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Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

cornetto75
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎04-09-2012

Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Hello,
As it appears that plusnet are unwilling to remove the four open questions (opened by plusnet) that are preventing me from posting my official complaint via the member center, I will have to post it here and hope that a moderator will kindly forward it to the relevant department. It's unfortunate that I am forced to display my complaint for all to see but I fell, despite assurances from Daniel in the call center that the open questions should have by now been removed, I have no choice.
To whom it may concern,
As of yesterday, Monday 3rd September 2012, I have cancelled my Plusnet contract which commenced on Monday February 13th 2012.
Within a few weeks of the contract I began to experience small intermittent dropouts and varying speeds, mostly slow. Being CompTIA A+ and Network + certified, I 'tuned' my set up to best of my abilities but still experienced the occasional glitch.  Being a busy full time worker and father of three I held off contacting tech support and enduring long call waiting times until by May the problem began to become more frequent. I was experiencing complete network failure particularly when streaming Netflix through my xbox360 and when transferring larger than average files. I called tech support and reported the problem and was told to change filters, check cables etc etc. I was informed that if an engineer was sent to my home and the problem turned out to be related to my property then I would incur a charge. The general gist of the conversation was that I should avoid an engineer visit and rearrange my set up. Eventually, despite having a paid subscription to Netflix, I completely disconnected the Xbox as it was causing too many dropouts (which were becoming harder and harder for the router to recover from) and as I also subscribe to some online training sites for work related training, I couldn't afford to lose internet access in the evnings anymore.
By August the problem was occurring round the clock. My wife was reporting long dropouts in the morning and daytime and we were experiencing three or four long dropouts almost every evening. This was with two laptops and a squeezebox internet radio being used minimally.
I contacted tech support and all the tests began. It was confirmed that there was a problem and further confirmed that the problem was exterior from my property. After 48 hours I recieved an update to notify me that my connection was stable and the problem resolved. Within 12 hours the dropouts began again. This is the point where I seemed to enter a loop of reporting the dropouts then being told the connection was stable and the problem resolved and then more dropouts.
My wife eventually telephoned Tech support and spoke to [removed] on Thursday 30th August. Andy ran a live test and confirmed that the fault was at the exchange and was likely to be something that BT waould need to look into. My wife commented that previous experience with BT fault repair has not been favorable, to which she got a reply from [removed] along the lines of "yeah, well you know what Bt are like?!".
This is where my loss of confidence, as a consumer, in plusnet began.    
On Saturday 1st September 2012 at around 9am and whilst I was halfway through an important javascript course on a paid subscription training site, the connection dropped completely. Despite many attempts at rebooting and resetting two routers, the connection did not return until Sunday evening!
My wife and I made several calls to tech support and it was at this point that I stated that I would like to just cancel my contract as it had become completely unacceptable. As well as impacting on my leisure time (even though I had done away with my netflix subscription and disconnected my Xbox through fear of losing all connectivity) this problem had impacted on my training for my job. I had been unable to do any training all weekend and had lost valuable time.
To quote [removed]  - CSC Analyst 9:55am Sunday Sept 2nd 2012 - "Mr and Mrs Cornell called regarding ongoing connection fault. Are going to cancel as nothing has really been done about the fault - I agreed with them as this has been going on for two weeks and an engineer should have been booked long ago"
Every conversation we had it was confirmed that the propblem was ongoing and external to our property and at the BT exchange. We were now offered an engineer visit which I queried as I did not see the point of waiting for an engineer to come to my house when the problem had already been confirmed numerous times as an external BT exchange fault. It soon dawned on me that I was entering a plusnet/BT red tape area. My confidence in plusnet was now zero and I felt like I was now at the mercy of BT who have absolutely no obligation to me as a consumer.
My fears were confirmed during a revealing conversation with [removed]  - CSC Analyst on Sunday September 2nd at around 1pm. To quote Robert - "I've seen many, many occasions where we have identified the problem 100%, forwarded our findings to BT and they have responded with "No, we are not fixing that" and it's extremely frustrating".
I hope you can appreciate that at this point, with my confidence in plusnet now below zero, I responded with my intentions to cancel my contract as I did not want to be a part of an ongoing dispute between Plusnet and BT which would render me with an unacceptable and unusable level of service for an indefinite amount of time.
I refer to your service terms - section 5:
"We aim to provide a continuous, high-quality service but we do not guarantee either the quality of the service or that the service will be available at all times. From time to time faults in the service may occur. We will repair these faults as soon as we can."
I consider this term breached as it is BT and not you who would be repairing the fault as you do not have the full ability to repair a fault such as mine.
My issue now is-  I have cancelled my contract and am now expected to pay £90 cancellation charge which I dispute entirely. I have paid for my service without fail and have upheld my end of the contract. I have patiently endured an unacceptable level of service and have used all the correct channels to allow plusnet to fix my fault. As you have seen quoted above by a member of your own team, the problem had not been dealt with sufficiently and correctly. My wife and I have also been made aware that the problem has no foreseeable resolution  as it is no longer under your control and we are now at the mercy of a large company who have zero obligation to us. My solution, as expressed to Kerri in the cancellation team department, on Monday 3rd September, was that we honorably part ways and amicably sever the contract to avoid any further disruption to either party. I have no intention or have ever expressed any intention, to approach plusnet for reimbursement of any money I have paid for a service I have not recieved, for money I have lost from subscription services to netflix, pluralsight training and codeschool online training - due to not being able to access their services due to an unacceptable level of service from plusnet.
I simply requested that we part ways and all charges be waived in the spirit of goodwill, but i was met with "if you don't pay, we'll get debt collectors onto you!".
To my disgust, I was notified yesterday, merely thirty minutes after cancelling my contract and whilst actually still a customer until the 13th September 2012, that my case had already been passed to Debt collection. Without even being offered the oppurtunity to state my case, as I am now, I had already been passed on to debt collection. Incidently, if my contract does not end until 13th September how am I in debt? Am I perhaps being bullied by plusnet? Is this a possible fear mongering tactic?
My wife had to once again call plusnet and was informed that I can state my case in writing online for review by the complaints department. It would have been nice if I had been informed that I could do this before I was so  hastily declared 'in debt'.
In conclusion, I ask you to please review my case and recognise that plusnet has failed to uphold it's end of the service agreement and I respectfully request that the £90 charges be dropped. I had every intention of fulfilling my 12 month contract but felt forced to terminate due to a complete loss of confidence and a lack of any foreseeable resolution to my extreme technical fault. I would like to state that I will be taking this matter further should a satisfactory resolution be reached.
Kind regards,
Jon Cornell.
[Moderator's note by Dick(Strat) All caps title edited as per forum rules.
The Moderators are customers like yourself and have no special lines of contact with Plusnet.
[Moderator's note by Dick(Strat): CSA names removed as per the forum rules.]
17 REPLIES 17
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Hi Jon,
I'm sorry to read of the problems that you have had.
You may have already noticed, but I have raised a complaints ticket on your account as you were unable to do so.  A member of the team will be in touch, realistically in the next 2-3 days (our SLA is five working days), but this may be sooner.
BRABUS
Grafter
Posts: 664
Registered: ‎12-01-2010

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

cornetto75 hang in there and don't do anything hasty.  I know from experience that if Jameseh is involved things will get done and done properly.
Just give them another chance.
cornetto75
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎04-09-2012

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

BRABUS I apreciate your comment but that ship has sailed. If Plusnet want to push this whole - your best friends in yorkshire doing you proud moniker - then they should start by exercising a little honour. I omited certain details (to avoid a possible descent into pettiness)  about telephone conversations where my wife was met with typical call center smarm and sarcasm and myself getting a "well I dont have some magic button in front of me that I can push to make your internet work!"  (unesersarry) comment. As soon as the debt recovery card was played on me, I was positive that I want absolutely nothing to do with this company. They are esentially BT and it's starting to show as, I'm guessing, more and more people are complaining (those call waiting times to tech support are getting longer, no?). The cracks are appearing in the general tone you get from telephone staff. I'm sure Jameseh is a fine person, and I appreciate the hasty response from Jameseh, but I should never have had to deal with Jameseh on a public forum with a personal complaint for all to see.
Take care.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

You may think the service provided by Plusnet is poor, but they like all ISPs who deliver their service via the telephone are dependent upon OpenRetch engineers.
If cable is available that might be a choice to get away from BT totally.
If you want an ISP that really goes after BT and doesn't let them get away with poor service look at aaisp. They have a very good reputation for getting faults sorted (look at their money back guarantee) - but based on the little you've said about your usage their prices may make your eyes water!
Note also that if you migrate out from Plusnet using a MAC the cancellation cost is less than if you cancel outright and have ADSL stopped on your line.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

My initial feedback is that I would have expected the person you had spoken to to have shown a little initiative and raised your complaint on your behalf.
It's a sign of our failings that you have needed to come and post your complaint on here, but as I said, one of my guys will be in touch and we'll do whatever we can to fix things for you.
cornetto75
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎04-09-2012

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

@ jelv - already looked at aaisp a while back, and my eyes watered. Maybe plusnet and all the others should ammend their service agreements to - "...we will fix your fault as quickly as possible, unless we have to ask an openReach engineer to do it, in which case your guess is as good as ours, sorry 'bout that." - just for a bit of clarity for the consumer.
@ Jameseh - again, thank you for quickly forwarding my complaint. Nothing needs fixing as I am out, just disputing the cancellation charges.
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Quote from: jelv
You may think the service provided by Plusnet is poor, but they like all ISPs who deliver their service via the telephone are dependent upon OpenRetch engineers.
If cable is available that might be a choice to get away from BT totally.

Jelv makes a salient point.  You may be able to get away from Plusnet but escaping BT is not so easy.  If cable is not an option then maybe there is a LUU operator that installs their own broadband equipment in the telephone exchange?  Otherwise you will find yourself with another ISP chasing exactly the same problem that you have now.  That won't be pleasant!   
godsell4
Rising Star
Posts: 3,366
Thanks: 15
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Quote from: cornetto75
Nothing needs fixing as I am out, just disputing the cancellation charges.

But it does sound like there is a fault on your line or at the exchange, so you are going to change supplier starting off with a faulty phone line. That is going to be more problematic unless you are able to drop the phone line and move to cable or LLU.
--
3Mb FTTC
https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed
cornetto75
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎04-09-2012

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Quote from: godsell4
Quote from: cornetto75
Nothing needs fixing as I am out, just disputing the cancellation charges.

...unless you are able to drop the phone line and move to cable or LLU.


Wink
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Don't tell me you are considering the dreaded Talk Talk or Virgin, in which case I wish you the best of luck Wink
Windows 10 Firefox 109.0 (64-bit)
To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead - Thomas Paine
cornetto75
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎04-09-2012

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Hells no. I'm going back to an old trusty whom I should never have left in the first place.
jim:quote
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

Well we've eliminated BT/Plusnet, Virgin & TalkTalk so I wonder who the "old trusty" is?  These days that doesn't leave many ISPs; certainly not amongst the major players.  There is Orange, who took over Freeserve/Wanadoo but then seemed to lose interest.  Sky do LUU but one hardly thinks of them as "trusty".  So perhaps it is one of the more minor players.  The trouble is that there have been so many changes of ownership that the "trusty" of last year may no longer be trustworthy this year. 
On that subject, you can see some of the corrupting influence BT has had on Plusnet in their promotion of the cumbersome and unhelpful "BT Broadband Desktop Help" (under a Plusnet veneer - I forget what they call it here) and their offering of the really rather poor McAfee security software (which BT switched-over to just as Norton improved).             
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

My first thought was one of the Entanet Visps - and some of them are very good but then again I could be completely wrong
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 29,473
Thanks: 6,623
Fixes: 1,482
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Complaint - Mod Please View and Forward.

could be Be or O2
Customer / Moderator
If it helped click the thumb
If it fixed it click 'This fixed my problem'