New Forum Member Just Saying Hi & Sharing NTL ISP Experiences

[Micky-D]

Hi, My name is mike and I have been with NTL on and off now for about 3 - 4 years. I first started using ntl's dialup service.. then as time has gone on, gradually upgraded my speeds.. I am now using thier 2MB BB. But I have had one problem that has been constant throughout my usage.. If ever I use somewhere like Yousendit or Megaupload I keep getting messages saying that my IP has downloaded this file XXX thousand times today.. I get this on a lot of sites.. and boy it sux.. Dont get me wrong, NTL BB is great in the respects that I dont have to pay for a land line telephone that Im not going to use so it ease is excellent.. I see very little connection problems except maybe at 2am when things go dead.. I presume its some sort of update and I have to refresh my modem.. other than that things are great..

But when it comes to customer services.. NTL leave alot to be desired. For instance.. I had to downgrade my speed to 1MB for a while due to the need of purse strings being tightened. I went to the NTL.com site and noticed they were doing 2MB BB for the same price I was paying for 1MB so I rang them and asked them why I was still paying so much for a 1MB connection while everyone else was paying the same price and getting 2MB and that I wasnt happy that they hadnt ajusted my accounts bill accordingly or made no effort to upgrade my speed.

After a lengthy conversation they offered me 2MB BB for a price of £10.99 for the first 3 months and to ring back after 3 months to see what other deals were available.. naturally I snapped their arm off a this and they told me to give it an hour to upgrade my speed to 2MB.. A whole day went by and no speed upgrade.. I logged into my account to see if any changes had been made and low and behold.. nothing.. so I upgraded manually and thought no more about it.

1 month later a bill for £24.99 flops on my door mat for 2MB BB. It had partial charges for the 1MB BB and the 2MB upgrade costing £24.99... Naturally I telephoned them and they said that there was no way anyone would offer me 2MB BB for £10.99 they didnt even do a package like that... after an argument and providing verbal statements of 3 people who were in the house when they offered me the £10.99 deal they reluctantly offered me 2MB BB for £12.99.. and to this day I havnt received a bill...

this wouldnt be the first time I have been practically called a blatent liar by NTL CS nor been fobbed off by cr*p.. infact at one point I spent 3 weeks solid phoning them to sort out their incompitence.. I am starting to think that a call center managed and ran by apes would infact be a more productive staff. And when you do phone these people to tell them you are not receiving bills.. again you must be lying cos the computer sent them
So when you do receive bills you are about 4 months behind yet if you phone them they dont do siddly squat anyway Also.. one final word.. never ask an NTL CS agent to make notes on your account about anything you speak to them about cos they just dont bother to put them on unless you make them do it puppy walk style while you are on the phone to them and hear the keyboard clicking.

Other than that.. GREAT ISP

Like I said.. I would sooner put up with all that than have to pay for a phone line I dont want to get on the net

Actually you can get 2MB BB via ADSL and a BT phone line for a total of £25.99 providing you can actually get 2MB via ADSL in your area!

And that's uncapped to!

When you think about it your only paying an extra £1 for a phone line compared to NTL's 2MB BB package!

Although I have never had any problems with my NTL broadband other than some speed issues on the 10MB teir!

[Stuart C]

to CableForum Mikey-D.

I have to admit, I have never heard of the offer you describe (2 Meg for 10.99), and would be suprised if NTL offered it. The nearest I know of was that they were offering 1 Meg for £9.99 for new users.

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Actually you can get 2MB BB via ADSL and a BT phone line for a total of £25.99 providing you can actually get 2MB via ADSL in your area!

And that's uncapped to!

When you think about it your only paying an extra £1 for a phone line compared to NTL's 2MB BB package!

Although I have never had any problems with my NTL broadband other than some speed issues on the 10MB term!

what and who is this deal as i am looking for a unlimited isp that's cheaper than ntl.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by unlimited

what and who is this deal as i am looking for a unlimited isp that's cheaper than ntl.

You need to be asking that here: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Originally Posted by Neil

You need to be asking that here: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Indeed but i have not found anyone at the price quoted above that includes phone and broadband and is unlimited at 2 meg ?.

[grubbymitts]

Originally Posted by Micky-D

If ever I use somewhere like Yousendit or Megaupload I keep getting messages saying that my IP has downloaded this file XXX thousand times today.. I get this on a lot of sites.. and boy it sux..

NTL uses a proxy for all its customers, so everyone appears to have the same IP addresses. You do have an individual IP address but some websites don't see past this proxy (bad coding on their part) and thus can throw up that message. It is very annoying, and I'm betting that's why my online competition wins have been really crud recently.

Originally Posted by Micky-D

But when it comes to customer services.. NTL leave alot to be desired.

Take care Micky some don't take too knidly to criticism of NTLs CS here, apparently NTLs CS can do no wrong :-)

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Gareth56

Take care Micky some don't take too knidly to criticism of NTLs CS here, apparently NTLs CS can do no wrong :-)

Let's get one thing straight Gareth. Yes they do but consider the fact that it should be constructive criticism. Complaining that an ntl employee/driver has parked into a disabled bay at a supermarkets is hardly constructive and doesn't represent the whole of ntl. Please don't make sweeping statements, based on your findings of just one driver who for all we know might actually have a condition or be disabled in some way and that is the reason they parked there.

Originally Posted by Gareth56

Take care Micky some don't take too knidly to criticism of NTLs CS here, apparently NTLs CS can do no wrong :-)

You still not back under your bridge, the other trolls will start to get worried soon.

[Toto]

Originally Posted by Gareth56

Take care Micky some don't take too knidly to criticism of NTLs CS here, apparently NTLs CS can do no wrong :-)

Many do a superb job in my opinion, but some do let the side down. I am of the firm opinion, and it is shared by many here that on the whole CSR (Customer Service Representatives) are pretty good, if they are trained correctly and supported by good managers.

Those with bad experiences can and should report the matter to ntl. Do the basics, get a name, and surname. Ask for their direct managers name as a precaution should something go wrong. And by all means commend somebody if they give you good service, that will spur them on to do the same to the next person calling.

Now, let me see if I have any spare gems you can eat.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Toto

Many do a superb job in my opinion, but some do let the side down. I am of the firm opinion, and it is shared by many here that on the whole CSR (Customer Service Representatives) are pretty good, if they are trained correctly and supported by good managers.

Those with bad experiences can and should report the matter to ntl. Do the basics, get a name, and surname. Ask for their direct managers name as a precaution should something go wrong. And by all means commend somebody if they give you good service, that will spur them on to do the same to the next person calling.

Now, let me see if I have any spare gems you can eat.

Defo -

But Gareth complaining about someone parking in a disabled bay, yes its ignorant but at the same time we don't know the specifics or whether or not
*that* driver had a right to be in the disabled bay. Using this as an attempt to criticise ntl is just a blatant attempt at attacking ntl for no other reason than to just rant.

For him to also state criticism isn't allowed here or it is slapped down then someone needs a visit to specsavers as there is plenty of criticism on this forum, if one bothers to look.

Originally Posted by Toto

Many do a superb job in my opinion, but some do let the side down. I am of the firm opinion, and it is shared by many here that on the whole CSR (Customer Service Representatives) are pretty good, if they are trained correctly and supported by good managers.

Those with bad experiences can and should report the matter to ntl. Do the basics, get a name, and surname. Ask for their direct managers name as a precaution should something go wrong. And by all means commend somebody if they give you good service, that will spur them on to do the same to the next person calling.

Now, let me see if I have any spare gems you can eat.

One of the problems here is that the C"S" representitives refuse to give their surnames citing that they are not obliged to give their surnames under the terms of their contract, I don't know if that is true or not ( I have my suspicions though). So getting their surnames is a non-starter. Also trying to get to talk to a "manager" is virtually impossible because for some reason they are always either on another call or in a meeting...very busy people!!!! Then, when one requests a call-back, guess what....nothing happens.

So its QED I'm afraid whichever way to try to look at it.

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by Gareth56

One of the problems here is that the C"S" representitives refuse to give their surnames citing that they are not obliged to give their surnames under the terms of their contract

They are obliged to give you their first name and extension number. Most don't have any problem giving you their surname but some refuse for a variety of reasons.

Originally Posted by dezzo

They are obliged to give you their first name and extension number. Most don't have any problem giving you their surname but some refuse for a variety of reasons.

The reason why some don't give their surname is because they don't want you to be able to identify them as being c**p at their job. They may be obliged to give you their extension number but whether they do or not is a totally different matter.