topic Re: Thinking about leaving in Plusnet Feedback

Thinking about leaving

ReedRichards — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 23:01:27 GMT

I really like Plusnet as an ISP but somehow they seem to be the only ISP still bothering with a pricing structure based on the Ofcom market classification of your local telephone exchange. BT have an offer of something akin to Plusnet's 'Essentials' package for £10 a month; as far as I can tell it's £10 a month wherever you live. That's less than I pay Plusnet before referral discounts and unambiguously less if I take into account the £40 voucher that BT throws in with their offer. I get the impression Plusnet has lost interest in its old non-fibre Market 1 customers.
Now Plusnet give excellent technical support, including setting my target SNRM to 3dB which works very well for me to boost my download speed, although their inability to get their speed profile system ('Current Line Speed') to track properly lets them down. I've always been with BT for my telephone so that side is not an issue.
So it seems to be down to a choice between a tangible price and an intangible quality-of-tech-support. Is there anything else I should consider?

Re: Thinking about leaving

tijara33 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:50:30 GMT

Learn how to understand a strong Indian accent!

Re: Thinking about leaving

ITWorks — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 06:07:45 GMT

The big difference is you get the free overnight usage on the PN essentials package, which you do not on the 10gb BT package.
Regards
Mike

Re: Thinking about leaving

Anotherone — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:09:51 GMT

I'm sure you already know my thoughts on Market 1 pricing and how unfair it is. It don't know at this particular point how many other providers actually give the same price for Market 1 as Market 2 or 3. Every time I've looked at the headline rates of some of the other providers and the obvious small/smaller print on the leading pages, there's been no indication that Market 1 would be more expensive, but when a more detailed enquiry is made, the response has been that - oh, your exchange is not in ".....our coverage area" or words to that effect. So how much will it cost I ask, the response is they don't do it or it's around £5-£15pm more!
You have commented again about Current Line Speed - how much variability are you actually getting? On 21CN the impact is almost insignificant if you quickly recover the sync speed if the Current Line Speed hasn't changed. How do you know that BT Retail's equivalent works any better?
If your connection is dropping that much, then perhaps you actually need that "intangible quality-of-tech-support" and perhaps you should consider learning the relevant Indian dialect as getting them to understand you is probably at least as important as understanding them

Re: Thinking about leaving

newagetraveller — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:16:14 GMT

Quote from: tijara33
Learn how to understand a strong Indian accent!

Or even a strong Yorkshire one!?

Re: Thinking about leaving

dvorak — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:37:15 GMT

BT certainly cover their costs by making everyone pay the same, which is probably higher at at the market 1 price i'd have thought.
The £10 a month for 10GB is what everyone would pay despite what it costs BT, where as in a market 3 PN is £6.
The loss of the free overnight usage is a big hit if you ever want to download a large amount with PN at least you can set it up overnight.
it may just come down to how altruistic you are..

Re: Thinking about leaving

ReedRichards — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 07:56:21 GMT

Thanks people, for some reason I had completely forgotten about the free overnight usage with Plusnet, which I actually make good use of. Taking that into account leaves my only viable option with BT as their unlimited package at £16 per month with the first six months free, so £96 for the year (it's an 18 month contract so £192 for the duration). That's a great deal for the first year but not quite so attractive when it becomes £16 per month ongoing. But perhaps another 18 months would see me through to a time when Ofcom finally do something about their outdated market classifications and I could then return to Plusnet at a more sensible cost per month?

Re: Thinking about leaving

Mayfly — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 08:14:09 GMT

When I contacted OFCOM they told me the new classifications should be completed by March 2014.

Re: Thinking about leaving

ReedRichards — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 21:43:21 GMT

I more or less made up my mind to go with BT's unlimited offer at £192 for 18 months (plus a £40 grocery voucher). There was a downside in that I would end-up paying an extra £1.85 for a new version of their 'Unlimited' calling plan that also gives half-price calls to mobiles, superseding the old cheaper version I use at present. Of course I might well recoup some or all of that extra £1.85 per month on reduced mobile call charges.
So I called Plusnet for a MAC code but never got that far because I was offered a good deal; similar to what is on published offer for new clients. But there were two flies in the ointment. The little one was that I like and use Caller Display which is free from BT and 99p per month from Plusnet. The big one was that I have taken the annual line rental option with BT and I find this is non-refundable. I've got half a year to go and sacrificing that wipes out any savings.
BT throws in a lot of extras but would Plusnet would be cheaper taking my referral discounts into account. Should I move on or wait around until I can switch my phone to Plusnet? It's quite a tough choice.

Re: Thinking about leaving

Anotherone — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 22:42:51 GMT

Only you can decide

Re: Thinking about leaving

ReedRichards — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 06:11:10 GMT

You are absolutely right, Anotherone. Ultimately, taking into account the value of BT's freebies and extras, particularly their dual-band Home Hub 4, I think they offer the better deal. I liked Plusnet, particularly their excellent technical support. but I wonder if they have taken their eye off their non-fibre customers?

Re: Thinking about leaving

davidj66 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 08:12:17 GMT

Yesterday i wrestled with my choices as my Annual Line rental renewal was due early next week -in the end I've stuck with P/Net as I managed to negotiate a 12 month deal for u/l internet.
My reasoning was that
a) OFCOM reclassification MAY help me by next year's renewal date, as we will then have 2 LLU suppliers.
b) My exchange is due for fibre "from March 2014" - perhaps
c) SKY (who are the only LLU supplier currently) wouldn't honour an offer they made a month ago and the new offers aren't as financially attractive - and I decided that I don't want to put all my apples in one barrel!!
Hopefully I might have a wider set of choices this time next year!

Re: Thinking about leaving

rja66 — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 10:30:10 GMT

Quote from: ReedRichards
Should I move on or wait around until I can switch my phone to Plusnet? It's quite a tough choice.

Would Plusnet not defer the switching of your phone line until your BT rental has expired?
My opinion on moving is that I will usually stick with something if I have experienced good service even if the cost is slightly higher, I usually look to save every penny but the thought of being stuck in an 18 mth contract scares me a little if the service turns out to be poor. Also, have you considered if you return to Plusnet after this time you will lose you current referrals thus costing you more?
Of course BT may give equally good service.
Good luck making your decision.

Re: Thinking about leaving

ReedRichards — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 22:30:23 GMT

Quote from: rja66
Would Plusnet not defer the switching of your phone line until your BT rental has expired?

I doubt it very much. The whole point of such deals is that the ISPs get their hands on the lucrative line rental income.

Quote from: rja66
Of course BT may give equally good service.

I help many BT clients with their internet problems, if these arise. BT tends to take more prodding to take action where that is what is needed but they generally will. Recently they have been pushing paid-for home visits if, for example, your download speed is dreadful but has been dreadful from day 1. That is poor service. Personally as my broadband is very stable I don't anticipate any problems that are not phone line problems.

Re: Thinking about leaving

RobPN — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:07:06 GMT

Quote from: rja66

Also, have you considered if you return to Plusnet after this time you will lose you current referrals thus costing you more?

AFAIR it used to be the case that you could continue to receive your referral payments even if you left PlusNet. I think this was made possible by downgrading your BroadBand account to 'Dialup' rather than closing it - you could then upgrade back to DSL again if you wished to return. Referral payments accrued until they reached a certain amount (£5 ?) and were then credited to your nominated bank account.
Maybe things have changed ..... ?

Re: Thinking about leaving

James — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:08:11 GMT

You'd retain your referrals if the account is downgraded.

Re: Thinking about leaving

RobPN — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:26:21 GMT

Quote from: James
You'd retain your referrals if the account is downgraded.

Thanks for confirming that James.
Because of the recent price increase for non-PlusNet (e.g. BT) phoneline subscribers I'm also thinking of leaving. Having had PlusNet ADSL in various flavours for about 11 years I don't really want to do that, but I see the price increase as a form of blackmailing people into taking PlusNets inferior (for several reasons) phone service, which might even be construed by some as an underhand restriction of customer choices.

Re: Thinking about leaving

James — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:34:54 GMT

By inferior are we referring to our phone faults process & lack of free caller display?
The actual service is identical that of which BT supply to their own customers, but I'd be keen to understand what is preventing you from wanting to move your phone to us.

Re: Thinking about leaving

RobPN — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:35:11 GMT

Quote from: James

By inferior are we referring to our phone faults process & lack of free caller display?

Yes; additionally PlusNet do not offer free incoming call diversion to a mobile number in the event of the landline service not working as BT do, and possibly other things which I can't think of right now.

Quote from: James

The actual service is identical that of which BT supply to their own customers, but I'd be keen to understand what is preventing you from wanting to move your phone to us.

What is a telephone service? Any ISP could say that the "actual service is identical to that which BT supply to their own customers"; i.e. Pick up phone, dial number, speak, hang up; but clearly there are other things involved which mean that the overall service is not the same. I've read other peoples comments in various threads and the people who criticise the service seem to have justifiable gripes regarding things such as those referred to above and that's enough to put me off, but the main thrust of my moan is financial.
IMO PlusNet has failed to attract the number of customers it would like to its phone service by competing on service quality itself, so it has decided to get more customers by hook or by crook, i.e. put pressure on broadband-only customers by increasing their costs.
I can't see any justifiable reason for me to change my phone service from BT to PlusNet especially as I'd be paying considerably more if I did so, hence my reason for thinking of moving to BT for my Internet service.
Edit: spelling

Re: Thinking about leaving

Ado16 — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:36:05 GMT

Every time I look at BT's prices I always think HOW MUCH??? and feel quite pleased I came to Plusnet!