topic Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice in Plusnet Feedback

Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 18:47:54 GMT

Having been invited to comment on Plusnet's handling of FTTC problems I sent a letter to James Bailey, the Complaints Manager, which he has not replied to or acknowledged although the ten working days response time set out in the 'Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice' has elapsed.
Any idea who I should now contact? There does seem to be a reluctance for Plusnet management to contact their customers in the event of problems, which does seem more than a bit iffy for an organisation that so frequently trumpets its customer care.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

Oldjim — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 18:52:25 GMT

Unfortunately it is unlikely that James will see this before Monday
However I expect it will be picked up then and responded to

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

Dan_the_Van — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 20:09:45 GMT

Hi,
When I complained I used the online process, I had a response within the five working days quoted.

Quote
Go to http://help.plus.net/(you'll need your account username and password) and select 'Customer Services' then 'Making a Complaint'. This means that you will be able to raise your complaint quickly and directly to our Complaints Team.

Hopefully this link will take you to the correct location to raise a complaint. https://portal.plus.net/wizard/?p=wizard&page=22909&wizard_id=38
Hope this helps
Dan.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

AlaricAdair — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 13:49:43 GMT

As I've mentioned elsewhere Ofcom offer advice on their website for when the normal complaints procedure fails.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 20:09:52 GMT

Many thanks for the responses.
Oldjim - Strange given the number of support problems evident during the past few months that there is not someone from complaints available at weekends.
Dandroid - The online support pages have been indicating "Our Support Team have replied to your question", for some time, which is certainly not the case and the Help Assistant seems to accept that a complaint was received ten working days ago. Once a letter has been received by Plusnet and scanned into their system I cannot fathom why it should take any longer than an issue raised using the online system which apparently has a five day deadline - most odd.
AlaricAdair - I will be referring the saga to Ofcom/CISAS unless Plusnet get their act together very soon and it has been suggested elsewhere that I should ensure that those organisations which have given awards or recommendations to Plusnet are made aware of the evident drop in customer support standards.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

Oldjim — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 20:26:28 GMT

Quote from: rbel
Oldjim - Strange given the number of support problems evident during the past few months that there is not someone from complaints available at weekends.

There may well be but not active on these Forums and I doubt that the Manager (James) works shifts normally

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

Chris — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 08:32:19 GMT

I've just had a look at your account and can see the letter you sent us has been received and we've replied by letter to you, this was sent yesterday so should arrive soon.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 18:23:09 GMT

Chris - many thanks for checking. It does seem that taking so long to respond to a complaint is symptomatic of Plusnet's current indifferent customer care standards, which is a shame when one considers past performance.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

James — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:21:22 GMT

Quote from: rbel
Having been invited to comment on Plusnet's handling of FTTC problems I sent a letter to James Bailey, the Complaints Manager, which he has not replied to or acknowledged although the ten working days response time set out in the 'Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice' has elapsed.

@rbel - I replied to your letter last Friday. I am a little surprised if you have not yet received it?

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 10:38:19 GMT

@James

Quote
@rbel - I replied to your letter last Friday. I am a little surprised if you have not yet received it?

The letter in question, signed by you, was dated Monday 27 January not, as you indicate above, the previous Friday. It arrived with me on 29 January.
The online records show that prior to you posting your above comment on the forum, Plusnet had received my response to the 27 January letter (both via snail mail and online).
My response expressed surprise that your letter was based on an incorrect assumption which you would have been aware of if you had actually looked at the Plusnet Assistant notes relating to my FTTC problems.
Forgive me if I seem a bit hacked off, but these very basic errors, piled on top of 21 weeks failure by Plusnet and BTW/Openreach to get a grip of the problem are beginning to annoy me a little.
I have given up on the plea for anything approaching the estimated FTTC speeds and am just seeking a return to the 16 Mbps I received during October/November last year. Please, please commit Plusnet to rectifying this problem - as one of your colleagues has stated, a 12 Mbps download speed is just not acceptable.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

paulwalker6789 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 10:23:42 GMT

I promised myself I would not post here again. Ah welll! One of the issues I have with the PN comllaints policy is that if your issue is with the way the complaint has been handled by James' department there is no way of escalating further, apart from recourse to CISAS. I will not go on about my own complaint. I do not think this is the place to do so. Suffice it to say that if my experience is anything to go by the way compalaints are processed needs an urgent review.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 12:52:48 GMT

@paulwalker
Are you saying that there is not an appeal process within Plusnet, that there is nobody at senior management level who is able review the handling of a complaint?

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

paulwalker6789 — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 16:46:42 GMT

Exactly. Crazy tho it may seem the last word is the complaints manager. Details are here
http://www.plus.net/support/service/policies/complaints_code_of_practice.shtml

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

James — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:38:06 GMT

@Rbel
Apologies - I got my days mixed up.
Unfortunately we have reached deadlock with Openreach for your line and there is nothing further we can do. And we *really* have tried as I would hope that you would appreciate given the number of visits that you have had. This has also been escalated to an extremely senior level with Openreach.
I'm very sorry that we're not able to improve the situation further.
On the note of the code of practice, I deal with a small number of cases where the customer is not happy with how the complaint has been handled. In some occasions, this has already been escalated 4 times. I do of course have a manager, but she generally doesn't get involved in the handling of individual cases and the code of practice allows you to raise your complaint further with CISAS if you are not happy with how Plusnet have handled your case.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

jelv — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:07:37 GMT

Has he been provided with a deadlock letter?

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

James — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:19:46 GMT

These are generated on request unless a complaint ticket remains ongoing for over 8 weeks, in which case we would send one out in the post.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 10:21:10 GMT

@James
As I indicated above and in my letter of 29 January, I am now only seeking a return to the 16 Mbps I received during October/November last year, or at the least a speed to match my current BTW profile, not anything approaching the estimated speed which the Openreach efforts have been based on. Have Openreach specifically indicated that this is also not attainable?

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

Pettitto — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 11:23:43 GMT

I've just taken a look at your connection and I can see you've completed the BTSpeedtester.
The results have shown us that the speeds you are obtaining are lower than they would expect. After the speed test you ran, you would have been offered to run a TAP3. If we've any chance of working to get those speeds back, we could really do with having this run.
If possible, could you run the BT Speedtester again at http://speedtest.btwholesale.com making sure that the initial and 'Further Diagnostics' tests are completed. If you are offered to do a TAP3 Test after the second Speed Test, please run this so we can report this further to our suppliers.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:29:13 GMT

@Chris, thanks for picking this up.
I have rerun the BTW speedtester including further diagnostics a few times this afternoon but on each occasion the TAP3 test "can't find the server at test3.speedtest.btwholesale.com"
I will have another try late this evening when things may be a bit quieter.

Re: Plusnet Complaints Code of Practice

rbel — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:51:49 GMT

@Chris
I tried again to run the TAP3 test late yesterday evening but again the result was "can't find the server at test3.speedtest.btwholesale.com".
Do you want me to try again or (i) is there a fault with the TAP3 test (ii) is there an alternative approach to checking the data?