topic Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service in Plusnet Feedback

Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 10:56:02 GMT

I heard good things of plus.net. When I wanted to get home phone and broadband, I did my research on comparison websites like uswitch and which?, and all the sites said plus.net was a good service. I wish I could say my experience could confirm this. I can't. I took out my order on the 18th of february, at which time, because a new line needed to be installed, plus.net took over £70 off me. I still don't even have a working phone line, never mind broadband.
When I placed my order, I was told that I needed to wait three weeks for an engineer to come and install the new line, on the 10th of march. I wasn't happy, and was told something about flooding and all the engineers being really busy. Well, ok. I didn't like it, but I waited. The man showed up, so at least there was that, but he said that there was a problem, and something needed to be added to The Exchange. I don't know what that means. No one has ever explained it to me, but it's a phrase I've heard so often now that I think of it in capitals. The engineer promised that this work would be done by the end of the day. It wasn't. I received an email from plus.net later that day saying there was a delay, and that further details would be forthcoming. They weren't, so I had to ring up, and my details were passed to the supplier department. A couple of days later, I was informed that a new engineer needed to be booked as the installation had been unsuccessful. Quoting directly from the email, it said, "Please make sure you give us correct details to pass on to the engineer, as this was the reason for the installation not being successful. Please note: there will be a re-booking fee for the appointment." So, apparently it was all my fault, and I would be charged for it.
I rang up plus.net, very upset. The lady on the phone was very nice, and told me that an engineer had been sent to my flat that day and no one had answered. Not surprising. considering no one had even told me he was coming. However, she promised there would be no extra charges for missing this "appointment," which is just as well because the fee would have been £40-50. She said she would pass my details onto the supplier department, and get it chased up. I had to ring up again to get any inofrmation, but a mere two days later, another email said another engineer had been booked for the 18th of march.
I was not happy about another wait, but wait I did. When the engineer showed up, he did exactly the same things as the first engineer, and repeated virtually word for word what the first engineer had said. Something needed to be added to The Exchange. Apparently, no one had given this new engineer any of the information from the first engineer. (??!) However, he said this external work would be done quickly, and he would ring me when it was. Like a fool, I believed him, but it wasn't, and he didn't. I heard nothing, and so once again I had to ring up plus.net, who again kicked it over to the supplier department. I heard back on the 20th, promising that The Exchange work would be done by the 25th, and I would be contacted with a new appointment for an engineer once it was.The 25th came and went, and I heard nothing. I again had to ring up plus.net, who passed my enquiry onto the supplier department, once again. I just heard back. The work that was supposed to be done on The Exchange was not. Now, a "multi skilled engineer" will complete this work by the 1st of April, and I will be contacted with a new appointment for an engineer then.
I feel like I've very patient, but in an odd way, I also feel like I've been robbed. £70 is a lot of money for me, for anyone I suppose, and I have paid for something I have not received. The staff on plus.net phones are always polite, apologetic and friendly, and I feel like they're trying to help. However, quite frankly, I'd prefer it if they were rude if it meant I might actually get somewhere. An argument could be made that it isn't plus.net's fault as they are having to wait on their external supplier, but I feel plus.net should make their supplier move a little faster in the name of good customer service. Every time I've wanted information, I had to ring up plus.net to chase it. I can't think of another service or product where I would have to wait a month and half after paying this amount of money and still not receive anything, and have this be okay. I don't think this is okay. There's no other word for this than shoddy. Right now, I wouldn't recommend plus.net to anyone even if I was paid to do it. It's lucky I was still within my 30-day cancellation period with T-Mobile for the MiFi I have off them, so I could extend that contract, otherwise, I'd have no internet at all.
If, after the 1st of April, I have to chase up plus.net just to see what's going on, and nothing has still been done, I'm seriously considering cancelling my contract, and going elsewhere.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

artmo — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:18:18 GMT

Sounds like the problem is with BT Openreech and they are a law unto themselves

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:23:14 GMT

I agree with you. I've heard a lot of bad stories about them. However, I also feel that plus.net must take some of the blame. They haven't kept me informed about what was happening, and I had to chase them up for information repeatedly. I don't think that's alright. Also, I don't feel like they've put any kind of pressure on BT Openreach to move faster. The whole thing has a blasé "we'll get to it when we get to it" feel.
dick:quote

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

artmo — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:29:50 GMT

You are certainly due some compensation for the problem. Keep a record of all that goes on.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

LinnPlusnet — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:26:59 GMT

Hi themooncriedout,
I'm very sorry about the experience you've had so far getting your new line installed.
I've had a look over this and have also called our suppliers to see if they could provide me with any further information. They have advised that an engineer is assigned to attend your exchange on 31/03/2014 to resolve the fault located at your exchange which is the reason why your new line cannot be installed successfully. I can only apologise that this is taking some time. The issue at the exchange is that the port where your line is connected is faulty and this needs to be resolved before our suppliers can complete the installation.
I completely understand that you feel that Plusnet should take part of the blame as we've not kept you fully updated. I will ensure that this is chased up for you on 01/04/2014 to allow time for the engineer to complete the work on 31/03/2014. We aim to provide you with updates as soon as we have any and don't want you to feel like you have to keep chasing us to get answers.
As the work is required to be carried out by BT OpenReach, we have no control over how quickly this is done. As much as I can appreciate that you think we should hurry them along, this isn't something that we can do. If we could then we certainly would do.
Our provisioning team will continue to monitor this for you and you can expect an update by the end of the day on 01/04/2014.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:37:41 GMT

Well, thank you for the prompt response. I shall wait until next week, but I reserve judgement until I hear anything.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

LinnPlusnet — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:11:17 GMT

Hi themooncriedout,
I'm having this chased up for you and you should receive an update by the end of the day.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:35:07 GMT

So, I just had a phone call. After having been promised (again) that the work would be finished on the 31st of March, I've now been told I have to wait again. This time until Thursday the 4th of April. I'm really quite angry. I guess I was right to reserve judgement.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

LinnPlusnet — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 13:21:16 GMT

I am sorry there's been a further delay, themooncriedout.
It seems the work still needs to be carried out at your exchange. Our Provisioning team will continue to monitor the ticket on your account and provide you with an update as soon as they can.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:21:50 GMT

It's been a while since I posted here, because I was hoping everything would be sorted out. It isn't.
My phone line was finally connected on the 4th of this month. The engineer who came out that day was efficient, knew what had to be done, and did it quickly. He couldn't understand why it had taken so long. I received an email to say my broadband would take about a week to come online, and it gave me the estimated date of the 12th, any time up to midnight. I was also told that my router had been posted to me and I would receive it before the internet became active. Well. I received confirmation that my broadband was ready to use on the 11th, so kudos for getting it done a day early. Here's where it all hit the fan however. There was absolutely no sign of the router. I don't already have one, so I couldn't use my internet.
I rang up on the 11th to see what was going on. The person on the line told me that five days had to be allowed before anything could be done, and so to try ringing back on the sunday, the 13th, if it still hadn't arrived. In the same conversation, I asked about compensation, as a previous advisor had told me to do once my service was up and running. She put me on hold to work out what I was owed. When she came back, she said I would receive roughly £85 for having to wait so long. After I hung up, she rang me back again, but because I'd left the house by that time I no longer had my security details with me, and so she said she'd ring me back on the 14th.
Meanwhile, the router did not arrive by the 13th. I was generous and allowed an extra day, and rang up on the 14th. The lady on the phone said it was very odd, asked me questions about my letterbox--in case it was my fault I guess--and said she had ordered me a new router and it would arrive anytime between today and friday. Later on, the lady from my earlier conversation rang me back, and said that not only would I not receive the £85 she had promised, I wouldn't get anything. When I protested, she conceded that I could have my installation fee back. Fine, I'll take that. She was very helpful however, and said she would ring me back today to check that the router had arrived.
Well, ladies and gents, it didn't. When this lady rang me and found this out, she put me on hold to check something or other. When she came back, she told me that although the router had been ordered on the 14th, no one had bothered to post it. This was something she had to arrange today, saying I would now receive it by 21st at the latest, which will be over two months since I first placed my order. For my trouble, she said she would refund the p+p i paid for the router, and ring me on the 22nd to see it had arrived.
I just don't know what to say. I am way beyond angry, and into the realms of resigned upset. I have anxiety problems. I don't deal well with stress, with having to do the same things over and over, or with things which are dragged out for a long time without resolution. I don't like myself for it, but there it is. In the last week, I've been driven to tears three times by all this, one of these times on the phone with the advisor. There's an almost comical element to this level of incompetence. Comical, if it wasn't so sad.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

picbits — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:57:57 GMT

That doesn't sound good.
On a Plus side (pardon the pun), as you've provided dates etc, the digital care team can listen to any recorded conversations and try and work out what has gone wrong.
You've not said if you are going onto normal Broadband (ADSL) or Fibre (FTTC) ? If it is Fibre then you can connect your PC straight up to the BT modem until your router arrives.
Fingers crossed PN look after you with this one.
P.s if you're anywhere near Wellingborough I have a spare router you can borrow to get you up and running a bit quicker !

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:09:56 GMT

Thank you for your kind offer, DomS! I'm going onto normal Broadband, so unfortunately connecting through the modem is not possible. And I live in Wolverhampton, which according to Google is almost two hours away from Wellingborough, so I guess that's not really an option ether. But like I say, thank you very much. It actually made my day.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

artmo — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:06:00 GMT

You would think after all your troubles that PN would at least send the router on a next day delivery

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:18:31 GMT

Yes, I would have thought so too, artmo. I asked about it in fact, but the lady on the phone said they were not allowed to do that.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

Kelly — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:00:19 GMT

I don't understand what's happening here. The agent should have been able to get the router despatched either same day (by pressing one button...) or the next day if they'd missed the cut off.
We'll pick this up first thing tomorrow and work out what's going on. Really sorry for the hassle and stress. It's absolutely not good enough.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

Oldjim — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:04:17 GMT

I think we are muddling two things
Despatch same day and guaranteed next day delivery

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

picbits — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:10:44 GMT

@themooncriedout - the Hairy One (Kelly) has spoken - things will move rapidly now with a bit of luck

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:11:25 GMT

Thank you, Kelly! I'm really at the end of my tether with this.
I don't think so, Oldjim. The router was supposed to have been dispatched the same day I spoke to an advisor on Monday, or at last as Kelly says, on Tuesday. It wasn't. I asked about next day guaranteed delivery today with a different advisor, and she told me it wasn't possible.
Yes, DomS. Hopefully. Finally.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

LinnPlusnet — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 11:49:06 GMT

Hi themooncriedout,
Thank you very much for your time on the phone today.
I'm very sorry to hear that the router hasn't arrived yet. The first router was dispatched on the 9th of April, however, from the sound of things it's not reached you! The second router is currently being processed by the warehouse and it is due to be dispatched today. You should either receive this on this Saturday or Tuesday-Wednesday next week (due to the bank holiday).
As we discussed we will monitor for you to get connected and then we'll refund you for the downtime from when your broadband order completed and you were actually able to connect. If you want to give us a nudge on here to let us know when the router's arrived we can then get this sorted for you straight away.
Again, very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Re: Really Disappointed & Very Upset with Service

themooncriedout — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 12:27:33 GMT

Thank you for the phone call this morning, LinnK, as well as the promise for some kind of refund. It's just nice to feel that someone is looking into things for me. I have to say I was disappointed to learn that the router was only being posted today, when the advisor on the phone yesterday assured she had just had it posted then. It seems every time I talk to someone, they're only just posting the thing, and then the next person tells me they're doing it. I don't know what to believe anymore. I will update further when/if the router actually arrives.