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NTL Problems

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  • 26-11-2009 5:52pm
    #1
    douglashyde
    Registered Users Posts: 694 ✭✭✭


    Last week, I rang NTL complaining that certain channels such as discovery +1, fashion TV, MGM, bbc 4, two music stations and 3 or 4 more. The girl on the phone tried to fix the problem by doing a signal boost, which didn’t work.... so she arrange an engineer to come out and have a look, he arrived today.

    My Mam was the only one in the house when he got there, he checked a few channels and said the signal was fine, unfortunately my Mam didn’t know what channels where not working(she was only there to let him in). So the guy was on his merry merry way……. Now…. Surely the guy should know the problem through the call centre.

    I rang my mam an hour after the guy had left and got her to check the broken channels, which turned out , still where broken! I rang the call centre again and again the girl boosted my signal, I told her it hadn’t worked the last time….. but she said that the tech guy might have done something… rang my mam, AGAIN , to reset and check box... and AGAIN, broken channel.


    I pay 100 euro a month to NTL for Broadband and TV … I work in Marketing Communications and know to well how these problems are handled in the call centres… to be honest Id be happy for NTL to cancel my TV contract…. My broadband is out of contract, but Ive never had a problem with that!

    Any suggestions???


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    #2
    snappieT
    Registered Users Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭snappieT


    It's not exactly the engineer's fault that your mam didn't know what was wrong. Get him called out again.

    I'd love to know what a "signal boost" is also, to be quite frank.


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    #3
    Phoenix3
    Registered Users Posts: 574 ✭✭✭Phoenix3


    snappieT wrote: »
    It's not exactly the engineer's fault that your mam didn't know what was wrong. Get him called out again.

    I'd love to know what a "signal boost" is also, to be quite frank.

    Of course it is the engineers fault,as it had been reported in detail to NTL.They are just a bunch of arrogant whatevers who seem to be programmed to be as unhelpful as possible.At this stage I am convinced that fixing the problem over the phone is a scam.The telephonists are hardly qualified engineers.


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    #4
    Tarakiwa
    Registered Users Posts: 633 ✭✭✭Tarakiwa


    I had an issue with NTL for a few weeks.

    I found their customer care staff to be polite but useless at solving my problem.

    In the end i just rang their head office and got immediate action.

    Very happy with the outcome - if a bit frustrated that I had to call HQ to get it sorted properly!!


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    #5
    snappieT
    Registered Users Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭snappieT


    Phoenix3 wrote: »
    Of course it is the engineers fault,as it had been reported in detail to NTL.They are just a bunch of arrogant whatevers who seem to be programmed to be as unhelpful as possible.At this stage I am convinced that fixing the problem over the phone is a scam.The telephonists are hardly qualified engineers.
    You do realise that "NTL Engineers" are subcontracted, and probably get nothing more than an address to go to with a problem? Don't bitch and moan because you didn't brief your mam on "this guy is coming today, here's how to show him what's wrong".


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    #6
    thefeatheredcat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,282 ✭✭✭thefeatheredcat


    douglashyde wrote: »
    Any suggestions???

    Did the tech check the tv to see that all the channels were working?? Surely that would have been something undertaken to make sure the channels were working and could have identified the problem that way as it doesn't sound like he had any information. It's a bit hard to solve a problem when the only person there at the time doesn't know what it is.

    My only suggestion: arrange for the tech to be there when you're available to explain the problem directly and if you can't do that then leave clear information about what channels aren't working. Brief your mother about the problem.


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    #7
    Phoenix3
    Registered Users Posts: 574 ✭✭✭Phoenix3


    snappieT wrote: »
    You do realise that "NTL Engineers" are subcontracted, and probably get nothing more than an address to go to with a problem? Don't bitch and moan because you didn't brief your mam on "this guy is coming today, here's how to show him what's wrong".

    I am perfectly well aware that they are subcontracted.Still no excuse.If that is the case one might as well just ring and say"I would like an engineer to call out-Goodbye"A little bit of planning on NTLs part would go a long way to turning them into a somewhat efficient company.As it is they all seem to have an attitude of doing as little as possible and the problem will disappear.


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    #8
    danjo-xx
    Registered Users Posts: 5,393 ✭✭✭danjo-xx


    They are not known as NTHELL for nothing believe me. :mad:

    I live in Waterford and a crew was dispatched to my house from Dublin...... TWICE


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    #9
    Kensington
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,683 ✭✭✭Kensington


    The ntl engineers are all subcontracted out. A lot of them call out to houses with little or nothing to go on eg. "Missing channels", "box not working", "freezing". Plus, many of them have a large number of appointments to get through each day so they're not going to hang around trying to suss out any potential faults at someone's home when they might have another 7 or 8 appointments to get through in the next 4 hours...

    Arrange another call out with them and this time write down each and every channel that is causing you problems.
    snappieT wrote: »
    I'd love to know what a "signal boost" is also, to be quite frank.
    It's bullsh1t excuse number 1 in the ntl staff handbook of how to get customers off the phone (although sky do it too!). There is no way of "boosting" the signal from the call centre. No way. The only way to boost it is to have someone physically call out to the amp in the bunker at the bottom of your road which drives your cable run, and adjust it there.


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    #10
    MAB83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 193 ✭✭MAB83


    God I had such hassle with NTL a few weeks ago over a similar thing, we lost a lot of our channels. We had numerous people on the other end (when you eventually get hold of someone!!!) doing that signal boost, it's a load of shyte, the only way to fix these things is to get an engineer out. They're nice and polite on the phone but they really are useless. Even the engineer that came out said they're clueless.


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    #11
    Cadiz
    Registered Users Posts: 454 ✭✭Cadiz


    So, so many people have problems with NTL and their customer services and their gormless engineers.

    How do they keep getting away with it? They seem to have a near monopoly, given that so many apartments don't allow the satellites you need for Sky (not that it's that great either).

    People have been complaining about NTL for years. I remember the Ray D'Arcy show being flooded with calls complaining about them a few years ago. But it never seems to get any better. :mad:


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    #12
    douglashyde
    Registered Users Posts: 694 ✭✭✭douglashyde


    thanks for the replies guys:

    As mentioned, my mam was there just to let him in, I was also on the phone to the enginner just before he came, i told him to RING ME if there was any problems, questions.......

    I have yet to fix the problem, I am going to ring them tomorrow, I might try ring head office as suggested....

    I might try buy a signal booster, does anyone know if these help?

    Ill keep thread updated with my progress.


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    #13
    RATM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,591 ✭✭✭RATM


    snappieT wrote: »
    You do realise that "NTL Engineers" are subcontracted, and probably get nothing more than an address to go to with a problem? Don't bitch and moan because you didn't brief your mam on "this guy is coming today, here's how to show him what's wrong".

    In fairness its not the customer's duty to realise that NTL Engineers are subcontracted.
    This is obviously a case of poor communication from NTL to the sub-contractors- ie the engineer never knew the reason he was being called out.
    Although the OP should have told his mother and/or let a note for the engineer this problem would never have arisen if NTL had of simply told the sub-contractor what the problem was. It beggars belief in an age of SMS,email, wi-fi etc that that simple message wasn't relayed to the enginneer.

    Now NTL will have to call him out again (at their cost) for the second time because they couldn't pass on a simple message.
    What losers.


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    #14
    douglashyde
    Registered Users Posts: 694 ✭✭✭douglashyde


    RATM wrote: »
    In fairness its not the customer's duty to realise that NTL Engineers are subcontracted.
    This is obviously a case of poor communication from NTL to the sub-contractors- ie the engineer never knew the reason he was being called out.
    Although the OP should have told his mother and/or let a note for the engineer this problem would never have arisen if NTL had of simply told the sub-contractor what the problem was. It beggars belief in an age of SMS,email, wi-fi etc that that simple message wasn't relayed to the enginneer.

    Now NTL will have to call him out again (at their cost) for the second time because they couldn't pass on a simple message.
    What losers.

    Actually, I forget to mention it in the orginal post, but I was on the phone to the enginner before he arrived and explained to him that around 6 or 7 channels where freezing...

    It seems to me that he wanted to get in and out as quick as he could.


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    #15
    daheff
    Registered Users Posts: 5,866 ✭✭✭daheff


    had problems with broadworks tv. They just seem to rebroadcast skys transmissions.

    anyways i was getting a problem with Living tv -they were broadcasting the sky screen saying i had a problem with my skycard!

    anyways the incompetent on the phone told me that i should retune my tv to fix the problem!! :eek:

    I asked her did they change the frequency they were broadcasting on...she said she didnt know that -and if there was a problem then maybe they should get an engineer out to look at the box in my house!

    I told her that its not my house...its the signal you are broadcasting..

    anyways 3 weeks of phonecalls (asking for management to call me to talk to me on the issue -which never came) and eventually they stopped broadcasting completely for Living tv....that was 2 weeks ago...living tv came back over weekend!


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    #16
    foggy_lad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    daheff wrote: »
    had problems with broadworks tv. They just seem to rebroadcast skys transmissions.

    anyways i was getting a problem with Living tv -they were broadcasting the sky screen saying i had a problem with my skycard!

    anyways the incompetent on the phone told me that i should retune my tv to fix the problem!! :eek:

    I asked her did they change the frequency they were broadcasting on...she said she didnt know that -and if there was a problem then maybe they should get an engineer out to look at the box in my house!

    I told her that its not my house...its the signal you are broadcasting..

    anyways 3 weeks of phonecalls (asking for management to call me to talk to me on the issue -which never came) and eventually they stopped broadcasting completely for Living tv....that was 2 weeks ago...living tv came back over weekend!
    do they buy airtime from sky? maybe their quota ran out?


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