topic Re: 2 months still no service in Plusnet Feedback

2 months still no service

abstruse21 — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:18:51 GMT

Seriously, is plusnet just a joke?
I believe they are just taking the p**s out of me for fun at this point.
I've had 4 days off work at an approximate cost of 65 pounds a day
4 engineer visits.. of sorts..
7 'we promise will call you back's never happen 3 of those should have been managers
Installation fee already refunded for mis-selling the service they offered me in the first instance (was promised simultaneous connection - wasn't gonna happen)
Cut off twice while waiting in the ridiculously long hold times because apparently unusually high calls is not in fact unusual at all but the norm in fact!.
At least 5 hours on hold to date.
at least 8 hours on the phone to them at mobile rates which i have had to foot the bill for
It is now over 2 months since the line was ordered (there's already a line and socket connected to the property)
AND NO SERVICE NOR AN ANSWER AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING OR WHEN IT WILL BE RESOLVED
Currently on hold to them again as I write this. (EDIT: spoke to someone who quite frankly didn't have an answer but who promised to call me back at some point with an update - no idea when that would be but I do not hold my breath! He also promised he would personally keep an eye on this order from this point. That makes 3 of them personally watching this order then.. that helps.. :/)
Every tv advert I see telling me how the customer comes first and what award winning service they have makes me want to put a brick through my tv screen.
Every customer advisor I have spoken to has made promises they have then broken.
And even using this forum.. everytime my eye catches the plusnet logo at the top there.. with 'We'll do you proud' written under it just infuriates me.
I have 0% faith in this company ever doing their job. And I hate them with an absolute passion right now.
I will repeat this post on every review site. Copy it to which? who seem to think this company is great.
Next step CISAS and OFCOM
I hope some catastrophe befalls plusnet and they go out of business to be fair
Other Edit: I do only hold plusnet 70% to blame for this fiasco. BT Openreach are almost as incompetent and have caused more of the delays if not the appalling customer service. And today instructed Plusnet to raise a complaint about them on my behalf as you know BTO are impossible to deal with directly.
P.S before I forget. I live in an area where mobile signals aren't great.. My wife is 7 and a half months pregnant and I would REALLY APPRECIATE A PHONE LINE SHOULD SHE NEED TO CALL ME OR AN AMBULANCE ANY TIME SOON!!

Re: 2 months still no service

Devonian — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:20:54 GMT

Oh dear, you have my sympathy OP.

Re: 2 months still no service

LinnPlusnet — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 16:47:43 GMT

Hi abstruse21,
I'm very sorry to hear of your experience so far with us.
I've had a look into this for you and it seems like the order was built from the incorrect exchange which has resulted in the line not being connected . Our Provisioning team are working on having our suppliers amend this in their systems so that your order can progress accordingly. Unfortunately we do rely completely on our suppliers systems building the orders correctly and when things go wrong then we are unable to fix them directly, all we can do is chase our suppliers for updates and ask that they fix whatever the issue is.
I can only apologise for the issues that you've encountered during this time and advise that I will ensure this is chased up again on Monday morning for you as the team that we need to contact are closed over the weekend. Hopefully this will be resolved for you soon so that you don't have to rely on mobile signal.

Re: 2 months still no service

abstruse21 — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:16:05 GMT

@ Linn K
Thank you. However i have little confidence in your words considering all the broken promises thus far.
I note you mention the failings of BTO yet did not address the failings of your customer service team , provisioning team or managers.
Nor how you might plan to correct those issues.
Which is no less than I expected.
I also note you will chase this on Monday. Wasn't that suppossed to be done today?
Also i am already aware that they have tried to connect me to the wrong exchange as this is now the second time the same mistake has happened in a row. In fact it was ME who had to explain this on both occassions to your customer service team who assured an engineer was on their way AFTER they had already given up and gone home.
A problem caused by BTO i am fully aware. However your communication regarding these problems, constant broken promises and my mounting costs hardly excuse plusnet from accepting its own faults and trying to pass the buck unto BTO exclusively.

Re: 2 months still no service

billnotben — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 20:11:17 GMT

I'm afraid that buck passing is pretty much an endemic disease here.
Plusnet may have a point but they shouldn't make it their customers problem.
They should step up to the plate and make sure they are the first ones who know when something is going wrong on an install, and then call the customer with a solution.
Not wait for a customer to hang about in a phone queue to find out what's going on.
How they do that is solely their problem. As it should be.

Re: 2 months still no service

abstruse21 — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 21:16:24 GMT

Absolutely billnotben.
However waiting in a queue is less frustrating than deciding whether to jump on the queue in the first place after waiting for hours and days wondering if the promised callbacks will ever materialise.
Though i have learnt my lesson on that one as the callbacks do not come. Ever.
I just wonder how many plusnet employees would get away with asking for a day off to wait for their phone installation...5 times in 5 or 6 weeks... i suspect their managers would think they were having a laugh. Too many the dog ate my homework excuses..

Re: 2 months still no service

KK — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 15:24:20 GMT

@abstruse21 - most people have experienced the lack of accountability that call centre operatives seem to enjoy, and it is hard to believe that most call centre operatives have not themselves experienced similar treatment from call centres other than their own.
The problem is not unique to Plusnet; it is a normal aspect of the call centre culture.
Call centres were invented around the time of the privatisation of the previously nationalised industries, and they were promoted as being a brilliant way to improve levels of customer service way beyond the miserable experience of trying to get any sense out of organisations like The GPO which, according to Wikipedia, was established in 1660 and which used to provide everything connected with telephone lines.
In practice, call centres have been used by the forces of post-privatisation 'competitiveness' to cut down their costs and wear down our expectations. There is much talk about the failure of the privatised energy industry to behave itself, and there was a parliamentary enquiry in January into why the extreme weather conditions over the Christmas period were allowed to cause power cuts lasting - omigod - more than several hours.
The PlusNet staffers who reply to peoples' complaints on this forum have very little to offer except a kind of illusion that there are people within PlusNet who appear to 'care' about the inability of companies like PlusNet to guarantee anything approaching an acceptable level of customer service.
The failed process of privatisation is at last coming under proper scrutiny, and hopefully organisations like BTOR will eventually be included in the investigations.
Organisations like Ebay and Amazon have proved that high standards of customer service are possible at an affordable price. It would be interesting to let their executives loose in the boardroom of BTOR.

Re: 2 months still no service

Devonian — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 16:24:22 GMT

Companies like Amazon and eBay also avoid paying tax like the plague, offer online customer service, with virtually no way to converse on the telephone with them. (Have you tried calling eBay?) and are run by foreigners, with 'Customer service' run from a shed in a third world country, which reduces the over heads significantly.
So using them as a comparison is very unfair.
In PlusNets defence, I have contacted them on the phone several times, and I have always ended the call with my query either dealt with, or passed to the relevant department to dealt with.
The call waiting times are disgusting however, and there are certainly aspects of BT creeping into PlusNet which can only be a bad thing.
But over all, for me, PlusNet have been excellent.
I have had quite complex faults that without a doubt would not have been sorted without PlusNets help.
BTOR are the main problem, they do what they like, when they like.
I do agree that PlusNet need to keep an eye on any pending/open orders with BTOR much more, and communicate more fully with the customer, but in my experience, the majority of failings have been due to BTOR.
However saying that, we are all PlusNets customer, NOT BTOR's customer.
So Plusnet should be answerable for every failed appointment, cock ups, etc caused by BTOR,
Plusnet, being BTOR's customer, should then be making higher demands, to force BTOR into working in a more productive manner.

Re: 2 months still no service

KK — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 16:46:57 GMT

On today's news, Facebook are planning a planet-wide network of drones and satellites to provide universal internet access. Not long ago, Amazon floated a similar idea.
We should all be afraid - especially BT OpenReach.

Re: 2 months still no service

Jaggies — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:05:38 GMT

@ KK - we should also note how close it is to April 1st...

Re: 2 months still no service

Devonian — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:21:33 GMT

Even if that was true, who in their right mind would connect to an American isp?

Re: 2 months still no service

Jaggies — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:22:17 GMT

Americans?

Re: 2 months still no service

KK — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:34:03 GMT

My understanding is that April Fools can only be caught between waking-up time and lunchtime on April 1st.
There is clearly a lot of 'kite-flying' taking place by this century's leading innovators, but when call centres were invented (fewer than 40 years ago), the use of satellites and the worldwide web to identify and broadcast the putative position of a lost airliner on the basis of a single hourly 'ping' would have been inconceivable.
It is BTOR who are the jokers - Facebook, eBay, Amazon etc are expanding the frontiers. It may soon be impossible to find an ISP which is not American. (even if their registered HQ is in Luxembourg).

Re: 2 months still no service

Devonian — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 20:27:52 GMT

Quote from: Jaggies
Americans?

This isn't America.

Re: 2 months still no service

abstruse21 — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 10:13:51 GMT

Nothing like a little thread hijack.
In my experience I agree there are a few call centers that are as problematic. However it is not always the case. I deal with many companies whose call center experience is far better than that I have received from Plusnet.
As for the comments regarding ebay and amazon.. I deal with both of those personally and through our business. How you can state Ebay call centers are excellent I am unsure. They do everything possible to avoid direct telephone contact wherever possible. Amazon do have good telephone support when they feel it is justified and I have no real complaints with them though I am completely unsure what any of this has to do with my personal issues with plusnet..
This is a thread about my personal experience with PLUSNET, not ebay or amazon or even BTO.
Regardless of the fact that many of the errors are BTO's fault and BTO are a law unto themselves and people can state that it isn't all plusnets fault for BTO's c**k-ups all they want- PLUSNET are my provider and should be fighting for me - their customer - to get the best service possible.
BTO are not responsible for the mis-selling, the failed callbacks, the lack of information, failure to take call notes - Plusnet are. And that is why I posted here.
I want Plusnet to take responsibility for THEIR failings and for people who read this thread thinking of becoming a plusnet customer to seriously consider what they may be letting themselves in for. Based on Plusnets actions and responses. Not BTO's.

Re: 2 months still no service

abstruse21 — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:15:15 GMT

Ok.. update time!
Following 2 automated calls this morning telling me there was an engineer coming tomorrow I received a call from Plusnet.
They have replaced a new order for a line to be installed Friday the 4th April with my broadband being fast-tracked to go live on Monday 7th April.
I asked Faisal who dealt with the new order to confirm to me that BT had definately received the correct information to raise the line from the correct exchange. And not only did I get a call-back (dun-dun-dun) but I got it within about 30 minutes confirming that he had queried this with BTO and they had confirmed that the correct exchange had been listed for the order.
There is nothing more for me to do except wait until Friday and see if BTO actually get it right. I am trusting Faisal to monitor this (as he seems to be the most competent currently - and a man who kept his promise to update me!).
Take note Lynn K.. one post blaming someone else for everyone's faults and then silence.. does you no favours.
Endless calls at great expense to Plusnet have little effect.. yet post in a public forum where their future customers might be listening.. and things change.
Fingers crossed. Will update after the event...

Re: 2 months still no service

LinnPlusnet — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:21:45 GMT

Hi abstruse21,
I chased this for you this morning as promised to ensure that Faisal updated you as I was aware he would be able to provide an update after 11:30.
I'm glad that this is being progressed for you and our Provisioning team will be monitoring this on the Ticket: 81589357 for you. I am sorry for the delays you've experienced so far and hope that this is resolved for you on 04/04/2014.

Re: 2 months still no service

KK — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 21:46:57 GMT

Quote from: abstruse21
Endless calls at great expense to Plusnet have little effect.. yet post in a public forum where their future customers might be listening.. and things change

abstruse21 - afaik, this forum is only accessible by existing customers, and afaik, it is intended to be a 'general' forum, rather than a way to escalate individual complaints. But I understand your frustration!
My point about eBay/Amazon etc is not that they have better call centres than PlusNet, but that they don't use call centres at all. And it is rare to have anything but excellent service from eBay and Amazon and any of their myriad associates. eBay and Amazon etc would simply refuse to deal with a pre-historic outfit like BT OpenReach.
It is surely only a matter of time until landlines become a thing of the past for individual users (businesses may well continue to need complicated switchboard systems etc). Mobile phone companies are genuinely in competition with each other - they don't carry the historic baggage of a system which hasn't fundamentally changed since it was set up by a nationalised monopoly.

Re: 2 months still no service

jelv — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 07:32:38 GMT

Call centres are essential for those whose technical knowledge is so poor they can't explain the issue in a ticket or email.
Also essential for the vast majority of people who can't do anything online like raise a ticket or email when their broadband is down!

Re: 2 months still no service

KK — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 16:10:43 GMT

Jelv - I agree with your first sentence, and I have been waiting for someone to make that point! However, illiteracy is not confined to the written word, and the technical knowledge of call centre operatives is in no way guaranteed. It is easy for a call centre operative to fob off an inarticulate caller.
It is also true that there needs to be a way to contact the ISP in the event of a broadband breakdown. But it doesn't need to be the primary means of contact, and it doesn't need to be an 0845/0870 number.