topic Re: A Neverending Nightmare in Plusnet Feedback

A Neverending Nightmare

neverending — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:31:19 GMT

I need to vent this sorry episode about Plusnet, words cannot fully describe the mess they are in at the moment.

It all started when I needed to setup a new internet provider at home and I have been a customer of Plusnet before therefore I thought I knew what I was doing. Their prices were very cheap so I placed an order for their fibre broadband deal. During the order process I chose the installation date for an engineer - I had to book holiday through work to be available. The following day (4th or 5th) I received a text from Plusnet to tell me they had moved the installation date to the following week to a day I couldn't make. So I picked up the phone and was on hold for 30 minutes! Any company which is handling calls with that amount of delay are in trouble.

At that point I wanted to cancel my order and get the hell away from Plusnet. I called Plusnet again and this time chose the cancellations department and amazingly my call was answered straight away! I cancelled my order (5th) and was told by staff that I would get a refund but I wasn't told how long it would take for the refund to be paid.

4 days later I hadn't received any update on the open ticket regarding my refund so I attempted to call Plusnet to find out how long it would take. First call I was on hold for 19 minutes (9th) before I had to give up to live my life. Two days later (11th) I called again and was on hold for 24 minutes with no resolution. I ended up adding a comment to the ticket asking how long it would take to get the refund. No response.

I called again at the weekend (14th) but was told that the billing department didn't work weekends. Lucky them!

I called again (16th) and was on hold for 26 minutes. Billing department told me there is a new billing system which is causing a backlog of payments but i should wait 10 working days (from the 5th) and I was told it would be refunded back to my bank account directly.

On the 19th I called again, this time on hold for approx 49 minutes. Was told that the payment hadn't been made as I would be paid by cheque! [-Censored-]. Left arm/right arm syndrome. The person on the phone then tells me that have personally spoken to someone in Billing and my cheque payment will be expedited therefore I should expect it soon.

Roll onto today (23rd) and I call again to make sure the cheque has been sent and I'm told I have to wait 21 working days to receive my cheque! It's laughable how bad this company works - sporadic information given to me by staff, lies and false hope as well. The current update is; there is a nice man who will be calling me on Friday (26th) to let me know when the cheque will be processed. I tried to escalate to a manager while on the phone but none were available (of course)

All I want is my money and I don't think a 2 month wait for my money is unreasonable. I would imagine if someone didn't pay their bill for two months Plusnet wouldn't appreciate it. This definitely isn't treating customers fairly.

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

20min_wait_zz — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 21:47:56 GMT

Ha, like you I've chosen a name to suite the plusnet customer service. It's shocking. At least a 20 minute wait time for every call....except to cancellations!!!

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

neverending — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 06:15:27 GMT

I forgot to add that after everything that has happened so far I thought I’d raise an official complaint with Plusnet however as I didn’t want to be on the phone for another half an hour waiting I thought I’d raise it via the Help Assistant. That failed as I have 4 or more tickets open and the system wouldn’t let me raise a complaint. Well done Plusnet!

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

MauriceC — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 09:32:20 GMT

To raise a complaint you should use this link -complaints-code-of-practice - rather than a ticket, it gets you into the process more quickly.

For reference this link is at the bottom of every page of Community.

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

neverending — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 10:10:11 GMT

Thanks for the link - I’ve read the policy before. Have you? There are 4 ways to log a complaint:

Letter
Phone
Chat
Help Assistant (ticket)

Last night; chat was unavailable, phone was a 30 min wait, letter would be last resort therefore that leaves the Help Assistant which directs you to raise a ticket.

If I’m missing something please point this out to me. Thanks

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

MauriceC — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 11:47:13 GMT

@neverending wrote:
I’ve read the policy before. Have you?

Yes! Many times.

If I’m missing something please point this out to me. Thanks

I think you have attempted to follow the correct path but the system has failed you! I believed that the Complaint Ticket response was amended some time back to route the Ticket directly to the Complaints team. I'll flag this topic to check out my assumption suggest a change if my assumption on roting is incorrect.

Superuser citation

This topic has been cited by one of the Superusers; the purpose of which is to provide a note for information which might help to focus continued discussion (but might not result in a staff response).

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

SpendLessTime — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:25:00 GMT

@neverending

You could try another route, that is using the Martin Lewis recommended Resolver complaints website. More detail and link at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/resolver/?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=bignote-one&utm_term=22-Apr-15-lt&utm_campaign=site&utm_content=7#relationship

Plusnet are one of the companies which you can use this tool for to get a complaint rolling (I used it for energy suppliers and it worked well)

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

Mads — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:05:29 GMT

Thank you for getting in touch @neverending,

I can only apologise for your experience with us and apologise for the frustration, worry and confusion this has caused you. I have updated your ticket accordingly here.

Please let us know if we help you with anything else.

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

neverending — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:23:32 GMT

Thanks for the heads up on the Resolver site

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

neverending — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:30:40 GMT

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me gingerniffler12. Unfortunately the response on my ticket hasn’t brought me any closer to a resolution, I’m still waiting on Plusnet with no end in sight. Will I have to wait another 21 working days to get my refund?
I would imagine your billing department have such a large backlog that they don’t know when they will get to my cheque.

Re: A Neverending Nightmare

Satss — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 17:58:26 GMT

Hi @neverending,

Sorry to hear that the last update did not prove helpful. This is still with our billing department to investigate.

I understand the further delay is causing frustration but I do want to assure you we are working hard to get this resolved as soon as possible.

Kind regards,