CableForum & NTL to meet

[Neil]

Originally Posted by orangebird

I'll join you. Draped across the bonnet of the bentley...

Seen it all before!

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by Jonathan David

We talked about Moneypenny, but does anyone know what happened to Sam B?

I sent her an email ... reply ..

Hi Simon

The sad fact is that I'm just too busy. I rarely get time to even look at any of the sites anymore. I got a new job (obviously still within ntl) about a year ago so I'm no longer directly in the product management team.

I would like to stay involved but I just don't get the time.

If there's anything specific that you want to ask someone in ntl TV about though then feel free to email.

Cheers

Sam

It would seem that the old sources of information and help have moved on or left .... time to forge new relationships ...

[Frank]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

Things may not have happened in the past but that doesn't mean the same situation will remain for ever more. Since Simon Duffy came on the scene there have been the biggest changes that NTL has ever known. He isn't just sitting on his backside and doing nothing, he is taking far reaching measures to alter the situation.

He is? Don't you mean he said he will?

Originally Posted by etccarmageddon

On a side note, I remember when Frank brought Tim Ryan onto the forum to field questions etc about NTL and I vaguely remember (this was about 2-3 years ago) pointing out there needed to be someone to liase between the forum and NTL.

There was, he was called Dave Novell, Customer Liaison Officer reporting directly to the then-CEO Stephen Carter, and he was a nice guy. What became of him I do not know.

Originally Posted by scrotnig

I am pretty confident nothing will ever come of it, the attitude at the top hasn't changed despite the apparent change of leadership.

Perhaps. And I am the most skeptical of all. But I believe in second chances so lets see what they come up with. Considering past performances, the onus is on them to prove themselves this time, and everyone knows it. But give the new guy Duffy a chance eh?

Originally Posted by Robert Atkins

If Tim Ryan had stayed and had developed a powerbase within NTL, then the whole thing would have gone the other way. Tim Ryan lost the powergame and left.

Erm BS, you have no idea what you are talking about. Tim Ryan left due to circumstances in his personal life that required attention, although obviously you don't say this when you announce a director leaving.

Originally Posted by Robert Atkins

There was also a power stuggle within NTL and Frank (and .com) was caught in the middle of this. NTL wanted to get rid of .com , so they invented the "community" idea to replace .com but it never materialised...

There is a continuous power struggle in ntl, as in many companies. Everyone I knew agreed that many "boys clubs" existed. And no, I invented the community idea with the help of the nthellworld admin team. ntl were just too incompetent to run with the idea when I quit, not to mention the fact that it was too much of a culture change for them to handle or that they don't understand/are scared of online communities or forums.

Originally Posted by scrotnig

A lot of people have been leaned on heavily about not posting in here. Others heard about this and decided to pre empt it and stopped of their own accord.

Yes no question whatsoever about that. This is one of the main challenges Simon Duffy faces, and a chance to prove himself to us. I want to see an OFFICIAL policy on the ntl Intranet that says that staff can freely post on Cable Forum as long as their posts comply with company and HR policies. This should be his FIRST priority in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Escapee

And many of us know the top level management "may" want to form a relationship, and have good intentions with talks. The problems start with lower tiers of management, who are not as enthusiastic and dont really want the bother.

And this is a leadership issue. Response above applies.

[ntluser]

There's nothing stopping NTL from replying to NTL queries posted on Cable Forum now.

On Digital Spy, they had someone answering queries on the CR3 rollout many moons ago. I think Moneypenny did something similar on NTHW.

It's quite reasonable for them to answer those queries that they feel able to bearing in mind Cable Forum rules, NTL company policy and the feelings of NTL customers and staff already posting here.

NTL could use Cable Forum to generate a lot of goodwill for themselves by simply listening to the complaints members put forward and doing something about them.

In the past, communication has not been a NTL strong point hence they tend to be viewed with suspicion.

However, I wouldn't see a need for NTL to play any management role in Cable forum. All they have to do is to get Cable Forum to agree, nominate a user name for their representative, set up an official NTL thread, specify topic areas they will provide answers to and invite members to post in the thread. It can be supervised by the moderators in the usual way, who will maintain adherence to the rules.

In that way Cable Forum remains independent, NTL get a way to communicate with their customers and the customers get somewhere to post their NTL complaints.

[Robert Atkins]

Originally Posted by Frank

Erm BS, you have no idea what you are talking about. Tim Ryan left due to circumstances in his personal life that required attention, although obviously you don't say this when you announce a director leaving.

Frank, I met Tim Ryan while he was Managing Director of Bell Pottinger Consultants (Holborn, London)-after he left NTL. I asked him why left NTl and he told me he couldn't stand the daily battles but I did not know him well to tell me his personal problems

Anyway you probably know he became the CEO of Bell Pottinger Financial.

[ian@huth]

My own feeling is that a NTL appointed spokesperson on the forums would end up with countless pleas for help and antagonism if that wasn't quickly forthcoming.

Customers should take up their issues directly with NTL through the normal official channels. Only when these avenues have been exhausted should Cableforum be involved.

That involvement could be by NTL associates who visit the site asking if they can help resolve the issue rather than members asking them if they will help. Remember that NTL associates helping in this way are doing so in their own free time and should be free to take on only the things that they want to.

Alternatively the team could escalate a problem via NTL contacts where they deem it suitable to intervene.

Regular liason between the team and a NTL contact could pass concerns and information between the two parties.

Originally Posted by ian@huth

My own feeling is that a NTL appointed spokesperson on the forums would end up with countless pleas for help and antagonism if that wasn't quickly forthcoming.

Customers should take up their issues directly with NTL through the normal official channels. Only when these avenues have been exhausted should Cableforum be involved.

Just to point out that we strongly pointed out to Simon Duffy and Peter that we did not want to be a substitute for Customer Services, we would assess issues and decide then if they needed a high priority resolution. Because its these type of serious issues that ntl need to track internally and find out why they keep happening and hopefully rectify so that no other customers suffer the same issues over and over again.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by Mick

Just to point out that we strongly pointed out to Simon Duffy and Peter that we did not want to be a substitute for Customer Services, we would assess issues and decide then if they needed a high priority resolution. Because its these type of serious issues that ntl need to track internally and find out why they keep happening and hopefully rectify so that no other customers suffer the same issues over and over again.

sounds fair to me , how would the question of being an unofficial official site be worked out though

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

sounds fair to me , how would the question of being an unofficial official site be worked out though

I'm not sure I follow what you mean?

[kronas]

Originally Posted by Frank

There was, he was called Dave Novell, Customer Liaison Officer reporting directly to the then-CEO Stephen Carter, and he was a nice guy. What became of him I do not know.

he was a nice guy he listened to my rather long rants about the cap over the phone

[scrotnig]

Originally Posted by ian@huth

That involvement could be by NTL associates who visit the site asking if they can help resolve the issue

I can tell you now, that will not happen.

Whatever Simon Duffy says, management below would never permit it regardless of what instructions came from higher up. Staff are told not to post on web forums about ntl matters and that's the way it will remain.

This is getting into dangerous territory now. Staff who post on here in such a fashion would, by definition, need to be identified at some point along the chain, do that and my opinion is they are risking their jobs.

My own view is, leave things as they are. Let Frank's experience by a lesson to all.

[th'engineer]

Originally Posted by orangebird

I'll join you. Draped across the bonnet of the bentley...

Sounds nice

Originally Posted by scrotnig

I can tell you now, that will not happen.

They have already said they don't want to take this route. They want to have further discussions on staff posting on sites in an official capacity.

[th'engineer]

Just a comment from one of the elders of the forum when on the old forum met various NTL people to talk about improvements.



But all we got was BS from certain people remember the Bill Goodland tapes .

Some NTL employees agree and want to make a difference but get stopped from above.

Frank being one case remember Ashley

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by scrotnig

I can tell you now, that will not happen.

Whatever Simon Duffy says, management below would never permit it regardless of what instructions came from higher up. Staff are told not to post on web forums about ntl matters and that's the way it will remain.

This is getting into dangerous territory now. Staff who post on here in such a fashion would, by definition, need to be identified at some point along the chain, do that and my opinion is they are risking their jobs.

My own view is, leave things as they are. Let Frank's experience by a lesson to all.

But that is what is happening now and has been for a long time. If you notice I did say "in their own time" which is what several associates including yourself have done. I am talking about customers who have problems, been passed from pillar to post within NTL with no resolution and helpful associates have picked up on the problem in the forum and decided to help.

There have been several posts of late which indicate members are PMing associates and requesting help which is not on. Associates should be free to decide who, where and in what cisrcumstances they offer help.

It is a sorry state of affairs if middle management (and higher) decide what should be happening and completely disregard what Simon Duffy instructs. I know that there are empire builders who are trying to protect and build their empires but this is part of NTLs problem and these people must be weeded out and dealt with.