topic Re: Pointless survey. in Plusnet Feedback

Pointless survey.

longedge — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:54:57 GMT

What is the point in sending out surveys which contain a page which cannot be left blank *BUT* does not contain a correct answer to the question?

I don't have children of any age living at home but I do have children and I do not prefer to not say.

I realise it's just data fishing but I'd be happy to go along with it. Surely it's worth putting some effort into putting a survey together that makes sense or at least get someone to check the work experience lad's work before sending it out.

Re: Pointless survey.

outcast — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:55:46 GMT

I've never understood what purpose the Plusnet surveys are trying to achieve.

I've been here since 1999, and actively involved with this forum community since the day it started, and can't remember the last customer originated suggestion that Plusnet actually implemented. Occasionally problems highlighted here on the forum got acknowledged by staff then added to their internal TO DO list (never to be looked at again).

I used to keep a list of detailed well thought out constructive suggestions and solutions, which I would paste (one at a time) in to the Plusnet pop-up survey. Do you think Plusnet acted on any of them ? (NO), I doubt whether anybody even bothers reading them.

All the survey seems to do is cause annoyance, especially when it goes in to the mode where it pops up every few minutes (despite say NO to it), or the utterly frustrating crashing when you've just pressed <Submit> and lost your thoughtful reply that you just spent ten minutes crafting.

Re: Pointless survey.

longedge — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:17:16 GMT

It's really that I've got my Mr Grumpy head on today mainly because 'toe rags' keep ringing me but using pre-recorded messages depriving me of the minimal pleasure of having a rant back. Had two phone calls this morning and then this was the straw that did it 🙄.

Re: Pointless survey.

outcast — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:45:12 GMT

You lightweight ! - my record for unsolicited SPAM landline phone calls received in ONE day, was 49 !

To keep my sanity, I was forced to install a TrueCall call blocker, then the SPAM calls that got through was about 2 a month.

Oddly, when I migrated my landline number to VoIP (without a call filter), the unsolicited SPAM calls went from typically 30 per day, to maybe one in six weeks, despite the number being exactly the same !. I don't understand how having the same number but changing phone service supplier (A&A), would make a difference - unless Openreach are selling their landline database to spammers, or perhaps the numbers are being made public by staff in BT's Indian call centre (as a side hustle).

Wishing you a less grumpy day tomorrow !

Re: Pointless survey.

longedge — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 21:09:49 GMT

Thank you 😃

Re: Pointless survey.

Townman — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 10:52:27 GMT

@outcast wrote:

I don't understand how having the same number but changing phone service supplier (A&A), would make a difference - unless Openreach are selling their landline database to spammers, or perhaps the numbers are being made public by staff in BT's Indian call centre (as a side hustle).

Probably a more compliant implementation of Ofcom's General Condition C6:

C6: Calling line identification facilities

This condition requires communications providers to provide calling line identification facilities by default wherever technically feasible and economically viable, so that call recipients can identify the person calling them and choose whether or not to accept the call.

To assist with the identification of callers and reduce the incidence of nuisance calls, all communications providers should ensure that any telephone number associated with a call at the network level and/or presented to a call recipient is a valid, diallable number which enables the calling party to be identified, so that the call recipient can make a return call to that person.

Related documents: Ofcom’s CLI Guidelines (PDF, 332.3 KB)

The detail of the condition requires communications providers to drop calls where the CLI is not valid: in context, "communications provider" includes any party which...

Originates a call
Routes a call
Terminates a call

I have argued for years that BT's network is utterly non-compliant with GC-C6 for many of the CLIs presented on inbound numbers ... cannot be dialled.

As for data leaked from Indian call centres, once the number is leaked, it is leaked, who terminates the call has no bearing on that consideration.

Good to know that A&A appears to be doing the right thing and is dropping such calls before terminating them to the called number.

Re: Pointless survey.

outcast — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 11:07:42 GMT

@Townman wrote:

Probably a more compliant implementation of Ofcom's General Condition C6:

I hadn't considered that as a possibility, but would totally explain the significant drop in SPAM calls.

@Townman wrote:

Good to know that A&A appears to be doing the right thing and is dropping such calls before terminating them to the called number.

It is a pity that A&A don't have a user generated caller ID blacklist on VoIP, so that I could block my electricity supplier from calling every other day insisting I need a smart meter to be installed, when I've repeatedly told them I don't want one.

Re: Pointless survey.

longedge — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:30:07 GMT

From the point of view of a completely non-technical user C.L. Injection should be prevented in order to cut down the number of calls I get from people ringing me back to see why I rang them, another p.i.t.a. that I now have to suffer. 😋