NTL PVR - How much???

Originally Posted by Gareth

At least as a Sky customer there was someone there to answer the phone should you need to call at that time.

That's true and I reckon people extend the truth a little because I made a call to sky CS last night at 2.30 (ish) and they answered the phone straight away!

[Fedz]

Originally Posted by Gareth

At least as a Sky customer there was someone there to answer the phone should you need to call at that time.

Yes in India

I rang several times from early morning to late at night and the time waiting was always near or over an hour

I know one thing I ain't paying for that and on 0870 too - no thanks

I agree the person who answered the phone to me last night was indian, I would rather have someone on the end of the line 24 hours a day than what NTL provide!

If you work weekends then you cannot change packages as by the time you come in from work on a saturday they are closed! They are closed on sundays so that leaves 5.30 - 8.00 on weekdays. Not much if you think about it!

I remember when I was with sky there was a good movie I wanted to watch once on one of the movie channels, this was about 2is in the morn. A quick call and they were on, you can't do that with NTL!

I will call sky CS dept again later on tonight about midnight just to see how long it takes for them to answer the phone!

I'll post back and let you know!

[Fedz]

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

That's true and I reckon people extend the truth a little because I made a call to sky CS last night at 2.30 (ish) and they answered the phone straight away!

With all due respect but, just because you get through straight away it must mean all others do also

Sky are having very serious problems at the moment due to a new system of organising the queue - this will take 6 months - according to employee sources on DS.

Nobody is informed when they ring however - you just get excessive call waiting times - lack of customer information is another serious problem of Sky's !!!

I know sky's tech support always used to take ages before you could speak to anyone, when my box developed a fault it took about 20 mins before I got through, but if I was calling CS about upgrading or downgrading my package or even a billing enquiry I got through within 5 mins.

I have not been with sky for nearly a year and a lot can happen in that time!

However if sky are as bad as you say they are during peak hours I would wait and call them in the early hours!

If your trying to tell me you have to wait over an hour 24hours a day before you can speak to anyone then I would disagree!

People would soon leave and sky would resolve that issue promptly!

[testcard]

Of course you do PVR for less than Sky+

I pay a premium for the ease, my choice.

ntl is more expensive than Sky now.

Adding an additional 10-15 pounds would make it uncompetitive

Let's not forget, NTL are not a charity as so many people keep telling me!

NTL don't want to be competitive, well until they nearly go bankrupt again. Then things will change!

Their telephone service is more expensive than BT!

Their broadband is more expensive than ADSL!

BT line rental: £10.50 & 2MB broadband £15.99 (Unlimited & no fair use policy)

and their family pack costs £19.50 compaired to sky at £21.00

so NTL's broadband will save you £1.50 however for the extra £1.50 with adsl you get a telephone line that is cheaper than NTL's!

You also save £1.50 on their family pack tv package but get less channels and your very likely to get an old crappy box that hardly works! Ohhh yea and you have to have NTL's phone service for as long as you have their TV package where as with sky it's only for 12 months unless you want to pay for the equiptment!

The only down side to ADSL is not many people get speeds of above 1Mb due to the distance from the exchange!

[Fedz]

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

However if sky are as bad as you say they are during peak hours I would wait and call them in the early hours!

Hence why I called several times a-day and yes I'd say 1am is the early hours!

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

If your trying to tell me you have to wait over an hour 24hours a day before you can speak to anyone then I would disagree!

I'm not trying to tell you this I am telling you this.
Hard to believe but, true. To cap it all Sky couldn't even be bothered to tell customers at the beginning of the call that they knew call times were going to be excessive waiting times. Such an easy thing but, not for Sky.

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

People would soon leave and sky would resolve that issue promptly!

In theory yes, in practice no.

I should know I experienced it and judging by the hundreds of posts building on DS and confirmation from a few of Skys employees yes it is true.

Kind regards

[Downloads]

Originally Posted by testcard

Of course you do PVR for less than Sky+

I pay a premium for the ease, my choice.

ntl is more expensive than Sky now.

Adding an additional 10-15 pounds would make it uncompetitive

It's only more expensive if you don't ask for any of their deals. I have 3 deals atm and Sky can't get anywhere near my price at all, in fact i pay less than i would pay for Sky and my telephone is included too. £10 less with telehone included and i get a free box and free repairs and free installations on everything i have ever had.

Don't ask and thou shalt not receive.

It was quite funny watching my colleagues phone Sky to ask for deals. They wouldn't give them any.

---------- Post added at 23:10 ---------- Previous post was at 23:04 ----------

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Their broadband is more expensive than ADSL!

BT line rental: £10.50 & 2MB broadband £15.99 (Unlimited & no fair use policy)

and their family pack costs £19.50 compaired to sky at £21.00

Incidentally, tell me how 2mb for £16 compares to 10mg for £35? It depends what packs you are talking about and who you are talking about and in addition, lets see if the ADSL customers ALL get upgraded to 10mb later in the year. And lets see how many customers get their 8mb if BT do this (not many).

I don't pay £19.50 for my family pack, with the deals a fair bit less, so now Sky is more expensive for me, quite a bit more expensive.

[SLM]

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Their telephone service is more expensive than BT!

BT £11
NTL £10.50

Their broadband is more expensive than ADSL!

maybe but you need to add at least £5.50 as you need a bt line to any adsl isp

BT line rental: £10.50 & 2MB broadband £15.99 (Unlimited & no fair use policy)

see above re line rentals

Ohhh yea and you have to have NTL's phone service for as long as you have their TV package

no you do not any more, only if you are getting a deal

where as with sky it's only for 12 months unless you want to pay for the equiptment!

and then pay for faults call outs if anything goes pete tong £75 I think

So I thing I have summed most things up there, how ever there are bad points with ntl but what company doesn't.

Total nonsense! You do have to take a phone line with NTL's TV service!

I just switched a BT line on and I pay £10.50 per month via direct debit and I get free caller display! (had my first bill yest to prove it!)

And why pay sky to do any repairs?

There is ebay! LNB £6.00 brand new dishes complete with lnb and fittings £19.99 includes delivery! Ohhh and sky digiboxes cost next to nothing second hand! Brand new ones from £70

I just called sky on this number 08702 404040 and i got through to CS rep in approx 2 mins....
Don't belive me call it now and choose option four then option 1!

I would rather have to pay for my equiptment or/and it's repairs than have the crappy boxes NTL supply, that don't even do the job they are ment too!

Although NTL's broadband is more expensive I would have to say it is worth it (I'll give credit where credit is due!), I have had their 1Mb & 2Mb teirs and found both to be very reliable! I can't get more than 1Mb through adsl so I have to go with cable if I want anything higher. (Well don't have to but you know what I mean.) their 10Mb is a load of rubish full stop but with time I have no doubt it will get better!

Ohhh and by the way I would compare a 2Mb service for £15.99 with another 2MB service for £24.99. Not everyone wants 10Mb especially one that don't work! not to mention the cap! Some people can't afford £34.99 a month for a BB connection! However cable BB is better than ADSL I won't argue with you on that score!

[SLM]

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Total nonsense! You do have to take a phone line with NTL's TV service!

I just switched a BT line on and I pay £10.50 per month via direct debit and I get free caller display! (had my first bill yest to prove it!)

And why pay sky to do any repairs?

There is ebay! LNB £6.00 brand new dishes complete with lnb and fittings £19.99 includes delivery! Ohhh and sky digiboxes cost next to nothing second hand! Brand new ones from £70

and I just called sky on this number 08702 404040 and i got through to CS rep in approx 2 mins....
Don't belive me call it now and choose option four then option 1!

I would rather have to pay for my equiptment or and it's repairs than have the crappy boxes NTL supply, that don't even do the job they are ment too!

I am not trying to put you right on sky but, do not try and put me right as far as ntl goes, as of about 8 months ago ntl now have to offer packages unbundled (single) you have to have phone with tv or bb if its part of a deal eg 1/2 price bb for 12 months.

As for the bt line rental look on there home page its in black and white £11 for line rental. I am not saying what you pay is incorrect, I am stating facts that a new customer would have to pay.

Total nonsense I have no deal, I pay £10.50 per month for phone, £11.00 per month for TV, and £24.99 for 2Mb Broadband and I used to have family pack at £8.50 per month!

I have never had any deal!

I called NTL about Two months ago to ask if I can get rid of my phone and keep my TV & BB and I was told NO!

I was told "I have to have the phone service with my TV package" I can remove it but they will continue to charge me for it even though I don't have it!

That is fact!

I will call them monday and I bet I am told the same thing!

EDIT: taken from NTL's website! ( *Price excludes £10.50 phone line rental which you must take with your TV Pack )

[SLM]

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Total nonsense I have no deal, I pay £10.50 per month for phone, £11.00 per month for TV, and £24.99 for 2Mb Broadband and I used to have family pack at £8.50 per month!

I have never had any deal!

I called NTL about Two months ago to ask if I can get rid of my phone and keep my TV & BB and I was told NO!

I was told "I have to have the phone service with my TV package" I can remove it but they will continue to charge me for it even though I don't have it!

That is fact!

I will call them monday and I bet I am told the same thing!

The only thing I can ask you then are you still in your 12 month contract?

Yes I am for another three months, However I know I have to have it till the end of my contract, but when I called I asked "when the end of my contract is up can I remove my phoneline and keep my TV & broadband?" I was told NO!

I was instructed "I can remove my phoneline but I will continue to be charged for it even though I no longer have it as it is part of the TV service" I must pay for a phoneline if I have cable TV!

If I don't want to pay for a phoneline I have to remove my TV service too, I can have BB on it's own!

That is what I was told.

I called back and spoke to a second person as I though he was giving me bull but she too confirmed I cannot have a tv service without a phoneline!

I will call monday and find out if this is still the case! I will post back and let you know!

(Infact I had a second STB & I had the movies and sports as well as family pack, but as I was told by CS that I have to pay for a phoneline as long as I have cable TV I cancelled my second STB and the movies/sports & family pack and in three months time I will cancel my telco service and my main TV service too! Reducing my bill from nearly £90 a month to £24.99)

Ohhhh and just to add to this thread one last time I just called sky again this time I chose option four then option two which is to downgrade your packages and I got through straight away and both times tonight the call was answered by british people! So for those who say your waiting for anything up to an hour 24 hours a day to speak to anyone this is total bull! (Don't belive me then call 08702 40 40 40 and choose option 4 then option 1 or option 2 now.) I have not tried this in the day so I can't comment on that!