topic Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet in Plusnet Feedback

Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

ITWorks — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 16:39:39 GMT

As i am sure some will be aware Ofcom have published their Q3 2015 complaints report
As can be seen from the graphs below, PN have the biggest increase of complaints for broadband and landlines (from Q2 to Q3 2015) of any major ISP .
To many people this will not come as a surprise , certainly does not to me, very sad to see the way thing are with PN at the moment
PN what is been done, to hopefully see a decrease in the next quarter ?

More info here : http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2015/12/ofcom-name-worst-uk-mobile-tv-broadband-isps-q3-2015.html
Kind regards
Mike

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

npr — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:06:56 GMT

Interesting that BT's graph had a similar upward slop for the last quarter.
It's also disappointing to see TT has been creeping up over the last 3 quarters.
Where to go next? I was debating between those two for when my contract expires.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jockwav — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:32:15 GMT

I don,t think i would ever go with TT,but as you say where to next,i was thinking the same.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

chenks76 — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:43:52 GMT

well you do get what you pay for.
so if you want more personal support then you need to go with the more niche ISPs and you pay more for that.
as they say, pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jelv — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 18:02:42 GMT

It's not surprising complaints are increasing when you see posts like the one I've seen today on Usenet p.s.c-f:

Quote
I'll leave it to the Faults Team as they're in a better position to stay on top of things assuming the fault needs escalating to BT Wholesale.
Looking at the ticket pool in question, the oldest tickets are from the 8th, so you shouldn't be waiting too much longer.
Apologies for the delay, looks like the faults department is pretty busy ATM.
--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Support Home & Business @
|Plusnet Plc. www.plus.net
+--------------- twitter.com/plusnet ----------------

A week's backlog on looking at the ticket pool for issues that need escalating to BT Wholesale! WTF

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

ITWorks — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:00:24 GMT

I have a ticket in that pool , mine came off hold at 7.06am on the 7th Dec, 8 days in zero update , now that is award winning service NOT!

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jockwav — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:17:29 GMT

I think next year PN will possibly lose some customers to their competitors

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

VileReynard — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:22:35 GMT

Cheapness isn't everything; especially cheap service.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

npr — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:23:22 GMT

Quote from: jockwav
I don,t think i would ever go with TT,but as you say where to next,i was thinking the same.

I used to think I would never use TT.
The fact I'm considering them shows how far PN have fallen in my view.
As for BT --- I once used them for dialup (20 years ago ) --- I said never again.
The fact I'm now considering them says more about the present state of PN.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jockwav — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:25:56 GMT

Well, thinking seriously about next year.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

Oldjim — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:32:05 GMT

I don't see any point in jumping ship as my line seems stable and I have no other problems - YET

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

deathtrap — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:39:55 GMT

It's all down to what you expect from a provider, But if like me you want decent uk support via telephone that is answered within a reasonable time-scale by knowledgeable staff and faults ect resolved in a timely manner , as well as a host of other things regarding the actual service you get, then none of the 3 named would be my choice, I was bitten once (plusnet) Even switching my line rental away from the thieving BT due to being sick of helping subsidise their BT sport and their Free offers of bb with cash-backs and vouchers/prepaid cc , and that is after 10yrs ,so much for looking after loyal customers

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jelv — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:01:20 GMT

Quote from: Oldjim
I don't see any point in jumping ship as my line seems stable and I have no other problems - YET

It's down to balancing the risk and impact. If you are retired and not having internet for a few days would only be an inconvenience then the savings are worth having. But if not having internet would be a problem, being with a budget ISP is probably not a smart move.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jockwav — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:12:59 GMT

Being retired or not makes no difference,if you are paying for internet then it is only reasonable you get what you pay for.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jelv — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:20:57 GMT

And being cheap means no SLA so there's no commitment or reasonable expectation on fault resolution time.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

AlaricAdair — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 09:43:34 GMT

...Complaints about Plusnet broadband increased to 37 per 100,000 customers (from 20 per 100,000 customers)...
That's an 85% increase in complaints in one year? A great success demonstrating the management strategy is working.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

Townman — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:44:44 GMT

Quote from: spoon
And being cheap means no SLA so there's no commitment or reasonable expectation on fault resolution time.

Jelv,
Given that most "faults" are issues in BTOR's domain how does paying more for your ISP get them to perform better? Setting aside the dire issue of contacting Plusnet in the first place (due to the volume of faults in the BTOR network?) paying more is not going to address BTOR failled appointments, not properly investigating issues or not replacing defective aluminium cables, etc.
BTOR are a common factor in all of this - the vast majority of issues posted around here relate to the state of user's lines or the performance of BTOR's exchanges. Fixing those issues would eliminate a significant volume of the need to contact the ISP in the first place.
There needs to be a step change in this industry mimicking that of electric and gas supply - if the is a problem with the supply network, you do not report the issue to the body you pay your bill to, you report it direct to the party responsible for the network. It is their's, they own it, they manage it and should take the direct consequences of their failure to maintain it properly.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

w23 — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:54:59 GMT

Even if most faults are within BTOR's domain, if Plusnet take a full week or more before even looking at a fault ticket (as recently mentioned here on the forums) then performance of identifying and fixing faults is going to be worse than an ISP who gets straight onto BTOR.
BTOR's performance is only part of the story (even if a significant part).
Excessive call waiting times, no call backs when promised and similar issues will likely increase the odds of someone making a complaint even if everything else is equal.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jelv — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 11:06:25 GMT

Quote from: Townman
There needs to be a step change in this industry mimicking that of electric and gas supply - if the is a problem with the supply network, you do not report the issue to the body you pay your bill to, you report it direct to the party responsible for the network. It is their's, they own it, they manage it and should take the direct consequences of their failure to maintain it properly.

That's fine and dandy for electricity, gas and water - generally it either works or it doesn't.
BTOR would be overwhelmed with calls which were nothing to do with them because a huge proportion of Joe Public wouldn't understand who they needed to report an issue with, for example, unable to reach a particular site. The only way it could work would be to nationalise BTOR, BTw and ALL ISPs connecting by OR supplied lines.

Re: Big increase in complaints at Plusnet

jelv — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 11:16:28 GMT

w23 has hit the nail on the head.
If I have lose my connection in the evening with Plusnet I know that I'm going to spend the rest of the evening on the hanging on the phone. If I do get through all that will happen is that a fault will be raised for the faults department and lord knows how long it will take to get an engineer's appointment. If I don't get through and I'm out at work the next day, calling is impossible due to the long wait times so I can't even report the fault until I get home and then that's a huge chuck of the following evening wrecked hanging on the phone.
With someone like AAISP, OK the support line is closed outside office hours, but I know that 8am the next morning I'll get straight through to someone who really knows what they are talking about and whatever is needed to be done is immediately under way.