[Merged] Tech Support to be charged at 0871 rate from 8 May

[Begize]

NTL will of course refund the costs of any phone call where the fault you are reporting is deemed to be their problem.

Won't they

[Frank]

Originally Posted by quadplay

Customer Service reps will be told they can, for now, transfer to technical support (which is at the higher 0871 rate) - but this will be reviewed in the future if significant revenue is being lost this way.

That's interesting, considering this is supposed to be about providing better service to customers rather than generating revenue from their problems.

Originally Posted by Begize

NTL will of course refund the costs of any phone call where the fault you are reporting is deemed to be their problem.

Another interesting questions, add it to my list.

[rogerdraig]

just when i though the 3 for 30 would keep me with them they inspire me to leave

and if do stay i will be asking for a refund if i report a fault that is thier fault

[Gareth]

I guess for once, people calling will be wanting to stay on hold for a long time, as at least then they'll get the option of being called back. If the call is answered immediately but you spend a long time dealing with the CS rep ("No... I said T as in Tango, H as in Hotel ) then it's gonna get annoying pretty quickly.

You have had that problem too then Gareth?

I thought it was just my welsh accent that they were having trouble understanding!

Last time I spoke to NTL's TS in India I came off the phone with a complex. I was thinking of going to speach therapy!

[Salu]

I presume with all this extra income, it will be reinvested to provide more customer service reps to answer the phone so you won't have to be on hold for 30mins before speaking to someome....?

Originally Posted by Salu

I presume with all this extra income, it will be reinvested to provide more customer service reps to answer the phone so you won't have to be on hold for 30mins before speaking to someone....?

It will be used to pay the bonus's of Senior Management who cannot organise a **** up in a brewery.

[HD462]

This news is a disgrace, and another thing to encourage people to leave NTL. I can understand them charging for normal customer service things, like wanting to change you package etc.

But if you're either phoning to report a fault with THEIR system, or more often, to get an incorrect bill put right, you should not have to pay. After all you're phoning because you have to, not by choice, to get something put right that's their fault.

They shouldn't be allowed to profit from faults and poor service, it only encourages them to be even worse at what they do, to make sure they get even more calls.

I hope they have a rethink or they could see customers leaving in droves. It's bad enough that they charge a connection fee now per call instead of a minimum charge like it used to be. I've still got my original contract from when I joined ntl 10yrs ago....line rental £4.28 a month....shows how much they've gone up over the years.

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by HD462

I've still got my original contract from when I joined ntl 10yrs ago....line rental £4.28 a month....shows how much they've gone up over the years.

inflation has to be taken into account though.... you could buy a mars bar for 20p 10 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris W

inflation has to be taken into account though.... you could buy a mars bar for 20p 10 years ago

Indeed you could. And it was bigger as well.

0871, i called 0800 number this morning with the problems in manchester area, didnt realise it opens till 8am and was told to dial 0871 number from the ivr

oh and i can also see that customers with genuine issues are going to be kicking and screaming for refunds for this, we get it all the time as we have a 0870 where i work

[HD462]

Originally Posted by Chris W

inflation has to be taken into account though.... you could buy a mars bar for 20p 10 years ago

Yeah the point being, they sold it on the phone line, the TV was just an additional benefit, they weren't allowed to 'sell' the TV. The phone was pushed as being half the price of BT, and cheaper calls too...that no longer applies.

Also the price hasn't just gone up from that amount, it happened within a few years of joining ntl (Comcast as it was then in our area).

The current line rental is approximately 250% more than it was when we first signed up...my wages haven't gone up anywhere near 250%. The biggest bugbear is the connection charge though, it adds a big lump to the bill, especially if you make a lot of short calls.

[Rillington]

I've saved a shedload of cash thatnks so that wonderful site. Will use it for ntl numbers.

---------- Post added at 01:23 ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 ----------

As for the 0871 number, that is classed as a premium number now I believe, in the same way that the old 0898 numbers (now 0906 etc) are.

[etccarmageddon]

see post 7:-

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...772#post703772

2 hours on 1 call to tech support = £12 at the new rate because the customer is finding that (upto) 10meg is running at dial up speeds.

Yep that's right, we will very soon have the privilage of paying NTL for their poor service!

But at the end of the day, most will moan about it but in reality they will do nothing about it!

NTL know this and hense I reckon the charge will be around to stay!

The moment I have to pay for a call because of my broadband or modem developing a fault I will simply call to cancel!