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14 Jan 2006
NTL has admitted providing "unacceptable" levels of customer service. The cable company was targeted by the BBC's Watchdog consumer affairs programme this week, following the receipt of a further 1,700 complaints from its cable TV, broadband and telephony customers.
In a reply to the Watchdog website, NTL acknowledged that the "standard of service experienced by the customers featured on the programme is unacceptable".
But the company claims that out of its 3.3 million residential customers the number of complaints has been reduced to 0.31 per cent over the past four months.
It added that the number of complaints received directly by NTL fell by over 10 per cent during 2005.
"Last year we highlighted an investment of over £100m to replace a multiplicity of outdated facilities and systems. This ongoing programme of product and service enhancement continues and is our number one priority," said NTL.
Some 82 per cent of customers surveyed over the phone in December said that they were satisfied with the service they received, according to the cable firm.
"NTL is more customer focused now than at any point in its recent history," the company said.
"We will continue to place the customer at the centre of our business with real and sustained focus on areas that affect the customer experience, from answering the phone promptly to resolving complaints at the first time of asking."
NTL is set to become the uk's biggest cable provider when it merges with leading rival Telewest in a deal worth over £6bn.
The company has the potential to grow even further should the planned acquisition of MVNO Virgin Mobile go through.
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Cant get rid of them
Today I recieved my first threatening letter demanding £75 I dont owe them. Apparently I'm off to court and my credit rating will be hammered. They are also about to send debt collecters around as well. I actually left ntl a year and a half ago and have been trying to get them to stop billing me ever since. Countless morons at their customer service office have promised to fix the error but haven't. Ntl are a complete menace who continue to raise my stress levels. Don't deal with them
Posted by: Tony Harrison 19 Mar 2006
Customer (NON)Service
I dropped my cable TV subscription (to go to Sky+) but kept my phone & Broadband with NTL. As I pay by Direct Debit, I thought no more of it, until I get a threatening letter because I was in arrears! Apparently when you change the broadband connection from Set-Top box to Cable Modem, you need to set up a second direct debit as this is treated as a seperate bill (although I was never informed of this at any point). I managed to get that sorted out, only to notice that this month's phone bill has an additional £54 on it. When I contacted NTL it transpires that they had not been charging me for the "telco only" rental. However, instead of contacting me, explaining the situation and coming to an arrangement to pay the missing charges, they just dumped it , wholesale, into this months bill. If I hadn't checked the bill. Only after threatening to cancel both phone and broadband did they agree to pay it off over 3 months (i.e. doubleing the "telco only" rental).
Posted by: Phil Smith 24 Jan 2006
ntl poor service
i informed ntl on october 4th 2005 that i would be moving on 24th Nov05 they did not know i was moving until i rang them two days before hand and they said they could not move me on that day. when i cancelled the services they decieded they could connect me on that day. All that was connected was tv no internet or phone line. two months later and 21hrs on the phone and four letters i have all my services but had to have a new telephone number. Customer services were disgusting no appologie what so ever.
Posted by: markbushell 23 Jan 2006
0.31%?!?!
I tried to sign up for NTL Broadband and was subjected to the most incompetent and wasteful service imaginable. Not one of four "customer service" agents could help and it took 45 minutes for that to become clear. If it wasn't so difficult to move my custom elsewhere (why is it so difficult to change my phone and broadband service provider??) I would happily do so. I am a begrudging customer at best. I suspect that complaints are at 0.31% because the calculation dismisses sales calls such as mine and because NTL is so disjointed and silo-based that there is nobody in the business with a complete view of what's happening. Disgraceful.
Posted by: Luke Richardson 16 Jan 2006
ntl's accounting arrangements
Having given notice to withdraw fron ntl's tv service in October I am still trying to get them to stop sending me bills despite having paid their "final invoice" They have offices all over the country that seem to operate independently of each other with no inter communication. After several years of problems I shall be glad to see the bacl of them - eventually.
Posted by: AnthonyPaine 15 Jan 2006