they really are on the ball ,

me - Id like to know if I can sign up for High Deffinition TV ?
ntl - dont you already have a digital box ?
me - yes , but I want to sign up for HDTV
ntl - hold on , I'll just have to ask someone
-----wait-------
ntl - you can get it now with your box
me - no I cant because its not a HD box
ntl - not all the channels are HD yet
me - I know but my box isn't HD
ntl - have you got a HDTV ?
me - yes , so I just need to know when you are releasing a HD box
ntl - hold on , I'll just have to ask someone
-----wait-----
ntl - sometime in 2007
me - what ?
ntl - 2007
me - any idea when in 2007 ?
ntl - I think in the summer
me - so Sky are releasing their HD box now , and Telewest are releasing their HD box now , and you are releasing yours a year after everone else ?
ntl - yes , I think so
me - ok , thanks for the info .

he didn't seem to know what HDTV was , I went through to the 'Upgrade My Service' dept , I thought they would be the ones to know when they would be setting it up , obviously not .

[psflynn]

i think ntl need to get a move on or they may lose a lot of customers.

Personally, i think they offer a good service, broadband and tv. - but if they cant offer HD within a year i will say good bye!

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by psflynn

i think ntl need to get a move on or they may lose a lot of customers.

Personally, i think they offer a good service, broadband and tv.....

You're about the only person I've come across that thinks so. Wait until they start charging you for things you haven't got - like they did to my sister-in-law.

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Indeed,

I've had 4 bills out of 5 so far with charges for stuff I don't get

Gordon

[James Ferrier]

i must say i'm pretty pleased with the service i have from NTL too, yes they do have their quirks with billing but when you phone to sort it out and have a little rant they will credit you for the inconvenience.

i asked one of their engineers about HDTV when they installed my broadband, he didn't know what was going on so i doubt one of their call centre workers will either.

[Accylad]

In NTL's defence - I have been with them for broadband/phone/cable TV for a year without any problems or charges for things I didn't get

As to HDTV I don't think their staff have been briefed on what to tell us I have had three diferent answers so far!!!!!!!!

[beerhunter]

I tried to deal with them professionally a few years back and came to the conclusion then that they were a basket case. They seem to be much better now though.

[psflynn]

I agree, they have improved greatly (customer services-wise). When i first tried to get ntl cable and broadband installed it mush have taken at least an hour on the phone (for a new customer!) . (4 years ago)

So when my STB went faulty i wasnt looking forward to it - but i got through after about 1 minute (in the middle of the day)! and then got the next Saturday booked for the visit! All problems solved!

[mike7]

When my set-top box went dead I phoned customer services, not too much of delay to get through. The following morning an engineer fitted a new one. All in less than 24 hours. At the weekend my Broadband went dead. This is a pretty rare experience. I phoned the appropriate line and within a few seconds I was speaking to a lady with an Indian (?) accent. Within five minutes she had download the appropriate stuff to my STB and the problem was sorted. NTL have done a lot to improve their service.

I have been with NTL for about 8 years now , and I have to say their customer service used to be crap , but its really good now , any problems sorted very quickly and less time on hold ,
but if they dont know about something , they should just say 'Im sorry but I dont have any information on that at this time' , instead of trying to bluff their way through . It makes them look very unprofesional .

[PioRow]

I had NTL TV fitted yesterday, already had net and phone. I asked the engineer when they were rolling out HDTV and he hadnt heard anything but he reckoned later this year to counter sky's HD service.

Bit of a kick in the teeth seeing telewest are rolling it out when telewest and NTL are effectively the same company.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by PioRow

I had NTL TV fitted yesterday, already had net and phone. I asked the engineer when they were rolling out HDTV and he hadnt heard anything but he reckoned later this year to counter sky's HD service.

Bit of a kick in the teeth seeing telewest are rolling it out when telewest and NTL are effectively the same company.

Rumour only but there is talk of NTL dumping the more modern mpeg4 box they were getting from SA in favour of the cheaper and more plentiful mpeg2 box that TW are using, still going to take time to sort admin, supply and everything else either way.

TW placed there orders for the STB's and laid the groundwork while they were an independent company and the approach of the merger didn't change that situation. Even though they are really one company it does look like franchise areas will still be looking at different service and service levels.

[Steve.J.Davies]

Originally Posted by Starburst

TW placed there orders for the STB's and laid the groundwork while they were an independent company and the approach of the merger didn't change that situation. Even though they are really one company it does look like franchise areas will still be looking at different service and service levels.

the merger won't change the network layout - which areas are served by which 'servers'. at least not in the short term...

there are mappings for this stuff out there in cyberspace I believe...

Been with NTL for a few years and never had a problem. Moved house on monday...few problems but pretty good customer service.

However the engineer did claim that HD was pencilled into start rolling out late this year/early next, and that the STB would include some sort of PVR. Who knows...fingers crossed!

[steiwan]

had an engineer round the other day, and he says the new PVR HD box has a target date of july, but said it will most likely be the second half of august. i dont think he is the type of guy to try to retain your custom for his company by spouting lies, he spent about 20 mins bitching about em. so who knows....

[bwatkins]

I'm another happy NTL customer - had it when they installed in our street about 10 years ago (It was called NYNEX back then. Changed to Cable and Wireless then NTL!!).
Went through a stage about a year ago when the email server didn't seem to stay stable for more than five minutes and broadband would cut out every Sunday evening at about 5pm but it's all fine now.

I'm just dissapointed that they are dragging behind the likes of Sky in the technology stakes. Seemed to take them ages to get interactive content working properly and now it's here it's rubbish. One press of the red button leaves you waiting five minutes whilst it loads up. And it's laughable that NTL have nothing to rival the Sky+ system or the soon-to-be-released HDTV yet.

If it weren't for the fact that NTL is about £10 a month cheaper than buying TV, Phone and Broadband seperately I would have cancelled it ages ago. Price is the only thing keeping them alive at the moment.

[BobbyX]

NTL are rubbish their interactive services are still unavailable its been over 3 years their widescreen feature does not work correctly, they are not willing to give me broad band as they are not willing to upgrade it for me I think they dont wanna do it as I am the only idiot with ntl on my road everyone else has sky there staff dont know their a@* from their elbow and they seem to be happy resting on their laurels with their whole situation and no Idea about HD come on.

I've been an NTL customer for over 6 years now and have seen a great improvement in certain areas, but sadly one of those areas isn't the 'keeping up with technology'.

I too phoned NTL to ask about an HD STB and the answer I got was 'It should be available in the next few months'.

I wish they could be more definate. They should be briefing all their customer service staff and engineers about specific dates/information about HD, as this is a very hot subject at the moment.

I have recently purchased an HD ready LCD set and wait with baited breath for an improved STB, (I currently have the Samsung SMT-2100c) at least one with some more connections than only 2 scarts, I don't even have any audio connections on my STB.
All I can say is 'Pull you're fing
er out NTL'

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by PJM007

I too phoned NTL to ask about an HD STB and the answer I got was 'It should be available in the next few months'.

I wish they could be more definate. They should be briefing all their customer service staff and engineers about specific dates/information about HD, as this is a very hot subject at the moment.

So pretty much what SKY were saying for so long

The problem may be that NTL do not have a definitive date for a HD offering at this time. Even without the rumours of switching to the mpeg2 box the speculated date for their mpeg4 box was at the end of the year not to forget that it'll cost them a huge amount of money to roll out with only limited return.
If there had been no merger then what TW did with their older mpeg2 unit would not be an issue and offering a mpeg4 box similar to SKY 6 months or so later would be seen as a good response. Of course now they are merged NTL customers are not happy about having to wait

[SeanT]

NTL are great - I moved from a place in the city centre to a place on the bypass right next to the dual carriageway - they had absolutely no explanation whatsoever why I couldn't move my NTL account across and get cable installed at my address when the people two houses down (and further from the bypass...) can get NTL according to the postcode thing and the neighbours have it - there's even an NTL cab on the side of the road???? Suffice to say now a Sky/BT/plus.net paying customer (shame it costs more but it's worth it!!)

[martcal]

Yesterday I had a call from a lady at NTL offering me TV for an extra £5.00 per month on top of my Telephone and Broadband connection.

I used to have NTL TV but moved to Sky to get the Sky+ PVR which I am very happy with (except the monthly cost). I explained to her that I need the PVR facility and she told me that NTL are bringing out a new box in June/July that will have PVR facilities and that I would get a free upgrade to the new box when available.

As I need a PVR I will reconsider in June/July (or when it really becomes available!)