topic Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ? in Community Site Feedback

Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

hitchhiker43 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 07:56:56 GMT

For many years posting on this forum would get a reply from Plusnet to support problems.

I posted last Friday and so far have had no reply.

Would I be better to ignore this forum and try phoning Plusnet ?

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jab1 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 08:00:40 GMT

@hitchhiker43 You won't get Help team support on here, that's for sure - but I've no idea why, and if you successfully contact them by phone, you may get a useful reply.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

tcj1971 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 08:11:08 GMT

The support in the past on these forums used to be very good, but it seems to have all stopped for some reason

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jgb — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 08:33:17 GMT

There are staff on line at the moment - see here: https://community.plus.net/

There have been interventions by Plusnet staff on these forums recently but maybe not as often as in the past.

Plusnet are definitely not the ISP they were regarding customer support. They do need to reconsider this aspect as, judging by posts, some by long standing customers, it is affecting customer retention. Plusnet are increasingly reliant on attracting new customers with attractive offers which possibly do not generate that much revenue.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jab1 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 08:51:46 GMT

Yep, online, @jgb - but not responding - probably too busy on Twitface.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

Marksfish — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 17:41:30 GMT

@jgb wrote:

There are staff on line at the moment - see here: https://community.plus.net/

Not necessarily. Some forum software is able to "spoof" active users to make it look busier than it actually is. That may explain why staff look to be online but generally ignoring the posts.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

hitchhiker43 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 18:59:55 GMT

Thank you everybody, at least it's good to know what's going on even if it's very very BAD.

Members may be interested in looking at Plusnet's TRUSTPILOT ratings, basically they are near rock bottom, I am surprised the regulator has not yet kicked ass, maybe something I should suggest.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jgb — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:10:31 GMT

@Marksfish

If Plusnet are doing that then it says all about their attitude to customer service!

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

tcj1971 — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:34:10 GMT

Reading all the latest poor reviews on Trustpilot and the responses from Plusnet, it seems the only way to contact them for support is via Facebook or Twitter

The latest review also mentions the lack of support on these forums

Are Plusnet in a bit of a mess or something because something is clearly not right

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

Strat — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:17:48 GMT

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from Everything Else to Community Site Feedback.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jgb — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 06:38:38 GMT

Have Plusnet officially stated that support is no longer provided on these forums? Previously they have listed these forums alongside Facebook and Twitter as valid routes to seek help other than via the phone. Many customers will not use either social media app nor will they want to do so. If these forums are no longer a way to seek help from Plusnet, then it is another nail in the customer service coffin.

Mind you, as this thread is now in the feedback forum it is doubtful that Plusnet will read it. But, paying customers do need to know what the official line is so that they know exactly what they are getting for their money.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jab1 — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 06:55:12 GMT

@jgb Plusnet, or rather the faceless BT management, do not officially announce anything, they just quietly chop lines of communication to bring a once excellent brand down to the abysmal level that they consider reasonable customer support - i.e. none, in line with the principles that they brought over from the old Post Office Telephone days.

For some reason, because they still have a near-monopoly of the communications network in this country, they still act like a monopoly, and toothless, spineless OFCOM will do nothing about the situation.

I must say I am glad I won't be here much longer, but I am also sad in a way, up until the start of the current 'situation' PN support was way above that of most ISPs, but it is now at a level with, or below that, of such as Sky or TT.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

tcj1971 — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 07:00:10 GMT

@jgb

I very rarely use social media so will not be contacting them via that route. I guess phoning them would be pot luck on whether you will speak to someone who lnows what they are on about instead of them reading off a script, especially on the technical side of things

The staff on these forums used to interact with us very well with any account related issues including tickets that were open on your account

Unless there is a massive improvement, I seriously cannot wait until my contract ends next January. You cannot have Internet in a house with kids that has no online safety measures in place. In the current case with my account, Broadband Safeguard does not work, and it seems they have no intentions of sorting it out.

There is ZERO communication now from support. Even the Online Chat does not work any more. Although if it was something to do with Billing then there would be some form of communicaton then

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

idonno — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 07:34:39 GMT

@jgb wrote: some by long standing customers, it is affecting customer retention. Plusnet are increasingly reliant on attracting new customers with attractive offers which possibly do not generate that much revenue.

Quite possible but only the bean counters know for sure. The numbers must still be doing the biz otherwise they'd be shutting up. You do get the occasionally flurry of support people, like @Gandalf, popping up but I suspect even they go off on a break at some point.

But PN aren't the only company affected. I spent the good part of half an hour hanging around on the phone 2 days ago, only to be told when I got through - that they had system problems and that I should email them and they'd get back to me within 14 days! Admittedly they did email me the next day.

But maybe it really is time to put away all this 'this is the future' home working malarkey and get staff back into work, proper. Flame away. ♨️ 😀 Covid, I think, is something we are going to have to live with for a very long time - unless they get a vaccine that kills it 100%.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jgb — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 08:03:12 GMT

I have just seen a post from a member of the Plusnet Help Team on another thread and so Plusnet cannot have abandoned help via these forums entirely although the prevalence of staff does appear to be severely diminished.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

gleneagles — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 08:22:46 GMT

@hitchhiker43 wrote:

Thank you everybody, at least it's good to know what's going on even if it's very very BAD.

Members may be interested in looking at Plusnet's TRUSTPILOT ratings, basically they are near rock bottom, I am surprised the regulator has not yet kicked ass, maybe something I should suggest.

What regulator ?
If you mean the ombudsman, forget it, totally useless.

The only thing any company is afraid of is bad publicity, it’s a bit like a advert but with the opposite effect it puts people off dealing with that company.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

JonoH — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 08:56:34 GMT

@jab1 wrote:

Yep, online, @jgb - but not responding - probably too busy on Twitface.

I'm not sure why this particular channel is the one you reference. Whilst you may not see the value in it a higher percentage of our customer base seek our support on Twitter and Facebook than do so on our Community.

The same team answer customer queries from Twitter, Facebook and these boards, none get a priority over the other, but if we were to prioritise one over the other would be tough not to argue in favour of prioritising resource to the channel more of our customers contact us through.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jab1 — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 09:08:05 GMT

Sorry, @JonoH - you obviously have been away for a while and haven't seen the number of topics where the ONLY support has come from Community members, and can you please point out where the Help Team has been active on this forum for about the past 8 months, apart from the occasional visit by Gandalf, Matthew Wheeler and Mads?

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

jgb — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 10:33:16 GMT

@JonoH

Taking your second paragraph, if the team are spending as little time on Twitter and Facebook as on these forums, then Twitter and Facebook must also be suffering. I strongly suspect that Twitter and facebook are getting more attention.

Returning to your first paragraph, the reason this "channel" is being referenced is due to the complaints seen on this thread and elsewhere about lack of response to cries for help on these forums after days have gone by since a customer has requested help from Plusnet. The phone lines are understaffed and customers want a Plusnet owned method of getting help that does not require them to waste time hangng on interminably waiting for an answer especially if the matter is not urgent. Whilst the use of Facebook etc. might suit a certain demographic of customers, many others do not want to have to subscribe to social media to do so.

There should be a non-public means to raise account related issues that does not rely on telephone support. I have yet to see a cogent argument from Plusnet as to why the ticket system was abandoned except for a very few particular topics.

Re: Is this forum no longer handling support questions ?

shutter — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 11:19:09 GMT

@tjccjt said.....

There is ZERO communication now from support. Even the Online Chat does not work any more. Although if it was something to do with Billing then there would be some form of communication then

Live Chat... has been closed down. it was done in a very sneaky and dishonest way... firstly they just shut it down, when queried by me, and others,... they said it was to enable the staff involved to be more proactive on the phone lines. as they were busy.. in other words.... they "PRIORITISED" the phone lines against the Live Chat, method... when this was pointed out to be discriminatory against those with hearing or speech difficulties, they re opened Live Chat for a short period of time during the day, for about a month to six weeks, then.. they just pulled the plug on it. Leaving the standard "we are very busy, please try later".. message,... which eventually proved to be an out and out lie. So can you trust a company that uses those tactics, to reduce customer service for the disabled minority to absolute zero.

Not everyone is in love with TWITTER or FACEBOOK... and this is another source of contention. where a certain member of staff, who has been away for a while, states that Plusnet do not prioritise their response avenues... which again is not true, as shown by the above about prioritising the phone lines over the Live Chat.

Because Live Chat was so dishonourbly shut down, with no prior notice, it left many older people with no means of getting assistance, should they need it...except via the forum.... or trying to get someone else to explain to a third party on the phone, the problem and then get that third party to understand the reply and pass that back to the customer. .

This.. plusnet,.... is supposed to be a "communications company"... that somehow does not understand what the word "communication" or "customer service" means any more.

After 12 years of loyal service to PlusNet... I jumped ship, to a similar priced ISP, ( annual cost ). who actually do have a communications line of customer service VIA EMAIL.. and they do respond the same day, even within an hour or two.

From.... "Award Winning Customer Service"

to ...... " We`ll do you proud"

to..

"That`ll do "....

In three years.... downhill all the way..... with no brakes.....

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Quote fixed.