topic Re: Engineer not turned up again! in Plusnet Feedback

Engineer not turned up again!

IDC1954 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 15:24:55 GMT

I waited in all pm Friday for an engineer. He did not turn up or contact me When I contacted Plusnet they told me that the engineer had cancelled the appointment and re arranged with the client for pm Monday??? He never spoke to me! Now have another appointment for am Monday. I have requested the first appointment and a phone call to my landline when he is on his way. (no signal on my mobile at home due to O2 mast not working yet after floods in Cumbria ) Unfortunately Plusnet cannot confirm that I will be the first appointment or the engineer will phone.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned customer service?

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 15:40:04 GMT

of course, you're complaining about lack of customer service from openreach, not plusnet.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

adamwalker — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:35:37 GMT

Hi IDC1954,
I'm really disappointed to hear about what you've mentioned here and allow me to apologise on behalf of their suppliers.
We feel strongly about such problems occurring between Openreach and our customers and will endeavor to pass some feedback on.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

IDC1954 — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 10:11:39 GMT

My contract is with Plus net not Openreach It is up to Plusnet to ensure that contractors working for them fulfill their obligations or face penalties.

Quote from: chenks76
of course, you're complaining about lack of customer service from openreach, not plusnet.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 12:48:49 GMT

what more could plusnet have done in your situation?
openreach told them that they had spoken to you (or someone at your property to re-arrange).
when you advised them they hadn't, they rebooked it at the first available slot.
openreach aren't "contractors". they are the ones who own and manage the network.
openreach are the supplier and plusnet are essentially just one of many users of the network.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jafreer — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 17:35:09 GMT

Quote from: chenks76
openreach are the supplier and plusnet are essentially just one of many users of the network.

Maybe so, but the OP is correct, he/she has an agreement with PlusNet, not Openreach. One could argue that continuously emphasizing that the problem is Openreach and not PN is meaningless when the only control the customer can exercise is via Plusnet. The customer should not even have to know the mechanics of what Plusnet has to do behind the scenes to make things happen. It is up to Plusnet to make it work, and if things are screwed up, sorry, that is Plusnet's responsibility.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 07:48:09 GMT

as i said, what more could plusnet have done in this instance?

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

newagetraveller — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:16:57 GMT

"what more could plusnet have done in this instance"
Maybe they could have informed THEIR customer, the one who pays THEM, what had happened and what they were going to do to sort things out? Rather than the customer having to contact them.
"you're complaining about lack of customer service from openreach, not plusnet." No, see above.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:19:48 GMT

but openreach had told them that openreach had spoken to the customer and re-arranged.
or are you seriously suggesting that plusnet contact the customer every time openreach updates them on a job to confirm it is correct? that is clearly idiotic.
in this instance, plusnet would only know something had gone wrong when the customer tells them.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jelv — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 09:50:34 GMT

What would not be 'idiotic' would be Plusnet automatically updating the ticket which would be emailed/SMS out. If it was different to what the customer understood they'd know to contact Plusnet.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jafreer — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 11:13:05 GMT

Quote from: chenks76
what more could plusnet have done in this instance?

Easy - Plusnet should have informed the customer that the appointment had been cancelled and provided them with the date of the new appointment instead of relying on what Openreach says they may or may not have said to the customer.
We know that OpenReach cannot be relied upon to turn up when they say they will. Neither can they be relied upon when they state they spoke to the customer. Plusnet need to be proactive in tackling these problems, and that means keeping the customer informed of any changes to the original schedule.
So yes, if it means that Plusnet need to update the customer each time there is a change to the schedule initiated by Opeanreach, then far from being idiotic, it would be smart move.
Can you imagine how many customers might not miss unpaid days off work waiting for engineers if they were to get notification any time Openreach changed an appointment.
What IS idiotic is that Plusnet are not doing more to handle the clear failings in this respect.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

scottjo — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 11:17:00 GMT

@jafreer - I agree with you whole heartily. Our contract is with Plusnet - I don't care which suppliers they use whoever it maybe but they need to be more proactive. I imagine, however, that they have so many problems and disgruntled customers that its like trying to push water uphill.
I just sent a mail to the Managing Director with the timeline of events with my fault and asked for his comments as this is a company that is supposed to pride itself on customer service.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 11:18:12 GMT

Quote from: jafreer
Can you imagine how many customers might not miss unpaid days off work waiting for engineers if they were to get notification any time Openreach changed an appointment.

your solution would make no difference, as openreach don't inform plusnet until AFTER the event.

Quote from: scottjo
as this is a company that is supposed to pride itself on customer service.

is there such a company that doesn't?
people constantly trotting out that line as if it gives them some sort of weapon to use really makes me chuckle.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jafreer — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 11:59:50 GMT

Quote from: chenks76
your solution would make no difference, as openreach don't inform plusnet until AFTER the event.

Then that is what would have to change. I think the problem is that everyone is fixed in their thinking and inflexible as to implementing solutions. To simply say it wouldn't work because Openreach don't inform PN until after the event is, quite frankly, not an acceptable argument by Plusnet.
Without getting into the mechanics of solutions, the system is not working now, so solutions are required. It is up to Plusnet and Openreach to implement these solutions - and they have to do it to fix a broken system.
Giving reasons as to why it is Openreach's fault versus Plusnet's fault does not help matters, and it certainly is of no comfort to the customer.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:10:37 GMT

the point i'm making is that this is not solely a plusnet issue. all ISPs have the same problems with openreach.
so it IS an openreach issue, and it's openreach that need to fix the issue.
plusnet have not "clou" over openreach, they are simply one of the many ISPs that use the openreach network.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jafreer — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:55:50 GMT

Quote from: chenks76
so it IS an openreach issue, and it's openreach that need to fix the issue.

Plusnet could do more. Anyone that thinks Plusnet is doing everything in their power to ease the issues is just plain wrong. Yes Openreach need to fix the issues, but without even getting into what Openreach need to fix, Plusnet needs to do more.
That is why every time the distinction between Plusnet problems and Openreach problems is made, it only serves to focus attention away from what Plusnet needs to do to improve things.
Lets focus attention on the company that that the customer has the contract with. Let Plusnet take the heat. Maybe then Plusnet will be forced to improve things. Blaming Openreach is not helpful.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:04:03 GMT

letting the person complaining know where the problem has occurred is more useful IMO.
plusnet can't force openreach to do anything, just like any other ISP can't.
pressure needs to be put on openreach, and the best person to do that is the person who has the complaint.
speak to your MP/MSP (or whatever it is you have in your region), send email after email to openreach voice your complaints.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jelv — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:53:43 GMT

Please could you point me to the statistics published by Plusnet on the numbers of missed appointments. No? Then Plusnet are not doing all they could to improve the situation.

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

chenks76 — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 14:11:02 GMT

if they haven't published any stats then how do you know what they are doing either way?

Re: Engineer not turned up again!

jafreer — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 14:35:42 GMT

Quote from: chenks76
letting the person complaining know where the problem has occurred is more useful IMO.
plusnet can't force openreach to do anything, just like any other ISP can't.

Between the individual customers and Plusnet, who has more power to force Openreach to change? That is why Plusnet needs to take the heat for these failures.