topic Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk.... in Plusnet Feedback

Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:51:36 GMT

Its been three weeks now with no discernible broadband service. At the moment I'm up to about 4 and a half hours of my life wasted on the phone to try and sort it out. What was the award winning service for? Just been informed that if I leave I have to pay £65 from someone at customer services who really didn't give a toss.
The tech staff have tried to help and been quite understanding to my situation(Broadband speed only working occasionally and when it does at the old days of dial up speeds156kbps).
This contrasts strongly with the customer service member who spoke to me this morning was obviously trained from the college of "computer says". This consisted of a very abrupt and totally inconsiderate conversation and at on point she even started to try to point out the small print as to why Plusnet weren't responsible for any of my problems! Great customer service.
Its not plusnet's fault.
It never was plusnet's fault.
It never will be plusnet's fault...."it says in the small print.............."
It is my time, money, and internet connection but not plusnets fault.-(i think is says somewhere in the small print but I was so fed up with her attitude)
If your in customer services shouldn't you care? I thought that was the job-the clue is in the job title.
Re the £40 for the router well a new one was sent last week so if you tell me where to send it back to then that'll be your router returned within 14 days and £40 off the bill as i only received it last monday.
All this grief for the grand saving of £4 per month. Wish I never had left talk talk.
REASONS NOT TO BE WITH PLUSNET
3 weeks no proper broadband
Over 4 1/2 hours on the phone trying to get help
Can't even post this first time because............................... the broadband connection has dropped out again
Customer services which isn't.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

Chris — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:02:18 GMT

Sorry to hear of the problems you've been having. I can see that our faults team have been dealing with the issue and there is an engineer booked for the 16th. The notes say there is crosstalk on the line, this is more than likely the reason behind the poor broabdand connection and you'll more than likely start to see improvements once that issue is resolved.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:21:17 GMT

What about the really bad customer service then? You would think that I wouldn't be liable for the £65 charges after such bad service from the "award winning "plusnet?.
If I send back the router to save me the £40 will the engineer need this or will they be ok on my d-link one that I'm currently using?
Whats the address to send it back to?

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:05:24 GMT

Quote from: spannerhappy
What about the really bad customer service then?

It looks like we've been very active in trying to resolve your issues. If you can tell me what bad customer service you had I can make sure that gets fed back to any agents involved.

Quote from: spannerhappy
If I send back the router to save me the £40 will the engineer need this or will they be ok on my d-link one that I'm currently using?
Whats the address to send it back to?

I'm afraid that the router will have to have been returned within seven days for the deferred contract not to be applied.
Jojo

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

Steve — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:29:57 GMT

You should be use to poor customer service what with coming from TalkTalk ( I'm a TalkTalk customer so I know the drill ) Six weeks I had no phone or broadband when I moved home, That's life, Its not the be all and end all although Its really frustrating.Things happen.
Open reach fixed me up ( Eventually ) And It will be open reach that sorts your line for you, ISP'S has nothing to do with It. As an ex plusnet customer I experienced top notch customer service, Perhaps someone was just having a bad hair day.
Regards

should've gone to specsavers and read the plusnet small print

spannerhappy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:27:26 GMT

Where do I start? No broadband would be a good place. As I can only go on what service I had before... Tiscali, as it was, identified a problem after about 3 days of poor service sent an engineer out within two days possibly the next day then after the house connections were checked he went off to the distribution point and came back an hour or so later to say all done. Connection speed 3-4 meg straight away.

Plusnet deals with it like this:
Week 1 many phone calls with responses like"if you wait 72 hours". How many times did I have to wait 72 hours and then wait for 20-30min on your support line only to be told we've passed this on to our fault finding team.
Week 2 When you call customer services-not customer services calling you despite being aware of your lack of service you get told nothing can be done, no compensation can be offered, no future discounts can be sorted until the problem has been fixed. No mention at this time of any charge for the router(on the second one now by the way after the first didn't even connect-still not as good as my old d-link router though) other than the £25 connection charge. Tried to argue this as I haven't been connected and told it wasn't plusnet's fault. It was bt 's fault. When I said I thought I was dealing with plusnet I was told "that's how it is" and I would still be liable for the charge irrespective of if i was connected or not!!!
Week 3 got an email stating that I was in fact indebted to plusnet for £65 as this now includes the router! After a phone call this morning from someone who had the consideration of a rock as well as the "computer says" level of compassion I was informed that the router should have been returned within 14 days hence my previous comments. Now you say it should have been 7 days!!! Still no sound of compassion or customer services to try and help me, the customer, out. All I got was "computer says"
Have you tried living without broadband for 3 weeks? Its not just the lack of it but when you try to use it it drops a sit did the first time i sent this message. Then you have to restart the router and the computer all just to read your emails and send off a few letters!
I would like to have spoken to someone who would have started of with acknowledging my situation and then possibly apologising with promises of repair soon. That might have diffused the situation. It would have also been nice to consider the amount of effort on my behalf to try and resolve this matter which stands at over 4 1/2 hours on the phone and now having to take a day off work to wait in for an engineer. When I threatened to leave that would have been the time to speak to me-not email- and offer intensives to keep me aboard, considering all the grief I have gone though. Instead All I have received is an inconsiderate response from customer services who deny any responsibility for my lack of broadband and insist on £65 for a service I have as yet not received.
3 weeks ago I had broadband now i'm lucky if its narrow band
Although talk talk is based in India and sometimes the level of communication was difficult at least it wasn't blatant "we don't give a toss" that seems to be the plusnet way.
Can't send this straight away as the connections dropped out again again.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:46:16 GMT

Sorry, due to the connection dropping out again and again and again. my reply has started in another link see-I wish I had gone to specsavers-

P.s.
Quick comment about Talk talk is at least they showed some concern and understanding about any problem I had unlike my experiences so far with plusnet

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spraxyt — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:47:05 GMT

I'm sure the moderators would merge that post (link) into this topic if you ask them to. Doing that would place it into the appropriate context to help the Digital Care Team to feedback any customer service issues to the agents involved.
As I understand it from an earlier post by Chris an engineer visit has been arranged for the 16th to correct a line fault.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

Strat — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:29:27 GMT

Moderators Note Threads merged.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:52:15 GMT

Hi spannerhappy,
Let's see what happens when the engineer has been on Wednesday and we'll address any outstanding issues then
Jojo

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:14:37 GMT

5 hrs on the phone and 1 days lost earnings and still no joy.
How much longer? Can't I have a refund for my initial outlay and just go back to talktalk?
The engineer came round, checked my house connection-all good,
He then checked the connection in the village and ended up at the local exchange.
One wire replaced due to it being an old type and called to say all checked and everything ok.
1/2 hr later speeds back to sub 2ookbps.
Biddings missed on ebay auctions, Monthly membership to some websites useless as when the front page contains moving images the page won't work due to the low speed. Can't send normal size Pictures to friends and family due to time out on uploads. Forget trying to use the internet for any shopping(insurance renewal due) as the pages get stuck due to download speed. I'm having to rely on my Blackberry for emailing and about to go over my data limit for the first time ever. Forget BBC I player or U tube It just won't work and at that speed downloading one program would take a week.
Its nearly a month now.
How much longer?

Apparently there is a good chance that the next engineer will also want me to be in when they attempt the next repair. Another day off work? There isn't that much work out there at the moment and everyday I don't work I also jeopardise being employed on the next job if I have to take too many days off.
Do I have to do much more?

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:10:48 GMT

Hi spannerhappy,
I see from the ticket that this has been passed to a specialist team to investigate. We will keep pushing to get this resolved for you and I can understand how frustrating it can be when things aren't working properly. I'll see what updates I can get today for you and let you know as soon as I have more information.
Jojo

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:15:28 GMT

Hi spannerhappy,
I've been asked by one of the the faults team if the cross line that you reported is still happening?
Jojo

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jelv — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:47:03 GMT

Oh geez! Not another person concentrating on their broadband problems when the underlying problem is a faulty phone line!

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:17:29 GMT

Well I've only noticed the cross line whilst spending so much time getting in touch with plusnet-on average 20 min wait before someone pics up! I hadn't noticed it before but after 5hrs of calls to plusnet.... One of my friends has suggested its the wireless phone I'm using (its a Bt one) so maybe there's someone in the near vicinity with a similar model?. The engineer checked my line, the house line, the junction box in the village and then the connection to the exchange . Wouldn't that show up a crossline fault if there was one? Wouldn't he fix a problem with my line if he found it? He did replace one cable in the exchange.
I've now been asked to take another day off work so another engineer can have another look at the fault despite the fact that the connections to the exchange are all good but I can't take any more time off without eating into my Christmas holiday time.
Strange how my talk talk connection worked perfectly (broadband and phone) with no problems for 3 years.
When the engineer phoned me from the exchange to say all was ok I did a speed test on the computer and got 4.5meg but this was shortlived as 30 min later it had dropped doen to 180kbps again. Last night it went up to 4.5 meg again and was like that in the morning but when I got back from work and all this evening its maxed out at 232kbps.

5 hrs on the phone to plusnet, 1 day off work(unpaid) and possibly another all this to save a couple of pounds a month. Totally not worth it.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:46:06 GMT

Speeds now holding at a steady 2.5-3 meg. Not the same speeds I was getting before as promised by the sales team (mind you they didn't tell me the 0870 and 0845 numbers were only free during the evening and weekend times they missed that last bit out)
After speaking to the tech guys to find out if this problem is now resolved or do i still have to take another day off(its been decided to monitor it). I also asked about this router return timescale as I'm still using my D-link. He told me it is return within 14 days not the 7 days I was told earlier. I was going to return the unused router as I was within the 14 days but the advisor on here told me it was only 7 days. Now I'm out of time and confused with a router that's not needed.

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

pierre_pierre — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:11:26 GMT

if you are on Evening and weekend phone, why would you expect any call to be free outside that time?
but if you are calling PN 0845 and you have PN as your phone supplier it is free at any time

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:40:42 GMT

Quote from: spannerhappy
I also asked about this router return timescale as I'm still using my D-link. He told me it is return within 14 days not the 7 days I was told earlier. I was going to return the unused router as I was within the 14 days but the advisor on here told me it was only 7 days. Now I'm out of time and confused with a router that's not needed.

Hi, I'm afraid the 14 day advice is incorrect. It is 7 days, as stated in our cancellation policy. I've had a look at your account and can't see where you were informed that. Can you remember when you were told that and who it was by any chance? I can then feed it back.
[quote=Cancellation policy]For supplied equipment, the 7 day period starts from the day after the equipment is received. We will not pay the postage costs for the return of the equipment in these circumstances.
Also, the router contract started on the 4th October and the post you made was on the 11th November.
As it stands the fault ticket is now back with you and will remain open for 14 days. No further action will be taken unless you wish us to.
Jojo

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

spannerhappy — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:52:55 GMT

Hi, the 14 days was told to me twice. Once by the very obtuse customer relations lady and then the second time by the very good tech guy who I called a the same day I last wrote. The first router didn't work so a replacement was sent . It was the second router I was referring to which does not perform as well as the old D-link router i had.(I wrongly thought the plusnet router was required for the plusnet broadband service especially when there was a fault-how wrong was i)
I was told that the cost related to the router not a router contract. Surely then that would be from the day I received it? (I do love the technicality about plusnet for the small print (the annoying customer services lady also referred to the small print)).
So far I've spent hours on the phone to sort out a problem that wasn't my fault, had to take a day off work to prove it wasn't my fault. Now I have a service which isn't as good as I was told it would be and pierrepierre and jelv who love to stick their oar in with stupid comments doesn't help.
Re Jelv .When you sign up with a broadband company and pay a connection fee to them you expect a level of responsibility. From your comment you seem to think differently. After all if you bought a car from a dealer you'd expect it to have wheel wouldn't you? What am I supposed to do as a customer? Should i just sit back and say nothing? I do hope your not part of the customer services team."Jeez another customer winging about our service!!"-is how it come across-cheers
Re pierrepierre as i said I was told by your sales staff it was free. Why should I assume that to call a 0845 number would be free when in the next breath you say calling plusnet 0845 is free? duuuuuh Its because that was what I was told by a member of the plusnet sales team.
These comments really don't help me at all.
Other Dubious comments from plusnet so far:
0845 and 0870 numbers are free
14 day return on the router
You'll get the same broadband speed as you had before.
Feel free to call me on my mobile to sort this out

So what next?

Re: Wish I hadn't left Talk Talk....

jojopillo — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:07:51 GMT

Hi spannerhappy,
Sorry this thread seems to be getting a little out of hand and straying away from the real point. I'll call you this morning and we can discuss it without any such distractions.
Jojo