UK's Biggest?

[Peter_Stanley]

Originally Posted by Charlie_Bubble

But, your argument is full of holes. There is no major up-front cost of moving. You say that you can't move away as you have to pay a set-up fee. Many don't enforce this. You say you have to buy hardware, which many give free. The only thing that stops people leaving is not wanting to change, or laziness. They can't be bothered. This is why so many people get bad service and pay over the odds for poor quality in all aspects, banks, credit cards mortgages. If you're not happy with the service/cost, move, simple as that.

Moving can have a significant cost attached - it depends on circumstances.

I did move and it has cost me a significant amount (>£100 ) to duplicate the setup I had with NTL. My preffered choice of ISP charge an initial fee on the package I opted for, which I believe works out cheaper & better in the long run. I also have a preference for ethernet networking equipment, rather than the bundled USB modem most ISPs offer. I haven't included the cost of wiring a phone extension to my study for convenience's sake, which isn't a necessity due to the wireless router but will be costing me a few bob.

I agree that some people can move without any upfront costs, but some can't. I also agree that some people are lazy and put up with bad service, but a significant number won't.

At the end of the day, a decision to move ISP is an indiviudal calculation between how poor the service is/the aggravation of getting it sorted and the cost/aggravation of moving.

[Charlie_Bubble]

Originally Posted by Peter_Stanley

At the end of the day, a decision to move ISP is an indiviudal calculation between how poor the service is/the aggravation of getting it sorted and the cost/aggravation of moving.

Agreed, and the big plus of ADSL is, once you are enabled, many ISPs run month-to-month contracts and you can port to another one if not satisfied.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Shaun

Thats not what I said and you know it my points were:

Also that Ntl are getting a reputation for having a creaking network that for many doesn't work more often than it does.

Hmm I would disagree with that.
i have had NTL Broadband for 2 Years and had one Minor blip that was rectified straight away
I have had 2 years of fantastic service!! Creaking Network? Doesnt Work? certainly not the case for me, actually the reverse!!

Well done NTL

[th'engineer]

Originally Posted by Rik

Hmm I would disagree with that.
i have had NTL Broadband for 2 Years and had one Minor blip that was rectified straight away
I have had 2 years of fantastic service!! Creaking Network? Doesnt Work? certainly not the case for me, actually the reverse!!

Well done NTL

You are probably in the majority its the small amount of other people that seem to get in a bad service trap .

NTL service is good the majority of the time, but is not consistant with each customer.

You need only to read these forums to understand that, customer service is improving by good leadership at NTL.

NTL are being restructured to maker themselves more profitable and more customer focused.

Many people have gone that dont meet that grade but NTL are getting there

[Escapee]

Originally Posted by th'engineer

You are probably in the majority its the small amount of other people that seem to get in a bad service trap .

NTL service is good the majority of the time, but is not consistant with each customer.

You need only to read these forums to understand that, customer service is improving by good leadership at NTL.

NTL are being restructured to maker themselves more profitable and more customer focused.

Many people have gone that dont meet that grade but NTL are getting there

I agreed with a couple of your earlier posts, but now have to disagree with this one

You say "Many people have gone that dont meet the grade" I disagree to a certain extent with that statement, because the many bad managers have built themselves secure empires. If I had drawn up a list of the top ten useless technical managers/senior engineers in networks 5-6 years ago, you would find that 6 are still employed by ntl, 3 have left the company of their own choice, and only one has been made redundant.

I heard a familiar story last week anout a guy who has stirred the s**t over non0responding set-tops, he has apparently brought to light big issues that have been covered up by certain people high up the technical ladder, to make the figures look far better than they really are. The guy is outspoken and can often be a liability, but as usual the director harmed by this being brought to light will probably have it in for this guy instead of admitting and sorting out the issues.

I would say that in the technical management/corporate engineering arena, ntl has still retained the worst of the employees that they had years ago and some of the worst engineers at regional level are now supervisors/managers.

Until the empires are broken down ntl will never perform efficiently.

[handyman]

Apart from the customer services I think Ntl are still performing well in most areas, My connection has not dropped once since It was installed, I have just been upgraded to 2mb at no extra cost and 2 days ago when sorting out my direct debit at 12pm I figured I'd have a bit of digital. Called through to sales and got family pack for £10 a month for 6 months. It was all installed 2 hours later. :shock:

Cant fault them but then I used to work for them so I'm bound to be blowing bubbles up them

[Chrysalis]

Got to remember quality varies by region, most people in Leicester will tell you its a shambles here, other regions like cambridge are apperently very good. So because you had no drop for 2 years doesnt stop us unlucky souls having drops every month for the urgent upgrades they doing, well at least I hope its because of upgrades. Leics still analogue only and still lots of my region cannot have broadband. I also think some areas get better customer service/tech support, whats the reason NTL need me to key in my phone number when I dial 150? Obviously not all calls over country routed to same place.

[Peter_Stanley]

I think most of the time the service is mostly okay for the majority of customers. (Well if you ignore the BIG email problems a while back). The problem comes when the service does stop working. NTL just don't seem to be very good at talking to the customer and getting things sorted.

Its bad customer service that transforms a generally happy customer, who accepts that faults happen, into a disgruntled customer who thinks about leaving.

The Indian Call Centre is a big step backwards IMHO. Firstly it irritates customers when they have language difficulties, secondly there seems to be no leeway for techs to deviate from the fault diagnosis script and thirdly it appears (from the customer's viewpoint) that there is a dictat to avoid escalating problems if at all possible.

[th'engineer]

Originally Posted by Escapee

I agreed with a couple of your earlier posts, but now have to disagree with this one

I would say that in the technical management/corporate engineering arena, ntl has still retained the worst of the employees that they had years ago and some of the worst engineers at regional level are now supervisors/managers.

Until the empires are broken down ntl will never perform efficiently.

Q uite agree Bill Goodland is still there