NTL...Should have known better

[takisawa]

I am willing to give NTL the benefit of the doubt, and see what they can do. I find it hard to believe that they dont care about their customers...they would have gone under by now for sure.
I guess I was just looking for some reassurance that what I have found is the exception rather than the rule.
I also have an Orange mobile, and can honestly say that the service I have recieved from Orange has been excellent. A customer service model for NTL perhaps ????
I can recall a time when you had no choice but to bow to the mighty BT because there was no alternative. I remember them in 1982, when they wanted to charge my mum, a single parent struggling to bring up 4 children on what were then paltry benefits compared to what they get today, £170.00 to install a phone line. Add on inflation and thats the equivalent of about £500.00 today...!!!! Just imagine paying what would be about £40.00 a month line rental to BT, be it not for companies like NTL introducing much needed competion, and forcing prices down.

[Stuart]

as said earlier, if you give Simon M a PM with the details (he'll tell you what he needs), he can have a word with the right people about the problem.

Anyway, good luck! NTL is good when it works (and TBH, I've not had an awful lot of trouble when it doesn't).

[takisawa]

Thanks mate.
Have PM'd my details to Simon M a few hours ago.
Many thanks...

[Jules]

And remember that there are also a lot of happy customers out there

Welcome to the forum and I hope you get it sorted soon

[Neil]

Originally Posted by takisawa

I am willing to give NTL the benefit of the doubt, and see what they can do. I find it hard to believe that they dont care about their customers...they would have gone under by now for sure.

ntl have already been through Chapter 11 in the USA (as they are listed as a US company) to protect them from bankruptcy.

[Chrysalis]

I have read this thread, and you should follow simon's advice however if you think about it we shouldnt need to be relying on the contact to get issues resolved. Simon should have responded to that email if he has any respect for his customers but it seems he doesnt have that respect which doesnt look good for the company, I have never been a fan of the top brass at NTL and feel they should be changed they are too short term profit orientated and dont think about the long term and quality of the service.

I remember when I sent an email and phone message to the managing director of my region, on that occasion I did get a reply (of assistant) and it was satisfactory, she rang me up via phone and listened to my concerns and responded. Before she rang me I was furious at the time and after I felt appreciated for a while, it is things like this that make all the difference, its a shame Mr Duffy cannot grasp that.

[takisawa]

The latest installment...

Got home from work ready to call NTL and go through the "diagnostics" only to be pre-empted by a very nice NTL team leader actually calling me. She listened intently and said she personally would get somebody to call me back straight away...and they did. They diagnosed that I have a faulty STB and said they could have an engineer out to me this morning. I declined but arranged for one to come at a convenient time for me... Friday PM. The team leader even gave me a direct number to get through to her in case of any more problems...!!!

Then I called the Broadband helpline. I went through some actions...rebooting cable modem etc. The guy on the phone said that whoever had done my installation had completely bodged the job and there was no way it was ever going to work as the installer had left it. He said the installer should have tested the cable modem line before leaving, and that he should have done something in the box in the street which he hadnt.

Anyway to cap it all, I have been promised that the guy who calls Friday will not leave until the whole package is fully functional...

I am not sure if passing my details on to Simon M had provoked NTL into responding as they did, but thanks very much to you guys if it did.

However I would like to think that NTL would have responded as they have anyway. At this point in time I would say that I am happy with the service I have recieved, despite the problems.

I believe that had the installer done a more thorough job I wouldnt even be writing on here...

One other thing...the BB guy mentioned that the installer hadnt adjusted the "power levels".

Whilst watching the TV through the STB on Monday night the TV gave up the ghost with an audible "poooff" that seemed to coinside with the numbers on the STB rapidly changing for a second or so...
The TV is only a £200 budget Medion model from Aldi, but it is only 2 years old.
Could this be a consequence of the bodged installation perhaps...?

Anybody...

[Roy MM]

Well i hope it all goes well on Friday, i find NTL v good when it's running as it should.

[Jules]

I am sure Simon getting involved has a lot to do with the "bend over backwards to help you"

I hope it is all sorted for you on Friday

[jaycee]

Originally Posted by takisawa

Whilst watching the TV through the STB on Monday night the TV gave up the ghost with an audible "poooff" that seemed to coinside with the numbers on the STB rapidly changing for a second or so...
The TV is only a £200 budget Medion model from Aldi, but it is only 2 years old.
Could this be a consequence of the bodged installation perhaps...?

It will be a coincidence. The "Bodged installation" just means that the STB is not recieving a high enough quality signal to be stable, hence you get picture breakup/freezes etc. This has absolutely nothing to do with the RGB SCART (or even RF aerial) output of the box. It *is* possible for the STB to damage the TV, but only where the STB's power supply has failed (and you would know if it had as your STB would no longer work at all)

As someone who is into electronics, I have seen the insides of these cheapo TV's and it's amazing they even work, very cheap/poor quality parts run at too much stress. The "poof" you're describing probably means the primary side of the tube power supply has failed. You could probably get it repaired quite cheaply at any TV shop.

[takisawa]

Thanks jaycee.
Went shopping for a new tv the other night.
Amazing how much cheaper "conventional" tv's now are because of the new flat ones.
Bought a Sony 28" Widescreen for £349 !!!
Will look into getting the old one repaired as a spare.
Hehe. A dedicated PS2 TV...hmmmm.

[Chrysalis]

I am amazed my cheap bush tv I got for £100 still works, 7 years old no signs of tube issues or anything perfect working order.

[jaycee]

Bush/Alba/Goodmans stuff is actually made by another manufacturer, usually one of the big ones, and sold under this "budget" brand. Quite often the Bush/Alba TV's were made by Philips or Grundig. It's quite hit and miss what you get when you buy one of these budget brands.

The other brands that the likes of Aldi sell are all cheap Chinese/similar country stuff, that doesnt last 5 minutes.

[Neil]

And back on topic please........

[takisawa]

And back on topic indeed...

Oh dear oh dear. NTL are seriously beginning to try what little patience I have left.
As previously said the NTL engineer was booked for between 12 and 6 on Friday.
So I booked the day off work and stayed in all day. All day. Didnt leave the house once. Not once. Even had a catheter fitted to avoid having to visit the loo.
But seriously though nobody turned up...
Called NTL to confirm..."Yes he is definetley going to be with you today"...
Called again at ten to six and was told well he still "might" show up...!!!
Called again at 6:15 and was put on hold. And there I stayed until I had to put the phone down at 7:15 because we were booked to go away fro the weekend.
To say I was frustrated was a slight understatement...
So to recap...I am left with an NTL package that was installed 8 days ago. I have lots of TV channels, but I have to change channels with the buttons on the set top box because the three remote controls I have been supplied with so far have not worked. I have a completely useless cable modem and 1mb line, because apparently the NTL engineer "neglected" to do his job correctly and, to quote the broadband technician that I spoke to, completley "bodged" the whole installation. I have a phone line, but I had that anyway as this whole debacle was just a simple package upgrade.
And there upon the issue lies. Now as of yet I have not signed and returned my contract. And until I have a fully working package I am not going to be sending anything to NTL.
So do I call and tell them to just forget the whole thing and cancel all my NTL services, telephone included...?
A show of hands round the office says yes but what we find most interesting is the absolute incredulation of the whole situation.
Here we have a company who claim to be customer focussed, and for the most part they probably are. But they are being so woefully let down by certain staff who show complete indifference to the customer.
What is also interesting is that during the 1 hour I spent on hold on Friday waiting to speak to "somebody in insatallations" I called on my mobile and pressed the necessary keys to get me through to new business and package changes and my call was answered immedietley...!!!
A show of hands then guys...do I stay or do I go...?
PT.