topic Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept? in Plusnet Feedback

Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

mickyd — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:42:18 GMT

First let me say that I chose the title of this topic carefully.
I don't usually use such strong language but in this case I think it is justified.
My issue with the Help and Support staff can be seen in this thread http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,77288.0.html.
As you can see from that thread.
My overcharging issue (completely Plusnet's fault) was resolved with the help of Pete from this forum. Thanks again Pete!
The Help staff completely failed!
My issue on this thread though is this:
My original query to the help staff contained the following from me:

<<I have been a customer for many years and WILL NOT accept this level of service.
I also could find no information that the term of the new contract was 18 months.
I wish to return IMMEDIATELY to my old contract.
I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER RESOLUTION.
I apologise for the capitalisation but I want to make my position clear!>>

In all my responses from the help staff, the above part of my query has been completely ignored.
No mention of it at all!
All three members of staff dealing with this query completely ignored that part.
Even when I replied to a message from [CSA Name Removed] with the following:
<<I invite you to go back and ACTUALLY read my first question and consider whether you think the concerns I raised were actually addressed.>>
Still completely ignored!
He must have missed it too!

I would like to ask (especially any Plusnet staff members).
Do you think this is acceptable?
To completely ignore issues raised by customers?
Luckily for me, I am (at least so far), reasonably happy with the Value package now that the overcharging issue has been resolved.
So my original concern about returning to my original package has somewhat subsided.
I did consider just leaving things as is and saying no more.
I do think though, that it is common courtesy to at least acknowledge an issue raised by customers.
Please Plusnet staff.
No replies to the effect of 'glad your issue was resolved'.
Just answer the question.
Acceptable? Or not?
Mick

Moderators note by Chemical Brother: Agents' Name removed as per the Forum Rules

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

Mand — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:18:38 GMT

I don't think any member of staff here would say it was acceptable. Things can get missed from time to time in tickets, but part of our agent monitoring and skills training is to ensure that every point a customer makes is responded to first time.
I can see that the issue has now been fully resolved for you, and am just sorry it took so long and so many requests from you to make it happen.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

Mayfly — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:08:38 GMT

I think this is a general problem & one that added to the reason I decided to leave Madasafish. It was plainly obvious by the replies I got to my tickets the answers were not tailored to my specfic problems but were general replies

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

baldrick — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:09:52 GMT

I have recently referred friends to PN and they have duly joined up. They decided to change their password, which was done. Unfortunately, and I don't know how it happened, in the process the Thomson router was programmed with the user name less the '@plusdsl.net' ending. Obviously all carried on working until there was a disconnection and then, of course, no reconnection. Two phone calls were made seeking assistance and on both occasions the PN 'help' agent insisted that the password had been incorrectly entered. On the second occassion the agent was reported as adopting an aggressive tone in response to being told that this was not the case.
I would not have thought it was beyond the wit of the most basically trained agent to go through the appropriate router screen to check that both the password and username were correctly installed, especially as you supply the router and should therefore be fully au fait with its set up..
In the event, I have had to make a 40 mile round trip to sort it out and my friends a) feel guilty for me having to go and do this and b) I suspect they are cross that I have recommended an organisation with such a poor support service. As you may imagine, I am not impressed.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:13:28 GMT

Hi Baldrick,
A couple of things here from me.
Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm sorry that your friend (and ultimately you) received a poor level of support. All of our technical staff are trained to support the reconfiguration of a router, especially if it's one that we send out!
Secondly, we're currently running and easy setup trial, which will allow automatic configurations of router using TR-069 technology which wouuld have hopefully made this a non issue.
Please pass on my apologies to your friend.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

mal0z — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:29:20 GMT

I would not call PN staff either ignorant or inept - but I agree that handling of tickets can be problematic sometimes, and I have had to post queries here on community to get the issue resolved - often by James
So I would say CS agent training needs to be ongoing.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:34:06 GMT

Quote
So I would say CS agent training needs to be ongoing.

Which is exactly what happens. We have a dedicated CSC trainer who spends his tijme (you'll never guess this..) training the CSC. Both in new product releases, refresher training and training for any new starters.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

mal0z — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:13:34 GMT

well yes - I wrote that piece badly didn't I ? - I sort of knew that James - but clearly some people need more training .
But as always - it's the poor cases that are highlighted - the vast majority of things are probably well handled.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:16:56 GMT

No - You didn't at all. I just suffered from a sudden burst of sarcasm overload!
There's not really a massive reason why you would know, but we've had a dedicated CSC trainer here for as long as I can remember. It used to be Bob!

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

Spider — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:17:25 GMT

Quote from: Jameseh
Quote
So I would say CS agent training needs to be ongoing.

... We have a dedicated CSC trainer who spends his tijme (you'll never guess this..) training the CSC. ...

But who trains the trainer? Not being insulting here but in one company I worked for I found that staff were being trained with the wrong information as the training department had not been updated with the latest work practices for the job. The new staff insisted they were doing it correctly, why? Because that is how they had just been taught.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

mal0z — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:22:19 GMT

Well you cope with all sorts of abusive stuff here very well - you are allowed some sarcasm from time to time

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

James — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:25:37 GMT

@Spider
The training material has to be signed off by various people within the company and there's ften a member of the Comms Team that has input, especially if it's product related.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

Teds31 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:42:56 GMT

I'm having trouble with my G/sons computer connection with T**kT**K and believe me PN by comparison are saints.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

JonJon — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:48:53 GMT

Quote
Which is exactly what happens. We have a dedicated CSC trainer who spends his tijme (you'll never guess this..) training the CSC. Both in new product releases, refresher training and training for any new starters.

As a matter of interest, does he also browse these forums from time to time? Just to see the topics which re-occur (or topics which are raised on here because of frustrations with CSC)?

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

itsme — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:23:13 GMT

Quote from: baldrick
Two phone calls were made seeking assistance and on both occasions the PN 'help' agent insisted that the password had been incorrectly entered. On the second occassion the agent was reported as adopting an aggressive tone in response to being told that this was not the case.

There are always two side of a story. I'm not familar with this particular router but most routers encrypt the password so perhaps your friend was adopting an aggressive tone by dismissing the agent request that the password was incorrect. How did your friend know that the password was correct? Also how did your friend change the username without knowing? Sound to me that you want to blame someone else for your friends mistake.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

Mand — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:15:17 GMT

Quote from: JonJon
As a matter of interest, does he also browse these forums from time to time? Just to see the topics which re-occur (or topics which are raised on here because of frustrations with CSC)?

He works very closely with us, on the same team in fact (it's very imaginatively called 'Comms and Training' ;)). We raise any issues with training to him, and to the management of the CSC as a whole.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

baldrick — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:45:09 GMT

Quote
There are always two side of a story. I'm not familar with this particular router but most routers encrypt the password so perhaps your friend was adopting an aggressive tone by dismissing the agent request that the password was incorrect. How did your friend know that the password was correct? Also how did your friend change the username without knowing? Sound to me that you want to blame someone else for your friends mistake.

I don't want to get into a slanging match about who was responsible. The password was entered several times plus the PN agent told her what it was. Also I tried it on my computer and found that I could get into their account - that's how we know! I don't know how the username changed but suspect that the old one is automatically deleted when the Thomson set up page is entered. When the set up page is entered it asks who the ISP is out of the PN group of companies. To be honest I assumed that it did this so that the router could automatically fill in the @plusdsl.net bit. In hindsight I should have checked before visiting. All the symptoms suggested an early life failure with the router so I went hot foot to put a spare on.
I am reporting what happened as seen from the customers point of view. In my opinion the PN performance was not up to scratch. It certainly left a new subscriber with a jaundiced view of the quality of PN support. I made this posting to make PN aware of this fact as I have no confidence that a ticket would get through to the proper authority.
I have received an apology from James. I also trust that the trainer and others who need to know will look at this forum and pick up on this and improve the situation for 'those who come after'. I am therefore satisfied.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

mickyd — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:08:27 GMT

At the same time of creating this topic (more or less), I added the following comment to my help ticket:
<<Is this part of my original issue invisible?
<<I have been a customer for many years and WILL NOT accept this level of service.
I also could find no information that the term of the new contract was 18 months.
I wish to return IMMEDIATELY to my old contract.
I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER RESOLUTION.
I apologise for the capitalisation but I want to make my position clear!>>
Remember...
I do not want the issue dealt with now.
What I am asking is this:
Why has it been IGNORED?
In an attempt to make my question clear.
I will ask it again
Why has that part of my original help question been IGNORED?
This was capitalised, so I don't think it could be missed.
Do you deliberately ignore issues that you don't like?
This has been dealt with by three people from Plusnet.
Did all three of them miss this part?
Regards
Michael Driscoll>>
I suppose I could have made the part "Remember...
I do not want the issue dealt with now." bigger.
But based on past experience I don't think it would have made any difference.
The reply to this comment as follows:
<<Dear Mr Driscoll,
Thanks for your response. While I cannot speak for my colleagues, I can only offer further apologies for missing this request. As you have been on the new account less than 30 days, I have scheduled your account to change back to the Premier package at the end of the billing month. Sorry for the frustration I am sure this has caused.
Kind regards,
(Plusnet staff members name)>>
In other words the issue has now been dealt with.
Something I asked not to be done.
Was my question answered? (The one I asked twice)
No!
It's a shame really because I have always been quite happy with the actual working of the broadband service.
The help and support side though is shameful.
I refuse to believe that all three help and support staff missed the part that this topic refers to.
I think they found it convenient not to mention it.

Quote from: mal0z
I would not call PN staff either ignorant or inept - but I agree that handling of tickets can be problematic sometimes, and I have had to post queries here on community to get the issue resolved - often by James
So I would say CS agent training needs to be ongoing.

This seems to be a contradiction to me.
And also seems to answer my question positively.
If you have had to post on community to get issues resolved perhaps the help and support ticket system should contain a link to the community for matters that the help staff feel unqualified to deal with.
Surely if they can be resolved on here then the help and support team (dedicated to help and support) should find it a breeze!
Perhaps there needs to be a few transfers from the community to help and support.
I myself only fixed my original overcharging issue by posting on this forum.
Trouble is, I only stumbled on the forum by luck.
I wonder how many customers issues go unresolved because they don't find there way here.
After all if you need help where do you go?
That's right ........
Mick

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

James — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:12:09 GMT

Hi Mick,
I've just tried to give you a ring to see if everything is okay now.
Looking at your ticket, things seem to be okay and that you're moving back to your old product on your next billing date.
If you would like me to call back later, let me know and I'll be happy to do so.

Re: Plusnet staff - Ignorant or inept?

HPsauce — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:22:31 GMT

Quote from: mickyd
I wish to return IMMEDIATELY to my old contract.
I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY OTHER RESOLUTION.
I apologise for the capitalisation but I want to make my position clear!>>
Remember...
I do not want the issue dealt with now.

I don't know what the support staff made of your comments, but they appear to be in direct contradiction:
1. IMMEDIATELY
2. not ......... now