topic Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!! in Plusnet Feedback

Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

gordon39uk — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:43:56 GMT

Moved to a new house and wanted to keep my provider Plusnet for broadband and add phone. Because no BT line in the house £49.99! Plusnet sales team said 1 week to 10 days, utter bollocks, anything to take your money, got a phonecall 2 days later saying nearly 3 weeks just to get the line in then possibly a week after that for broadband, what a joke, but i notice they took the £49.99 out my account within seconds of my call, total greed, liars and NO customer loyalty.

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

TicnTac — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:56:39 GMT

Had the same issue when we moved It is very unfair, but as I'm sure Plusnet would give you £49.99 for staying with them, they can't and it all comes down to the two little 'orrible letters I keep calling evil BT Some ISP's charge even more, and I'm sure someone from Plusnet will confirm this, but I think they get charged £60, so they actually lose money!
Still, I think the way you were treated wasn't very nice, and I'm quite sure once the PN forum team come back off their weekend, someone will offer you a very sincere apology and hopefully rectify the situation for you.
PS, I think I might have to do the "welcome to the Plusnet forums" not sure though
However, Plusnet can be quite funny at times Thing is, you have to laugh, or you just get wound up, stressed, unhappy, depressed, angry, and these are all things that are not good for you, should really have a health warning on broadband! Best thing to do is call BT evil, get sarcastic, and try and be witty, but that might lead to you being told off from time to time, Adam almost got confrontational with me
All the best!

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

al446 — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:04:48 GMT

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but I think they get charged £60, so they actually lose money!

PN is owned by BT, so purely a paper loss

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

gordon39uk — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:22:39 GMT

I actually spoke to BT prior to putting the order with Plusnet ( who have been my broadband supplier for the last 8 months ), according to the BT sales team, they have an offer at the moment which gives free installation of a telephone line so if Plusnet ARE owned by BT then it makes it a bigger con. Im now sorry i kept my loyalties with this company. No matter what they might say to this post, no member of there team should have given me the timespan of a week to 10 days if they new they could not fulfil the order. Customer loyalty should always come first with any company but seems Plusnet are just like all the rest.
gordon

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

TicnTac — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:26:45 GMT

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PN is owned by BT, so purely a paper loss

75% stakehold share, could be wrong :-\, and PN is managed and operated as Plusnet was, again could be wrong
So there is a little more to it than 'paper losses' otherwise I'd be claiming for a posh router hmmm there's a thought!
However, PN is infected with BT, and that is a big problem, as are most problems are BT's fault! Althought PN can't shed all the blame!
Just to add:

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no member of there team should have given me the timespan of a week to 10 days if they new they could not fulfil the order.

As we found out, PN seem to have the ideal time scale on screen, but the actual time scale for BT to do the business can be out by 28 days or more Where the blame goes there is anyone's guess, best not give a timescale, or give a really large scale so they don't get a customer, does show a massive room for improvment though!

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Customer loyalty should always come first with any company but seems Plusnet are just like all the rest.

Customer loyalty should, always, always, but as you stated, PN are just like the all the rest of ISP's they're all ISP's Hence I'm sticking with better the devil you know the devil you don't cliche!

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

pierre_pierre — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:51:21 GMT

@AL446 as you claim to be an ex BT man you should know the set up
PN are part of the BT Group
PN buy their service from BT Wholesale
BT Wholesale get their lines from BT Speedtouch who also look after the exchanges and muck up the connections and run round in those greyish vans
BT Retail sell the normal Phone service
BT Broadband like PN have to get their service from BT Wholesale

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

TicnTac — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:01:17 GMT

Yikes, that's 8 'BT's' in there - so we all know who to blame now don't we?

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

Luzern — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:04:50 GMT

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... purely a paper loss

True :), but a paper loss is also a loss on paper. The aggregate of those and other costs/ expenses affects the bottom line of sectors. If bottom line weak no matter what then questions are forthcoming.
jim:green quote fixed mod:end

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

al446 — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:14:28 GMT

@ pierre

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as you claim to be an ex BT man you should know the set up

It may be relevant that I left in '94 and that I was employed as a technician rather than a corporate accountant so would require not only the power prescience but also an interest in a previous employer, neither of which I possess, to live up to your statement. Broadband did not even exist when I left, max was ISDN which was for businesses. At that time I was using dial up which was a great deal faster than PN presently delivers to me (see other threads).
It seems to me that BT should drop the pretence of PN being a separate company and just trade entirely as BT retail. That would avoid on one arm of BT group charging another a sum that means that that arm has to make a paper loss when another arm is giving the same service for free but the outcome is that the customer of paper loss making arm has to shell out just short of £50 and an army of accountants is kept in employment.

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

Luzern — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:57:31 GMT

Come to think of it, it seem much like another Thatcher era wonderful idea like railways, for TOC ROSCO et cetera read BTw, BT Openreach and so on. until it goes up someone's funnel.

Re: Plusnet are becoming a joke!!!

WebDude — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:12:27 GMT

Quote from: al446
It seems to me that BT should drop the pretence of PN being a separate company and just trade entirely as BT retail.
... giving the same service for free but the outcome is that the customer of paper loss making arm has to shell out just short of £50 and an army of accountants is kept in employment.

I'm very glad that PN is left to run as it is, with separate products and services. As for what the customer pays out, charges vary from time to time, and it's always likely one could spot a better deal after going ahead with something a day/ week/ month earlier.
I got my BT line in the second week of February, having ordered the line on 30 January, but saved the 124.99 "installation" fee (valid at that time, has gone up, I think) but am tied for 18 months with BT.
Almost any of these schemes now locks a customer in for some lengthy contract, far in excess of the 3 months which BT used to require (though the penalty charges made were not so severe as to put many off, if they wanted to change network provider in the first 3 months). Some firms may still offer free line installation, but any such deal has some sting in the tail.