NTL is call centre with longest wait in Mirror test

Richard M · 08-09-2004, 15:34

Quote:

THE telecoms giant proudly advertises itself as "Better Choice, Better Value".

But after the extraordinary delays we suffered, a more appropriate slogan for the cable firm would be: "Better hang up..!"

NTL's national helpline kept us waiting almost an hour. When - after 15 minutes - our first attempt to speak to an operator looked like succeeding, she kindly hung up.

To make sure we got the message, she put the phone down again after our second attempt 20 minutes later.

Thankfully, after our third call, we were answered and even helped.

"It's really busy at the moment," the operator explained.

"There have been some changes in the call centres recently - but they seem to have made things worse."

Waiting time: 50mins 12secs

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...name_page.html

Escapee · 08-09-2004, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard M

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...name_page.html

I didn't think anyone would believe me when I said they put the phone down on me "3" times.

And No I wasn't rude or abusive, I was very polite even though I had been kept waiting for a long time.

08-09-2004, 16:05

I guess its a toss up between a call centre that takes ages to answer and maybe hang up on you, with one that speaks an Indian version of english and hasnt got a clue what you are talking about.

jtwn · 08-09-2004, 16:17

Its luck of the draw, idiot journalists...

Four months ago....http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...name_page.html

Jason1 · 08-09-2004, 16:23

No suprise there called ntl to cancel my broadband as my free trail has expired on Monday took 50 Mins to get call answered to be told i would have to call back on tuesday as cancellations close at 5pm. Straight after calling ntl that eveing i called bt to order adsl, got a message we a very busy at the moment if you would like our phone system to hold you position in the q please press 1 and enter your phone number did so this took 2 minutes and i was called back within 15m to take my order. With the amount of customers ntl has you would think they would introduce a simular system just quess they hope you will hang up

scrotnig · 08-09-2004, 16:29

Most often people do not put the phone dopwn on you. For starters, it's not a phone anyway, it's a headset plugged into a swtchboard terminal, so there's nothing to 'put down' anyway.

The likely cause is the phone system going wrong. Still unacceptable, but I get annoyed when I constantly read that ntl staff hang up on customers. We don't.

orangebird · 08-09-2004, 16:36

And the fact that ntl has more than one call centre hadn't been considered either. Surely a fair judgement would've been to go through to all three and take an average...but of course, that wouldn't make interesting reading and would probably leave people with less to whinge about. Not the objective, obviously...

bigitup_j · 08-09-2004, 17:12

well, the swansea faults centre is excellent. whenever i call with a problem, i'm always talking to someone very quickly and have never been disconnected!
(i'm sure it's swansea, cos they sound welsh!)

Chris W · 08-09-2004, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark B

Most often people do not put the phone dopwn on you. For starters, it's not a phone anyway, it's a headset plugged into a swtchboard terminal, so there's nothing to 'put down' anyway.

The likely cause is the phone system going wrong. Still unacceptable, but I get annoyed when I constantly read that ntl staff hang up on customers. We don't.

Indeed

The only times i hang up on people are the abusive ones... I will warn the caller twice that if they use abusive language i will release they call, and if they do it again, i will press release. It's their own fault for not listening to the warnings

HSBC have a good system for dealing with abusive customers though... they warn you and if you don't take any notice they tell you they are putting you on hold until you calm down.... and a couple of minutes later they will come back, and if you are not calm you go back on hold again. It's a good system, because at the end of the day you have the choice to calm down or hang up!

Escapee · 08-09-2004, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark B

Most often people do not put the phone dopwn on you. For starters, it's not a phone anyway, it's a headset plugged into a swtchboard terminal, so there's nothing to 'put down' anyway.

The likely cause is the phone system going wrong. Still unacceptable, but I get annoyed when I constantly read that ntl staff hang up on customers. We don't.

I'm not looking to pick an argument here or say everyone is bad working for ntl, it's something I have never said.

But.....

One of the three times I got disconnected, the guy put me on hold and then took me back off hold whilst he was talking to someone else about my problem. I know someone he was talking to said to terminate the call, this is exactly what he did!

Perhaps he made a mistake or misunderstood what he was being told, but I was certainly not amused after waiting in a que for an unacceptable amount of time. I only had cause to call on two occassions before, one was a billing query and although it appeared to be dealt with efficiently it came to light almost two years later that it had not when I received a letter from Wescott. The other occasion was a technical matter that they passed to technical support, they couldn't fix the fault but I am not complaining about it.

I honestly believe the guy cut me off because his supervisor told him to terminate the call!

I know I probably got a rogue person or someone who misunderstood the orders but I didn't feel amused at the time. I made complaints in certain directions and I received a phone call and the amount outstanding was cleared from my bill, they would not accept any payment and apologised for the error even though I did owe the money. It just made me mad because if they had made me aware that there was an outstanding payment I would of paid as I was trying to do when they cut me off.

To make it more amusing, during the period that I owed them one payment, I had received about $120 credit for being charged for a service I was not receiving anymore. So if they didn't re-start the DD the correct month that was their fault not mine.

carlingman · 09-09-2004, 00:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Escapee

I didn't think anyone would believe me when I said they put the phone down on me "3" times.

And No I wasn't rude or abusive, I was very polite even though I had been kept waiting for a long time.

Ah but possibly there is a note on your account.

This used to happen with a big pop up box saying "insert your own comments here etc" and when the Tech or Agent sees that they have a tendancy to hang up regardless.

carlingman · 09-09-2004, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark B

Most often people do not put the phone dopwn on you. For starters, it's not a phone anyway, it's a headset plugged into a swtchboard terminal, so there's nothing to 'put down' anyway.

The likely cause is the phone system going wrong. Still unacceptable, but I get annoyed when I constantly read that ntl staff hang up on customers. We don't.

Even so without glossing over the facts the set the headset plugs into has the option to hold/mute or terminate no doubt.

My guess is they are still using the remarkable ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£8 million pound piece of crap called Genesis.

greencreeper · 09-09-2004, 00:59

The most annoying thing is when you finally get through after waiting ages and your modem connection has restored itself in the meantime. Aaaaaaaaarghhhhh. So nothing is wrong and you have to call again. And so it goes on. Methinks unplugging the modem is the way forward, but would the phone monkeys know?

Chris W · 09-09-2004, 01:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by greencreeper

The most annoying thing is when you finally get through after waiting ages and your modem connection has restored itself in the meantime. Aaaaaaaaarghhhhh. So nothing is wrong and you have to call again. And so it goes on. Methinks unplugging the modem is the way forward, but would the phone monkeys know?

The "phone monkeys" (which incidentally is spelt monkies) know a lot more than you think... do you think ntl just pull people off the streets to work in technical support? No.... perhaps not.

I am always getting told not to take things said on this site about ntl personally, but i take "phone monkeys" quite personally. Nice to know that some people appreciate the help that Debsy, Mark B, and I (who are all "phone monkeys") give here in our spare time.

I don't begrudge giving help to people on this forum at all, but i think it is a crying shame that a few people have to spoil it with unnecessary comments that are, frankly, damnright rude.

And anyway, i am only a phone monkey so maybe i should just go back to being on the phone!

Frank · 09-09-2004, 01:25

Article posted: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/article/...l-centre-award

ntl are so priceless, they just never fail to amuse