topic Re: Group complaint to OFCOM in Plusnet Feedback

Group complaint to OFCOM

Karenlangridge — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 11:59:11 GMT

I notice that there are many dissatisfied customers on here, myself included. I am not prepared to keep banging my head against a brick wall trying to get plus net to either sort out problems or provide a decent service- I am now taking my issues up with OFCOM and was wondering if anyone else thought that some kind of group action might help to get plus net to fulfil their obligations as providers-anyone interested in presenting a group complaint?

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

chenks76 — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 12:00:35 GMT

ofcom will not deal with you unless you have fully exhausted the complaints process first.
have you done that?

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

Townman — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 13:42:38 GMT

Karen,
Reading between the line of your other post, it rather looks like you've had a number of issues with the order processes via PlusNet into the BTw / BTOR. Once things go wrong with their systems sorting things out can be difficult. I know its not your problem, but it does help to understand the challenges. PlusNet have not managed some of this process well for you after the initial problems.
I'd be with you on a group complaint on how BTOR is inhibiting ISPs such as PlusNet from offering a decent service. In my own experience, PlusNet are fighting hard with both hands tied behind their backs to get an indifferent BTOR to deliver a professional service.
Kicking ISPs - though they are our commercial interface - is not going to get the real issues addressed - which are BTOR is not fit for purpose and Ofcom are not interested in following up on individual justifiable complaints over BTOR's performance.
Until that situation changes, I have become convinced that there will be no improvement in user's experience.
I have a line provide issue open since 21st May. PlusNet have chased it time and again, the case is escalated to the highest possible place (DSO) in BTOR and still they cannot get an act together. Indeed BTOR DSO are being exceedingly uncooperative.
Kevin

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

pwatson — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 13:45:58 GMT

BTOR are not (directly) responsible for Plusnet's provisioning and billing systems, the woefully lacking training give to first line support staff, the call volumes or the capacity issues though are they?

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

Townman — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 13:50:02 GMT

No They are not, but as I've annotated my post, it very much looks like Karen's initial order went wrong and from experience thereafter problems remain within BTOR's systems which are not easy to fix.
Further it rather looks like Karen has issues with the phone line - again BTOR's domain - without which there is a fair possibility there would have been no issues for PlusNet to screw-up!?
If there were fewer issues being created by BTOR, PlusNet could use their resources to fix their own problems, rather than spending their resources and money managing BTOR's failures - which Ofcom appear to condone by doing nothing about it.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

AndyH — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 13:56:36 GMT

The initial order went wrong because you cannot take over an existing line before it is due to cease.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

Karenlangridge — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:21:41 GMT

Andy, I appreciate your comments BUT, the line takeover does not affect call waiting times, lies by staff, changing a phone number for no reason,staff not knowing which services are on offer,money being taken out of my account for no reason etc etc.
Plusnet are obviously not fit for purpose and I feel that their total inability to sort out problems demonstrates this

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

chenks76 — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:39:20 GMT

as i said... you can't take anything to ofcom until you have fully exhausted any complaints procedure.
have you done that? if you haven't then ofcom will just tell you to go away and do that.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

AlaricAdair — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:55:29 GMT

UKTUG are preparing a response to Ofcom's consultation on future of digital services in the UK. OpenReach's shortcomings will be highlighted to support our case that it should be spun off from BT. Part of those recommendations will be progressive penalties if they don't mend their poor performance.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

AndyH — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 11:35:05 GMT

Shouldn't you also be questioning the OFCOM performance targets that it sets for OR?

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 11:47:37 GMT

Googling for UKTUG produces nothing related to yourself so I assume the organisation is in its infancy so with all due respect do you think OFCOM are going to take it as a credible source?

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

AlaricAdair — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:08:07 GMT

Quote from: Mook
Googling for UKTUG produces nothing related to yourself so I assume the organisation is in its infancy ..

We may be small but we have 17,000,000 potential members. It is just a matter of time. However we won't be just sitting on our butts hoping someone else will solve the problems.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

pwatson — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:15:03 GMT

Seemingly there's 16,999,999 people who haven't got a clue who or what UKTUG is though, so perhaps there's the first issue that needs resolving?
I'm assuming it's this - I think you'll struggle to get 17M subscribers, but nice money if you do!

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:23:42 GMT

The number of members or even potential members has nothing to do with my comment nor does the google page count as it will contain all manner of unrelated finds based on portions of the search, so that's resolved that. I pasted "UK Telecommunications User Group" into google and I could not find any reference to your group or website in the first five pages, which prompted my comment. I certainly wasn't having a poke at you only saying what I thought based on my finding (or in this case lack of them).

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

AlaricAdair — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:30:58 GMT

Tsk, Tsk, back to topic. We'll be fighting against the Beast which gives so many people grief. A group complaint to Ofcom is one way, but I wouldn't expect PlusNet would be too enthusiastic in spearheading such move.

Re: Group complaint to OFCOM

nanotm — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:10:03 GMT

indeed the primary problem is the way bt interfaces with (lies ) itself and every other isp, if you have a contractor doing a job you pay them because they tell you it was done, 10 minutes later you find out it wasn't and rathe than sending a different contractor you have to instead start getting the money back from the first one and then send him out again but this time without payment to actually do the job, but he wont go unless you pay him at the end of the job ......
bring back in house engineers and get rid of the cowboys and you will get rid of a large proportion of the problem, a few years back (my house was built in 2010) I had no end of problems with the phone and bb to my house, there was a dedicated fibre trunk to a sunken cabinet right outside the front door, but instead of being supplied by it me and my neighbours were using an 1920's line direct to the exchange 2.5 miles away and suffering all sorts of problems caused by the line condition, along came fibre roll out for the area in 2013 and they provisioned us from the cabinet 500 meters down the street despite the property needing only the terminating pair at the nte5 to be swapped over to the one from the cabinet outside the front door, the installation guy spent over 2 hours trying to get a stable connection above 10mbps on the line that had been in use before telling me I couldn't get fibre because my line wasn't up to the job, I called him on his BS and an actual bt engineer showed up, checked the line made a call and plugged me into the correct line, the following day they knocked on all the neighbours doors (also on the same junk line) told them they would be getting dc'd from the phone and internet for about an hour swapped them all over went to the exchange and assigned the right line numbers to each one and presto they all had 24mbd adsl2+ and I was on 80mbps fibre, bt even pulled that old line out of the ground and scrapped it for a few quid.
had the line not already been there and provisioned for the properties it would of been a different story but it transpired the contractor that had connected the place up originally had dug about in the dirt to find the wires instead of using the correct wire that just needed unclipping and terminating in the nte5 box ........
and whilst that is a bad standard of workmanship its not even the worst local story of kellys cowboys, who bt uses instead of their own guys because its somehow cheaper .....