Help with NTL (TV service broken, they won't fix it)

eth0_

I moved into an apartment last month and rang up to get NTL digital installed. The engineer came out about 2 days later, and I didn't have to sit in waiting for him all day. He even called ahead because he was going to be there at 10am. I was impressed by this as i've had huge problems with NTL in the past.

However, last Wednesday 2nd August, my TV service dies. I've no analog and no Digital TV service, suggesting there is a fault OUTSIDE my apartment. It's obviously not the digibox because there's no analog signal either.

I ring NTL fault department. I have to wait over 30 minutes in a queue. I'm told that three other people from my complex must ring in before they'll send an engineer. I asked "What if no one else calls in?" "well, you'll have to call back in 24 hours and we'll send an engineer within 24/48 hours".

So I rang back the next morning - again, another huge wait before I got through to a human - and spoke to a pleasant guy who said, never mind what the last girl told you, i'll get an engineer out to you in the next 24 hours! Oh and don't worry, he doesn't need access to your apartment.

No TV service on Saturday, and I was due to go away for the long weekend that afternoon. So I ring NTL, another 30 minute wait, and get through to a girl who tells me the engineer DOES need access to my property. I'm pretty annoyed at this and tell her so, she ignores me. She tells me she'll re-dispatch the engineer, but no, she can't say when he'll be there. I ask "Is it a case that if i'm not home, it won't be fixed?" "Pretty much, yeah".

I get back from my holiday on Monday evening and guess what? Still no TV. I've had no call from NTL to let me know about the engineer.

I ring up, wait half an hour to be told "The engineer was there at 10.30am today, you weren't in". "Did he think to ring me?" "It says here he did and there was no answer". utter bullsh*t. So she says she'll send another engineer.

I find that in every conversation I have, they NEVER apologise, they NEVER acknowledge that the customer is being hard done by, and they really don't seem to know what they're doing - i.e. being told by one agent that the engineer needs into my flat and another saying they don't.

So I ring again yesterday afternoon, and a girl tells me "Oh there's a general fault in your area, it was reported on the 9th. An engineer will be out today, they need to replace the cables". She cannot even tell me if this requires access to my apartment. She tells me someone from customer service will call me back.

Of course I still have no cable tv.

Does anyone know how the f*ck you're supposed to get NTL to fix anything? Does anyone have the email address of someone senior in NTL Ireland?

garred

I sympathise Etho. I went from Sky Digital to NTL and I will be returning back when I move. I can't believe that a television can hang and blue screen, I thought that was just in computers. I have found their attitude crap on the phone, and this engineer scheduling has peed me off in the past aswell. You have to design your day around their visit eventhough the fault lies with them, its a crazy system. I'd suggest you keep track of the amount of days you have had no service and make sure they credit you for it in the next bill.

Baby4

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J.R.HARTLEY

aw stop, the genius engineers are at it again. one of them told my brother while installing BB that his pc was broken and windows would have to be reinstalled, when i went out to his house i found the plonker hooked the router up but never installed the drivers. where is this godforsaken company getting their employees.

Tazzer

Baby4 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Sure I was told that they would try to get an engineer to call before arriving but that is not always possible as not all engineers have mobile phones??????

I am still trying to get things sorted since March - even though everything is working now - I am still waiting for the Sales Manager to ring me after a nice 3 page complaint letter.....I email everyday now as I am not paying their bills until he does. I am sure they have a lovely notes section on me!:D

Buceph

J.R.HARTLEY wrote:

aw stop, the genius engineers are at it again. one of them told my brother while installing BB that his pc was broken and windows would have to be reinstalled, when i went out to his house i found the plonker hooked the router up but never installed the drivers. where is this godforsaken company getting their employees.

Arf, that sounds like Dell. "Er, you just delivered my new pc and there's a crack in the screen." "Ok Sir, what we are going to do is re-install windows." "No, there's a physical crack in the screen, it is actually broken, I have liquid crystals all over my desk." "Have you re-installed windows before sir?" *Sigh*

Phone them in the morning is the only advice I can offer. All their calls are after mid-day so it's faster to get through earlier.

Tazzer wrote:

Sure I was told that they would try to get an engineer to call before arriving but that is not always possible as not all engineers have mobile phones??????

That's a complete lie. It's NTL policy for engineers to have mobiles so they can text people before the come to install new products.

squire1

Stop calling these guys "engineers" will ye. It an insult to anyone that spent 4 years in college studying for a professional qualification.

BendiBus

squire1 wrote:

Stop calling these guys "engineers" will ye. It an insult to anyone that spent 4 years in college studying for a professional qualification.

I was just thinking the same thing!

AnnaStezia

Keep a written log of all your downtime and your transactions with NTL then sue them in the Small Claims Court for breach of contract. Register every complaint you have with them by e-mail so that there is a record that cannot be denied.

The specific breach of contract is their lack of performance of the contract.

Have had several most unsatisfactory dealings with NTL in the past. Bring back RTE Relays !!

snickerpuss

My boyfriend had terrible trouble with NTL, his cable constantly goes off, channels disappear etc...

Sky are great, i'd switch if you can, we wanted them to move the satellite and they sent someone out no prob, very prompt and fixed quick, and i've never had any problems with the service or reception or anything.

MOH

When I moved house, NTL were the only utility I had no trouble with switching to my new address. Five minutes on the phone, my account was now at my new address, everything was sorted.

Until I got cut off a while later. I'd dumped all my old bills when I moved, never got a bill at my new address, so had no account number.

Rang them up, gave them my name, address, home and mobile number. Couldn't find any record of me. But they did have a quite large outstanding bill for someone else at my address which they said needed to be paid.

Gave them my previous address and phone number. No record of me there either. They said they'd come to some arrangement about the outstanding bill if I could prove how long I'd lived there, but unless I could prove I'd had my account transferred from somewhere else (how?) it would be treated as a new account and I'd also have to have to pay a 50 euro connection fee.

They told me to go home and look around and try to find an old bill with my account number. I hung up and rang Sky, haven't looked back since.

garred

I've gone and cancelled my subscription with them. It took 4 attempts to get through.....4. The first three times after being on hold for 20 minutes I gave up. The fourth after being on hold 50 minutes......50, I got through to their cancellation dept. Will never go with them again. However its just my opinion of them as I'm sure others have had good dealings with them.

DSLinAbsentia

garred wrote:

I've gone and cancelled my subscription with them. It took 4 attempts to get through.....4. The first three times after being on hold for 20 minutes I gave up. The fourth after being on hold 50 minutes......50, I got through to their cancellation dept. Will never go with them again. However its just my opinion of them as I'm sure others have had good dealings with them.

I STILL haven't got through to their mystical disconnection team. 1800 321 321 is a complete joke and they don't respond to anything inbound on customer.support@ntl.ie.

Does anyone have a fax number or direct line? Or perhaps I should just remove their equipment from my house and post it back to them?