Is a half hour wait acceptable?

[threadbare]

Originally Posted by andygrif

Right now, I have cough up a few quid, waste an hour of my life just to be told that there's nothing can be done anyway!

ppl are not going to like paying for a service and paying to get their computers fixed when all they see is an ntl problem, even if it is their pc that is shagged.

[zovat]

Ok, just a few points from me, If I may be so bold.

Firstly - my background is in TS for Unix systems, I have been doing this for a long time, and feel qualified to comment on these issues.


The idea of call screening can (and in my firm does) work - but only if done correctly.

If you have all calls coming to a central group of "receptionists" (although I feel that this is not a good word to use, as these people will need basic troubleshooting skills) who can clear the real simple calls straight away (yes sir, there is an outage in your area - our engineers are working on it, or you can't see if it is plugged in - why not turn on the light - oh you have no power - thanks for calling ) and ensure that the other issues go to the correct area - BB support or Dialup, etc.

The trick with this system is to ensure that the customer is aware of how it works, and can understand the value of the extra 2 minutes talking to the "receptionist"

Whether this would work in the NTL environment - I cannot say - I have never worked for NTL (and in all probability never will ), but the idea in itself is sound and proven.

That said - the current system does have issues - seen from both th TS and the Customer side - unless NTL suddenly get twice (or 3x etc) as many staff, there will always be occasions where you don't have an agent free - especially if there is an outage developing.
The customer has to wait, and gets a little cranky - the TS gets a little bored of saying "yes, there is an outage in your area - our engineers are investigating this - please check the server status line for further updates".

This is not unusual - it happens in any number of support teams. Thats why TS people tend to change jobs every few years - at least you get to deal with a different set of problems/people.

At the end of the day - the support is free - you can ring the freephone number or use 151 (I think it is 151 - but I'm sure someone will let me know if I am wrong).
If I was paying for the support directly, then I would expect a higher level of service. As I am not (bar a few pence here and there on a phone call) I will live with what we get.


<slight rant - sorry>

Why must we resort to personal slurs and abuse - this is a forum for exchanging ideas and support, not growing egos and attitudes.
I have had my fair share (some would say more than my fair share) of the cutomer type that we all know and loath - from the "I have been working on these machines since before you were born, and I'm telling you that I don't need to run that diagnostic because that isn't the problem" to the "ls -l , is that minus with a capital m? ", and have found that the best thing to do is just get on with it - just because they sound condescending doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have a point (occasionally they proved to be right, and I was wrong )

</rant>

edit wow - just realised this was my 100th post - what a away to reach a century

[Weeble]

Originally Posted by Theodoric

Now that is one thing that seriously annoys me, that is when a company closes down the help line dead on the notified closing time when they know that customers have phoned up well before the closing time and are still waiting. I had Gateway do this to me on more than one occasion.

I've had similarly bad experiences with Gateway, which is why I took my business elsewhere. That said with NTL, I've (on more than once occasion) been put on hold for 40+ minutes, put it on the speaker and when it is finally answered I heard "Hello?...click" before I get a chance to move the handset the disance between the table and my mouth.



Weeb

[Weeble]

Originally Posted by threadbare

ppl are not going to like paying for a service and paying to get their computers fixed when all they see is an ntl problem, even if it is their pc that is shagged.

I've lost count of the number of times NTL has told me my PC is shagged only to have it be NTL's fault every single time (and that includes the time the modem dialup number had a recorded message on it saying the number is busy). I had to explain to the nice lady that answered the phone that my computer cannot possibly be putting the recorded message there - after several hours spent on the phone it was eventually conceded there was a fault at their end (this was after my dialup hadn't worked for about a week).
It really is not helpful the way lots of computer error messages are phrased to blame the user.

At least the cable modem actually works so now I only have to ring up when I'm randomly overcharged.

Weeb

[Weeble]

Originally Posted by zovat

If you have all calls coming to a central group of "receptionists" (although I feel that this is not a good word to use, as these people will need basic troubleshooting skills) who can clear the real simple calls straight away (yes sir, there is an outage in your area - our engineers are working on it, or you can't see if it is plugged in - why not turn on the light - oh you have no power - thanks for calling ) and ensure that the other issues go to the correct area - BB support or Dialup, etc.

The trick with this system is to ensure that the customer is aware of how it works, and can understand the value of the extra 2 minutes talking to the "receptionist"

Hey... why can't NTL have the person who answers the phone tell me there's an outage and it is being worked on? That would make them useful or something.

(In case there's anyone who hasn't guessed yet I am very very very unhappy with the service I've had from NTL in the past, though I must concede things have gotten better in recent years).

Weeb