that my address is correct on their system

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by cherylsmith1982

Well the update on this issue is that I never received a new copy of the bill. And in the meantime they are still continuing to send me bills to next door.
Getting really peed off with them now as they are continuing to tell me that my address is correct on their system

Gah, sorry to hear they still haven't sorted it out!

I don't know how NTL's systems work, but it seems to me that there's no way your address can be correct *everywhere* in their system if you are still getting automatically generated bills to the wrong address.

Any luck in getting a Manager to call you back or anything?

I wonder what NTL would do if you got your neighbour to send back all those bills with 'return to sender, no such person at this address' on them. Have you tried this with any of the wrongly addressed mail?

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

Gah, sorry to hear they still haven't sorted it out!

I don't know how NTL's systems work, but it seems to me that there's no way your address can be correct *everywhere* in their system if you are still getting automatically generated bills to the wrong address.

Any luck in getting a Manager to call you back or anything?

I wonder what NTL would do if you got your neighbour to send back all those bills with 'return to sender, no such person at this address' on them. Have you tried this with any of the wrongly addressed mail?

It may be worth getting the neighbour to return the mail with in big letters " LIVES NEXT DOOR ! "

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

It may be worth getting the neighbour to return the mail with in big letters " LIVES NEXT DOOR ! "

Even better!

[cherylsmith1982]

well i could do that anyway as he does eventually bring the letters round to me.
On top of all the agro that NTL are giving me, they have now tried to charge me 4 pound for a copy of a bill - which I was told was free of charge, coz i never received it. AND they have also tried to charge me 4.00 for a non direct debit payment. I havent paid by direct debit for 2 years and have never been charged for this before - so I dont intend to start paying it now.
I am sick and tired of phoning them to sort this problem, because I know everytime I speak to an advisor - nothing happens.

I have written a letter but have not yet posted it, I just need to get a few photocopies of the letters that they are sending to next door as proof.

Oh, and the last advisor told me that they dont have a 'complaints' address - is this true?

[Nikesh]

The complaints address is usually on the back of the bills.

[Paul K]

The non DD charge has always been there but somehow you have got away with not paying with it till now. No doubt the new billing system has now rectified this and you are now in line with the rest of NTL customers.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...php?t=33606458

[cherylsmith1982]

Well - I had never heard of this 4 pound charge! I've read the other post about it - thanks for that.

Just wondering though - shouldnt you actually receive something in writing about that? As far as I am aware I have had nothing to inform me of those charges. And when I rang a couple of year ago to get my direct debit cancelled - they never informed me of it either.


I sent NTL a not very polite email a few days ago and this morning I have received a letter saying ....

'thank you for you letter dated 26th Jan - sorry you have had to get in touch with us etc etc etc. It is now in the hands of a customer concerns advisor and they will be in touch shortly'

or something along those lines.

I must say, I am impressed that they managed to send it to me and not next door! Hope they are on a role with it now.

I'm definitely considering moving my custom elsewhere if I dont get the feedback I want from the email. Any advice on who's best? I'll want broadband and the phone line with evening and weekend free calls.
Its looking like Tiscali upto now.

[cherylsmith1982]

Well the update on this is, that there is no update!!
No follow up what so ever to the letter they sent me - no bills either.

Just rang 150 and the very unhelpful CSA would not put me through to a manager/supervisor because they would only say the same as her. Which is that 'sorry i dont know what it is you want me to do because it does say 82A on the system and not 82.

so once again I have requested the previous 2 months bills for which I am owing, and they should be here within 5-7 days. This is really getting me down, so if nothing is here within 7 days, I'm gonna cancel my contract. I can bet if they do arrive though, there will be more late payment charges and a few more extras.

Originally Posted by cherylsmith1982

Well the update on this is, that there is no update!!
No follow up what so ever to the letter they sent me - no bills either.

Just rang 150 and the very unhelpful CSA would not put me through to a manager/supervisor because they would only say the same as her. Which is that 'sorry i dont know what it is you want me to do because it does say 82A on the system and not 82.

so once again I have requested the previous 2 months bills for which I am owing, and they should be here within 5-7 days. This is really getting me down, so if nothing is here within 7 days, I'm gonna cancel my contract. I can bet if they do arrive though, there will be more late payment charges and a few more extras.

Sorry to hear they are still unable to sort a simple problem.
The "system" obviously needs a sledge hammer taken to it if it is saying one thing and your envelope another.
The pathetic attitude of the csa doesnt help either.
Take the matter up with trading standards, there is a clear data protection violation here.