topic Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned in Plusnet Feedback

New customer in cooling off period concerned

rup3s — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:33:50 GMT

Hi all,
I've just signed up to Plusnet to take advantage of a deal and because BT weren't able to offer much of a competitive deal to an existing customer. I called Plusnet customer service today at 11am, a time I would consider off-peak and was given the "we are currently experiencing high call volumes" spiel which Talktalk used all the time when I was with them and a wait time of 30mins.
Reading the forums this wait time appears quite good compared to other figures quoted. I've been there before with other budget companies, all is great while everything is working but if problems occur you are left constantly on hold waiting to speak with someone. I'm not prepared to wait 30mins to speak with someone and I don't think it is reasonable level of service to provide but I'm on a cheap deal so maybe that is the saving. I'm not sure I'm asking in the right place but I would like your opinions, have I made a mistake in signing to this company? I'm still in the cooling off period so I can still cancel.
BT claimed that Plusnet use traffic management to reduce speeds at peak times, I've read more on the subject and I'm not sure that is quite the case. It appears Plusnet manage your overall connection to prioritise certain types of traffic but don't actually throttle the connection, can anyone confirm that is the case? I found it odd that BT (parent to Plusnet) were dissing them but I suppose they still want to retain their business.
I've order Unlimited Broadband with standard phone line (I don't use the landline), maintaining the 11Mbps that I currently have is my only concern. I wouldn't expect it change as they're using the same BTOR infrastructure but I would appreciate a second opinion.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:49:53 GMT

The wait times can be annoying but are worth the wait as you will usually end up with someone that can address your issue. I have always found Plusnet staff to be really nice, and so far to date they have never let me down. But to be equally fair that's because I've had little or no reason to contact them. My broadband works without issue and has done for two years minus a couple of hiccups. As for the traffic management others will have a better idea than me. But my 10p's worth is to stick with it I don't think you'll be disappointed.
P.S. Welcome to the Forums

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

rup3s — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 22:03:49 GMT

Thanks Mook, I'm using my own draytek router so if the broadband is connected and working then I'm all good.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

Townman — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 10:01:22 GMT

Hi,
A warm welcome to the forums. Mook has summed it up well and you have found the right answers regarding traffic prioritisation.
BT Retail does seem concerned over the number of users they are loosing - the "they throttle your speed" aligation (lie) is not new. Any slowing down at peak times is more likely to be due to inadequate capacity in BT's exchange.
As an alternative to the phone, there is the chat system - the worse wait I've had on that was 20 minutes.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

ossettbob — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 15:07:01 GMT

I`ve been with Plusnet for 3 years. I have had 2 problems with speed and that was found to be in the exchange and was sorted out quite quickly. The customer service is great compared to other companies. I`ve recommended Plusnet to 2 friends and they are both very pleased. You haven`t made a mistake in your choice.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

racey — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 10:56:09 GMT

Quote from: Townman

As an alternative to the phone, there is the chat system - the worse wait I've had on that was 20 minutes.

I'm also a new customer in the cooling-off period and have used live chat twice in the last couple of days. The waiting times were about 40 minutes and 1 hour 10 minutes.
It's a bit worrying.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

aesmith — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 14:08:59 GMT

Can they deal with support issues via Chat? I think when I tried all they could do was give me the phone number to call.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

aesmith — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 14:16:25 GMT

Quote from: rup3s
BT claimed that Plusnet use traffic management to reduce speeds at peak times, I've read more on the subject and I'm not sure that is quite the case. It appears Plusnet manage your overall connection to prioritise certain types of traffic but don't actually throttle the connection, can anyone confirm that is the case?

Plusnet prioritise certain traffic classes over others. In order for their traffic engineering to have effect, they have to shape and individual customer's overall speed to just very slightly slower than their BT Wholesale profile speed. We're talking about only a very small difference but I don't know if the difference is actually documented anywhere.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

racey — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 17:10:53 GMT

Quote from: aesmith
Can they deal with support issues via Chat? I think when I tried all they could do was give me the phone number to call.

The queries were dealt with satisfactorily when I eventually made contact.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

Townman — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 07:20:34 GMT

@TonyS
I do not think that what is done has anything to do with traffic shaping in the way you suggest. I think it just a matter of rounding numbers in the code which sets the PN profile.
If a BT profile is X.YZ then the PN profile becomes X.Y

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

ejs — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 08:34:05 GMT

If a BT profile is X.YZ, and the PN profile is X.Y, then the speed you actually get is X.(Y-1). At least that's for the lower ADSL speeds anyway. I measured it in this thread, which was split from this. Apparently the loss is a couple of Mbps on the fastest FTTC speeds.

Re: New customer in cooling off period concerned

aesmith — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 10:40:01 GMT

Plusnet profile needs to be lower than BTW to ensure that any drops are carried out by PN, otherwise they can't control what gets prioritised over what. Other ISPs do the same, although some offer full speed as an option.