How do you get service?

[#1]

Why is it that every time I contact Plusnet about a problem the first response is a rewording of my question the second response is an instruction to go and read some webpage, the next is "Ooh 'ek, I don't know I'll pass it on to somebody else to read on Monday"?
I have had a problem with traffic management treating my account as a BBYW option 1 since Thursday (when I noticed it).
The response today, from Dave Tomlinson, is that BB Premier option 1 gets classed as a lower product when traffic management comes into effect after a user goes over the 13GB limit. This isn't what the email said.
Isn't Dave Tomlinson some sort of boss at Plusnet? Doesn't he know what the emails say that get sent out to customers?

[#2]

As you are on Premier Option 1 then I would advise having a look at this page for the levels of management on your account.

[#3]

Hi there,
Dave's a member of the Comms Team   He's not one of our bosses!
I believe that he's going to respond to your ticket again, but in the meantime, this link might be useful for you, it shows the speeds that you should expect before you reach level management on Broadband Premier.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archive/bb_premier1.shtml

[#4]

Have any of you personally read the details on the page you link to?

[#5]

Yes, did you read my reply?
It stated that those are the speeds that you should see when not under traffic management levels.  You are only level 1 currently.
This will see further restrictions being applied outside peak times of the day as per the response in your ticket.

[#6]

My understanding of the details for BB Premier option 1 and from the email I received when I went over the limit:
Traffic is managed during peak hours only, which is 4pm to 12am.
"Our new Broadband Your Way products... Customers on BBYW products know exactly what to expect from their service, but cannot expect speeds that are higher than indicated.
Broadband Premier is different... the speeds shown in the above table represent the lowest rate limits that will be applied at any time and they should be viewed as a worst case scenario, with available speeds often higher than those stated."
The quote is from the page advised by both Chris and James.
From the email:
"Remember, we don't count any of your usage outside of peak hours, and the
restrictions on speed only ever apply within peak-time."

[#7]

Usage during off peak hours isn't counted towards peak time management however there is only a finite amount of capacity on our network. During the off peak hours of midday to 4pm and midnight to 2am the network is at the busiest it gets during off peak. Generally it is running near to full capacity and there is little or no spare capacity.
In order to manage a customer with peak time management the speed profile is changed from "Broadband Premier" to "Broadband Premier Level 1". This level 1 profile gets a lower priority on the network than the standard Broadband Premier Profile. This means that when the network is busy during off peak hours (midday to 4pm and midnight to 2am) customers on level 1 peak time management will see lower speeds than customers not on peak time management in order to ensure a fair spread of the available bandwidth.
The capacity is finite and priority is given first to those customers that haven't reached the peak time management thresholds. When capacity is reached in off peak hours a decision has to be made as to the priority of traffic, titanium, gold get the higher priorities on all accounts whilst the lower priority traffic like P2P and Usenet get ranked so that Broadband Plus gets the lowest, then P2P and Usenet for Premier customers on peak time management then Premier customers not on peak time management and BBYW.

[#8]

Can you tell me where (preferably with links) a customer can view all that? and if you are just talking about priorities and not set speeds, as the management does, why is it that my speeds are exactly that offered by BBYW option 1?
And also, when this exact same thing happened in May, how did Phil Bower manage to fix it?

[#9]

Actually forget answering all that. Just tell me why I receive this as an email:
"Your peak-time usage for this billing month just exceeded 13GB.
Light restrictions will now apply to your connection speeds until the end of the current billing month.
Remember, we don't count any of your usage outside of peak hours, and the restrictions on speed only ever apply within peak-time."
Just that, I don't want to know about finite anything. Just tell me why I receive an email telling me that off-peak performance is not restricted and then you go and restrict it

[#10]

The fix in May was for something else, you weren't on level 1 management at the time he just corrected the speed after you changed accounts. The speeds may well be the same as on BBYW Option 1 because of how the speed profile is set, you haven't been put on BBYW Option 1.
As I said in my previous reply the reduced speeds you are seeing are because the speeds get a lower priority on level 1 management, when the network is busy customers on level 1 management will see slower speeds than customers not on level 1 management to give a fair share of the bandwidth to everyone. Without doing this all customers would see slower speeds when it was busy.
From the page already given to you:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archive/bb_premier1.shtml
"Broadband Premier is designed for all kinds of Internet activity, including file downloading, as with peer-to-peer or Binary USENET. You should note that for these data-intensive activities, download speeds may slow down when the network is busy."
I'm not sure if it specifically says that speeds on level 1 management may be lower than if you aren't on level 1 management but looking at your usage for the time you've been on level 1 management you've still management to download more than 5 times the amount the average Premier customer downloads in a whole month.

[#11]

I am wasting my time here aren't I? Excuses, avoiding questions, not reading information...
The fix in May was not after I changed accounts, I never changed accounts because I realised that if Plusnet stuck to their part of the contract that I am on a much better contract than BBYW option 4. I did however go over the 13GB limit for that month (check the usage history) and that was the reason I originally looked at changing my account type.
I personally couldn't care less if I have used more than 5 times the amount of the average user in the last few days, I still haven't got anywhere near the limit of my account and never will at the speeds I am restricted to.
So, there are the excuses and lack of reading information replied to now for the avoiding of questions... Where is the response to the question about the email? The email says "Light restrictions will now apply to your connection speeds... restrictions on speed only ever apply within peak-time"
A tenth of my usual speed is not light and where does it say that peak-time has changed?

[#12]

Quote from: Gimpy

I am wasting my time here aren't I? Excuses, avoiding questions, not reading information...

Just because you don't like the answers given doesn't mean they are incorrect, that they are excuses or we are avoiding the questions. The answers given are factual and honest in their content if you choose not to believe it that is up to you but giving any other answer would be incorrect.

Quote from: Gimpy

The fix in May was not after I changed accounts

An account change was request on 24/05/07 21:35, this errored but incorrectly changed the speed profile on your account. This was corrected at 29/05/07 14:10 by the support team. The level 1 email was sent at 15/06/07 01:00.

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I personally couldn't care less if I have used more than 5 times the amount of the average user in the last few days, I still haven't got anywhere near the limit of my account and never will at the speeds I am restricted to.

The point is you have reached the first level of management though.

Quote

A tenth of my usual speed is not light and where does it say that peak-time has changed?

Peak time hasn't changed, peak time is when the usage is measured. You need to seperate peak time usage allowances from the speeds. Usage is measured between 4pm and midnight but the actual traffic on the network doesn't always fit in with peak times. It will be busy during off peak hours as well and so speeds will be reduced.
The measures are in place to give the majority the best performance we can. Unfortunately that will mean that a tiny number of people won't see their expectations met because the platform isn't designed to deliver the kind of performance they want all of the time. Speeds between about 2am and midday should be perfectly fine, the simple answer is schedule the high usgae during those hours as there is bandwidth available. Outside those hours off peak the network runs at or near capacity so you will see a slowdown.

[#13]

Ok, I'm sorry about getting the dates wrong with regard to when I went over the limit in May and about the fact that I didn't know that the speed profile had changed, as a customer I don't get to see the same stuff you do and I've lost the original emails.
The point about reaching level 1 management is not something I'm arguing about, I was the first to mention it.
But I still have the very valid point that my question, as to what my email tells me, is still being ignored.
Here it is again:
"Remember, we don't count any of your usage outside of peak hours, and the restrictions on speed only ever apply within peak-time."
I'll put it in capitals to make it clearer: "THE RESTRICTIONS ON SPEED ONLY EVER APPLY WITHIN PEAK-TIME"
You say that peak-time hasn't changed:
"Peak time hasn't changed, peak time is when the usage is measured. You need to seperate peak time usage allowances from the speeds. Usage is measured between 4pm and midnight but the actual traffic on the network doesn't always fit in with peak times. It will be busy during off peak hours as well and so speeds will be reduced."
But are you also contradicting yourself?
Until I went over the limit my speeds were always around 450KB/s that is peak and off-peak. I expect and accept that due to the restrictions I will have reduced speed during ONLY peak time - that is what the email says. The email DOES NOT say that my off-peak speed will be affected.
I don't need to know about how important it is for Plusnet or any company to manage anything. I buy the product from Plusnet. Plusnet offer the product with a 20GB limit of peak-time. If this is not sustainable then it should not be offered for purchase. Don't try and say that me operating my account within the limits of what Plusnet specify causes some sort of a problem for Plusnet customers as a whole, if it does then it isn't my fault.
People reading this might ask why I'm not communicating through 'tickets' or over the phone. Since my first contact on Thursday I have had 5 replies, none of which was any better than 'go and read this webpage'. Since my first post on here, today, I have had a reply on there and 6 on here. This is where all the support staff are.
I won't phone because I would prefer to keep a record for if I need it and it might help other people, although, I doubt that.

[#14]

Reading through the replies it appears there are 2 restrictions, the first because you went over your limit but this doesn't affect off-peak usage.
The second restriction I would expect to be a general prioritisation of traffic that would apply all the time this is probably what you are experiencing.

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I don't need to know about how important it is for Plusnet or any company to manage anything

You may not be interested in understanding how things work or why something is happening but most people are and as you said you want this post to help others.

[#15]

It must be me not seeing it then. "it appears there are 2 restrictions"? The email says there is only 1 restriction and it is during peak-time.
Can you point out where it says 2?
And what I meant by "I don't need to know..." was that I have had that response in this thread at least once and, at least to me, it is self evident that management is needed.
What I meant by it might be helpful to other people is in whether or not I am right. If I am wrong then people will be able to find the answer that says why I am wrong. If I am right, which obviously I believe I am, then people should be able to find the way to fix the problem.
Let me ask everybody on BB Premier option 1 paying £21.99 per month - if you use usenet or any other restricted protocols during 12pm-4pm and 12am-2am what are your speeds, what do you think they should be and would you accept 25-35KB/s (the same as BBYW option 1 at £9.99 per month)?