NEWS NTL is reeling from an embarrassing and potentially offensive howler which meant callers to its customer services helpline were told to "f*ck off".
According to newspaper reports, the company is attributing the message that replaced its usual recorded greeting to a malicious hacker or a disgruntled employee.
The message in full, which contained a flurry of four-letter words, said: "Hello. You are through to NTL customer services. We don't give a f*ck about you. We are never here. We will f*ck you about, basically, and we are not going to handle any of your complaints. Just f*ck off and leave us alone. Get a life."
The potty-mouthed wordsmith reportedly spoke with a Geordie accent, suggesting it was somebody local to the North-East call centre.
NTL customers may have been offended by the message, but some may have been tempted to joke that it displayed some refreshing honesty. NTL has regularly been accused of poor customer service and recently was named as the second-worst company for dealing with customer queries and complaints by management consultants TMI, which compiled the 'National Complaints Culture Survey'.
In October 2001 one disgruntled NTL customer was so incensed with the level of service he received from the cable firm that he penned a now notorious letter of complaint - published in full on silicon.com at the time.
In the letter the customer complained about an "inadequacy of service which had not previously been considered possible, as well as ignorance and stupidity of monolithic proportions".
Comments
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1. anonymous
Normal NTL service levels, what is the fuss about?
2. anonymous
Ofcom Should Act Immediately, if it has the bite.
I am not surprised by the NTL customer handling method. I had only one encounter with NTL many years ago and ever since that, I avoid dealing with this company. It is time that Ofcom show its bite is worse than its growl and remove this company from the telecom market altogether or ask them to clean up its act.
3. Keith Neill
Funnily enough, I am typing this while waiting to speak to someone at one of their call centres. After ten minutes on hold I eventually got through, only to be told I had come through to the wrong call centre and to be put back in the queue. And this after inputting my phone number into their system so they knew what area I was from ....
The real problem with NTL is that the product (in my case broadband and phone lines) is great once it is installed and working, but if you have a problem or want to talk to someone about a bill, problem etc., well forget it! And I won't bother going into the nightmare I had actually trying to get everything installed in the first place.
ps just spoken to another call centre (again the wrong one), and I have had the problem explained to me. Apparently their system has a problem with my STD code (01992), but if I type in a bogus phone number starting 0207 I will then be routed through to the correct call centre for my area. I am currently on hold again ....
4. Brian Rogers
I wonder how long it was before someone successfully got through to complain about this essentially correct, though poorly worded message.
Further, had been 'non offensive' verbally, (although still accurate) would it ever been brought to NTL's attention?
5. anonymous
I have changed to bt after spending 5 days trying to get through to report that my phoneline did not work ( for the second time in 3 weeks).. in the end I gave up.. i was told by customer services that i had no choice but to keep holding.. i waited 40 minutes one day and still no answer.. sevice is appalling!!!!I tried to call about the final bill other day and was told I would have to wait up to 30 mins to get through!!
Worst thing was this all happened at same time as someone smashing into back of my car so i had to use mobiles and neighbours phone to contact insurance people etc.. terrible inconvenience.
6. anonymous
Its good to see NTL customer service is finally improving after a long bad patch.
7. anonymous
I'd nominate NTL for a Plain English award ...at last! Their 'Service Status' would also benefit from similar clarity (just keep watching http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/ ...any day and you'll see what I mean!)
8. Neil Postlethwaite
Moved house Feb 2003. BT Managed to install 2 lines and broadband one of them before NTL, the incumbent comms provider to the house, bothered to even call me back.
Fortunately the install bod from Sky managed to commision my Sky+ box as NTL had not canned the line beloging to to the previous tenant.
I had great pleaseure in telling them to fuck off, when they eventually called my 'to see how they could help'. They finally canned the prevous owners NTL line after 2 months.
Shocking. No wonder they can't make any money. They make me happy I deal with BT and Sky.
9. David Parsons
In modern terminology……. Totally class!
What we have to remember as customers is that the ‘supplier’ often cannot tell you what they really think when you are being a complete and utter ####er.
So many of us are rude or abuse the power that being a customer provides
Remember it is not just you that sometimes has a bad day.
Always respond to bad service but at least be polite, if you can.
10. anonymous
when I used to work for CableTel, as it was known before they took over NTL, there was more concern about the amount of calls you made/took in an hour/day than actually the content, and if you actually resolved anything at the end of it! In fact if you took the time to properly resolve a customers problem then you got grilled for it!!
11. anonymous
STILL CAN'T GET BROADBAND OR DIGITAL IN MY PART OF THE WORLD. WHY NOT?
12. Dave Moreton
It's nice to see someone telling the truth!!
This guy should be given a medal.
NTL's services are top quality BUT it's about time they got their act together on support, which is the worst I have ever come across.
13. Ian
NTL do not now nor have they ever given a toss about customers and service levels so why should it be news now?
14. anonymous
For five years we have been happy NTL customers. However, we've moved house and have been trying to get this message accross for three months to NTL and cancel the account. We even send a letter, which they apperently never received, spoken to approx. ten different staff and I don't know how many departments, have been holding for several hours plus the hours discussion of explaining the same story over and over, have been rude to and not to mention the charges for the phonebill accumulated. Oh yes we've been promised several times to be phoned back. Well you can fill in that one for yourself.
In the mean time we are not any further. I don't want to call them anymore and letters we send disappear??? They surely like to keep us as a customer!
If there is a NTL director reading this: You are paying staff who haven't got a clue what they are doing. Please email me personally to disconnect because you know the saying: if you want something to be done properly the do it yourself!
Thanks,I had to get this of my chest.
WM Buckard
15. Vijay
Lousiest Customer Service I have ever come across.
6 months ago, I had asked NTL move houser dept to shift my connection, and instead of shifting, they had cancelled my old account and created an unasked for new account with a 12 month contract.
At the new place, there was cabling fault which NTL have been unable to rectify till this date. I have lost one day's wage even to be at home when the engineer comes in. Still I need to be at home when the fault is in the neighbourhood and has nothing to do with the installation at home.
Fed up of this and since I was moving again, I decided to cancel the service and buy out my contract. Welcome to the NTL Customer Service. After getting through to them on the 16th attempt in 2 days, the oh-so friendly girl says she cannot cancel the service even when I am ready to buy-out my contract. Says I need to talk to faults to cancel my account...
I tried to pay my bills through the phone and everytime i tried, I got disconnected, repeatedly.
THey don't have a clue where to transfer the call and promptly disconnect the call.
16. katie
Apalling, apalling. NTL have the worst Customer Service I have ever come across. They are rude and dismissive and simply never do what they promise they will! I have switched my Digital TV to Sky (What Joy!) and today switched my phone back to BT (heaven, I got straight through!) which will give me more options for phone services. NTL couldn't care less.
17. Tatyana
That's the truth!!! Hell, I'm sorry and I will be fro the rest of my life why I have chosen Ntl!!!! Idiots!!!!
18. Mrs Helen Edwards
NTL have been over charging my husband for broadband for nearly a year, and we stillhavent received a refund from them. I was just speaking to a Cust service agent who was so rude I hung up just because I asked him to put me through to his supervisor. I advised him that I would contact a solicitor to get my money back and he said I wouldnt get anywhere
19. mrs.helen holland
ntl has a non existing £30 for 3 package, we have had this package since july this year,and havn't hada £30 bill yet, when we ring about this we are told you have added extra's,but we can't find out what these extra's are,then there's the tele which does what it wants to not what we ask it to,we are told we are not using it properly.the broadband is even worse,we were told it was our equipment that was the problem ,so we spent a fotune on a new computer,the problems are getting worse ,and the overbearing and sometimes arrogant staff we speak to still put the blame for the bad services on us .we are stuck under contract till next july, even though we have been with them for a number of years for the telephone,we have to do a full years sentence because of the new package we signed for,needless to say we can't wait for next june to give our month's notice.
20. Deborah Wilson
well hello i would like to say its mad that we as ntl hell customers have to pay in advance for th broadband so we are paying for somthing we havent used yet me i think its one big con. when you have a prob with any of the services u get passed from one unhelpfull person to the next totally time wasting somthing needs to be done you dont get this with bt or sky might go back to them
21. anonymous
Having read the article by Nick Louth (MSN) titled 'Virgin on the Ridiculous' relating to NTL's attempt to get Virgin on 'their side', I find it really amusing that reference is made to the Company's ability to remove themselves from Article 57 (US Law) in 2003. I, and a great deal of other people, lost our positions with the firm that allowed that to happen as NTL repaid their financial support (i.e. my Company covered NTL's financial obligations during this period) by reneging on the Contract and forcing them into liquidation. Nice little earner for NTL on basis they didn't have to repay costs incurred .........
NTL are a useless Company that have no understanding of customer service, no interest in their customer base and no interest in admitting they are at fault when service levels are unacceptable. A lot of Companies could be accused of only caring about the money, but NTL take this to the farthest extreme. I always thought R Branson was an intelligent, diligent and successful entrepeneur ...........
22. anonymous
What an attitude these people have they change your contract to suit them, then tell you to read the small print in the contract. Having been with them for two years I find the server down or very slow sat and sundays. My main complaint is the strange attitude you get when you ask why we were not informed about the new arrangement for paying for broardband monthly in advance instead of in arrears. Their answer was we have two million customers, Pity thay don't have a web page.I suppose this extra money they collect will help to pay for Virgin telecom or what ever. now thay will have one less customer.
23. l baker
just up graded my laptop and have connected it from several diffrent locations to ntl with out any problems but when i try to get to the internet /ntlhome page from my home connection i keep geting page cant be found and this has been going on for nearly a year and all they say is that its your computer over and over and to get a new one, why should i when it works every where else on ntl connection. i have been hung up on several times and held a conversation with a manager for nearly an hour to find that i was called a liar when calling back because the call hadnt been logged they are offensive and rude