NTL service 'upgrade' - digibox bricked.

quad_red

Turned the tv on to be faced an update to the box (nicely called a service 'upgrade').

That was 45mins ago. After 25mins I plugged the box out cos it was frozen. Plugged it back in and it's frozen at the same point again.

Even the analogue is bloody well gone. Anyone have any advice/suggested fixes?

Update status:
Searching for set-up information - Stage 3
Engineering Code= Msg11

Sad Professor

I had this exact same problem with one of the boxes in my house last week. I eventually gave up but it was fine the next day.

quad_red

Cheers prof.

It's just jumping from stage 2 to 3 to 4 (with the engineering code alternating between msg11 and msg12).

At this point, I really expect nothing more from NTL and their quality equipment and service.

The tax man

Sounds more like a breakdown in your area if the analogue is gone too.
The stb will just keep going around in circles if there's no signal.
Your stb ain't bricked. When the analogue comes back just pull the mains to the stb and plug it back in and you should be sorted.

Charles Slane

Had that happen a few times and it's always been caused by no signal getting to the box (hence no analogue either).

The service may be down in the area or it may be a fault in a connection in your house. Double-check all the connections (over-vigourous vacuuming can be a culprit).

Good luck!

quad_red

called NTL customer support and the girl was very nice. But their computer systems were 'experiencing problems' so she couldn't help me.

No digital and no analogue channels. Everything was perfect on Sunday night. Nothing was moved/touched. Turned tv on on Monday night to get the upgrade message and now have nothing.

The apartment next door is fine. Have turned on and off, pulled every cable in and out etc.

No go.

Now I gotta go to the pub for the football tonight. I refute any responsibility if I end up drunk....

The tax man

Well if the neighbours are working your drop may have being disconnected. If you're in an apartment block the drops may not be labelled correctly if at all.
You can also find other people pulling drops off and sticking theirs on if the taps aren't secured properly.
You will probably need to get someone out to investigate it.:(

quad_red

The tax man wrote:

You can also find other people pulling drops off and sticking theirs on if the taps aren't secured properly.

Waaay over my head. Do you mean the connection into the apartment?

I called Customer Services again this morning and they're sending out a technician on Saturday.

Charles Slane

quad_red wrote:

Now I gotta go to the pub for the football tonight. I refute any responsibility if I end up drunk....

I'm pretty sure that NTL/Chorus/UPC would be financially liable for any money spent on pints. Also if you had to take time off work for hangover recovery have your personnel department contact NTL directly.

The tax man

quad_red wrote:

Waaay over my head. Do you mean the connection into the apartment?

I called Customer Services again this morning and they're sending out a technician on Saturday.

The cable feeding your apartment and all the others in the building will all come to a common point(s) where the taps are. Sometimes they can be in underground car parks or service presses on different floors. So you can be disconnected without anyone coming anywhere near your apartment.

I'm pretty sure that NTL/Chorus/UPC would be financially liable for any money spent on pints.

Christ they must owe me millions by now.:D

quad_red

Charles Slane wrote:

I'm pretty sure that NTL/Chorus/UPC would be financially liable for any money spent on pints. Also if you had to take time off work for hangover recovery have your personnel department contact NTL directly.

Mmmmm - calls 1800-itsnotmyfault

Cheers Tax-man. How the hell did that happen though? Surely there ain't people randomly messing with the NTL connections? Should I call the building management first? Will the NTL guy be able to get at the 'taps'?

The tax man

Yeah he'll know(well he should) were they are. Belling kit can be used to identify your cable if the label isn't on it. You'd be surprised what people will do for free cable. People will cut all the tags off the cables so no ones cable can be identified including the ones that shouldn't be connected. 90% of the time it's simply just a cable incorrectly tagged. Management won't be interested. Not their equipment so not their responsibility.

quad_red

They were supposed to call yesterday. Never did.

They were supposed to call today. Missed a call from a private number at 11:45 this morning. Called NTL straight away and after 18mins on hold I was cut off. Called again and got to speak to someone after 32mins. Explained the situation and she said she didn't think it was them but she'd put a message in the system to get the technicians to call me and update me on the time.

Cue 2:15 when my phone goes and rings twice - not two separate phone calls. LITERALLY two rings. And then the caller hangs up. So he lets it ring for 4 secs then hangs up before I can get to it.

I waited for an hour and called NTL again. On hold for 15mins this time. Talk to a guy who confirms that the technicians tried to reach me at 2:15 but no one was answering :mad: They never wanted me to pick that call up. They only rang it to make it look like they'd tried.

Customer Service guys says they may not be in my area anymore but they'll give you a call either way.

45 mins later and no call. Apartment living sucks - I want Sky.

quad_red

Called AGAIN and the joker still didn't call me or turn up. So that's my Saturday spent hanging around waiting for those retards.

FOUR calls to NTL - shortest waiting time 15mins, longest 32mins and one call summarily cut off.

Cable down since Monday without any sign of resolution. No analogue or digital. So no channels, not even RTE.

I am so p*ssed off. :mad:

croucher

i know how you feel, same thing happened me last week, waiting for a guy to call out on tuesday. NTL are the biggest bunch of shams on earth.... I only got the installation done two weeks ago!!! When I rang up about the fault the girl asked me was my house an eneven number, i said yes, and she said that the uneven numbers were down in the area, unbelievable !!!! I told her I was in the neighbours house (uneven number) and it was working, then got the "I don't know" and "will have to send a technician out"... jokeshop !!!

Kimbot

This happened me a week ago and they didn't send anyone outat all!! I was a week without any channels at all, digital or analogue!! It reappeared by itself and they gave me 3 euro off my next bill or something stupid like that!!

Ring the number and see if there is a recorded message for area affected because in our apartment block our neighbours had theirs but others didn't!!

quad_red

croucher wrote:

When I rang up about the fault the girl asked me was my house an eneven number, i said yes, and she said that the uneven numbers were down in the area

:rolleyes: Did you ask her if she thought you had moron written on your forehead? Even numbers.

I'm going to read them the Riot Act tomorrow. But they have us and they know we do - we have NO other options. This country is appalling for choice and customer service.

quad_red

Am still seething.

Was met with blunt apathy. Despite waiting all of Saturday, the constant calls etc. I was told that

1. They would send a technician between 1 and 6 on Tuesday. They had 'no intention' of breaking standard procedures and giving me a more specific time.

2. Furthermore, if I refused to have someone available between 1 and 6 tomorrow, charging for the service would resume from 1pm whether or not the service had been reconnected or not.

masterK

Thank god guns aren't freely available in this country. There'd be a queue of angry gunmen outside the NTL office.

quad_red

THEY had disconnected it last Monday whilst intending to disconnect someone else.

And I wouldn't mind - I saw into the closet (it's literally 5 metres from our door) and all the cables are clearly marked.

The tech who came was sound out and knew exactly what was wrong. My problem is with customer services and NTL management.

I tell ya - now that I know what the problem probably is, next time this happens, I'm going through that door with a hammer