Plusnet Broadband: Falling behind competitors

[#1]

Quote from: jelv

We've seen many times people who signed up to value when that is totally unsuited to their usage which tells us one thing: one price comparison websites, surprise, surprise people compare the price. A very high proportion don't have a clue how much they use/need. Only if prices are the same will people compare other features such as allowances.

What absolute tripe!  I do not know where you have been but we are in a period of austerity, people want and need the best value they can get, not just the price but the hidden charges like being charged for additional data.
The idea that they only compare if prices are the same is complete tosh.  Perhaps you are in some safe position or job and you do not have to make every penny deliver the best value, but for the 450,000 public sector workers who are losing their jobs and the millions of people in turn affected by the ripple of those cuts, getting the best value for money if critical. 

Quote from: jelv

Plusnet are being very successful so you can't knock their strategy. That does mean that a very small (but vocal) minority won't be happy.

Plusnet have had to copy competitors with free half price introduction offers, TalkTalk offer £3.25 a month for 6 months and then £7.50 for the rest of the year, so less than £65 for a year and all for unlimited, it is compelling for existing Plusnet customers who might be paying  £215 a year and more if they go over their allowance. Great customer service will only carry you so far.  Also their free lovefilm on demand could enable one to get rid of SkyTV.  I can't even consider watching movies online because of this data limit.
Anyone who has run their own business will tell you that it is easy to win customers, but keeping them is another matter and winning back customers you lost even harder.  Yes some come back but mainly those with deep pockets.  A friend of mine got TalkTalk and just like Plusnet there were issues and it took some rattling to get things done, but they upgraded them to fibre for a year at the broadband price to say sorry. 
So I CAN knock the Plusnet sales strategy, but I recognise they are caught between a rock and hard place when it comes to OFCOM, BT Procedures etc, so sometimes all they can do is strive to provide a better service when things go wrong, which this forum shows, is often, because of the nature of the product.
I am going to try and cut back my usage, but I am up against it because as I said before the content has larger files and because of my better speed it is consumed faster and so I need more.
If I can't stay in 60gb this month I will get the trial, of course I have no idea how much I am using because the view my usage does not work and if I ask the support team for a report they can't show peak and offpeak.
Looking forward, Plusnet is going to have to do something to remain competitive because TalkTalk are now expanding into what were the safe exchanges with no investment from LLU, that is changing and if Sky see TalkTalk doing it, they will follow.

[#2]

Quote from: Zap

If I can't stay in 60gb this month I will get the trial, of course I have no idea how much I am using because the view my usage does not work and if I ask the support team for a report they can't show peak and offpeak.

This needs fixing.  I'll have a dig on Monday.

[#3]

The extra usage would be awesome, but they PN isnt accepting it for people on fibre =/

[#4]

My own usage is normally well below the limit (for Extra Fibre) but one reason for this is that I actively avoid streaming as much as possible despite having a service that's otherwise ideal for this, with a suitably higher allowance I'd be making use of a lot more catch-up TV etc.

[#5]

It would be nice if you could bump up the fibre allowance a bit - say to 150GB.

[#6]

I could not agree with you more. The service I get from Plusnet is great but they need to review their product line, especially the 10gb allowance. These days most software Is downloaded and not purchased and installed via a CD Rom.  Then of course there is the increase in video streaming which is even recognised by Plusnet. Therefore, unless there is a change of direction, I will be looking to switch to a provider with unlimited allowance.
Plusnet need to react to lose customers.

[#7]

You are right, but it is not just the things we expect ot take a lot like downloads, spend an afternoon on ebay looking for something popular and opening the different auctions, each one will download high res pictures and your allowance will show a huge increase.
The same applies to Facebook where people share and tag phots and videos all the time.
Go to a news site and you will see HD video and high res images because they want their site to look good and because the rest if the world has high speed broadband.
Visit YouTube and if you will be served HD video by default if it was uploaded, you can manually change it but my kids won't do that and they will watch it over and over.  I can download but that is way beyond the tech limits of my kids.
So content is becoming richer and I have not even touched on online courses, TV etc.
There is a reason that the competitors are all going unlimited, because people are getting fed up for being charged for data, they already have this issue on their kids mobiles and so they stump up for an unlimited contract so that they get no nasty surprises.
When a value product has unlimited you know that it is time to look at things again.

[#8]

The Value product is targeted at users who make limited use of all the things being mentioned and appears to be meeting that need well. In my opinion Extra, or the revamped Premium (available from the "Extra usage" link here) provide more for those that need it and at realistic prices.

[#9]

I think you are exaggerating Zap.
I use Ebay a LOT both to buy and sell. I'm generally on it for half a day or so several times a week. I have never used more than a few hundred MB doing it.
Regarding photographs, a fairly hi-res photo is the odd MB or so, so 1000 downloads would cost you a few GB.
Downloading a dvd is around 4-5GB tops and you can usually schedule this overnight for no cost.
PN do a 60Gb broadband which demonstrably exceeds most folk's requirements. If it doesn't exceed yours then maybe its you that's different not PN?
As others have pointed out, PN have to pay for the data traffic and in turn we pay them. I wouldn't be happy with a flat rate subscription which only went to subsidise high bandwidth users. People should pay for what they use.
And FWIW if you read the forums you will see endless speed and other restriction issues from other ISPs who control their bandwidth a bit more clandestinely than PN do.
I've been with Force9 for around 12-13 years now and like most I would have moved long ago if the service wasn't among the best available.

[#10]

spraxyt
I am not talking about Value, I am on Extra and exceeding the limits of the Extra product,  my point about value is that if the competition offer unlimited on their £65 a year value product it has to be included when we pay over £200.
Realistic is that it costs £65 elsewhere and that I have to pay more here, I am glad that there is the Trial option to go to 120gb but I should not have to pay more for that.
I think that ADSL2 is a factor here, because it is faster sites serve richer content and so without changing my habits I am forced to download more.
Perhaps upgrading clients to 120gb at no charge as part of the ADSL2 upgrade is the answer for now, but the writing is on the wall that the market us using unlimited as a marketing leader.
I saw an O2 offer of £6.25 for 12 months for existing client (£20 including the line), again it was unlimited and they made a big deal of saying when we say unlimited we mean unlimited.
I think the market is moving towards making people pay for the line speed they use, plusnet does that already and despite the homepage it does not offer half price for 6 months on Fibre which is confusing for buyers as it is the first and most prominant message.  I actually recommended someone to Plusnet and this annoyed them because it created expectation.
Plusnet also needs to get more competitive on transfers, they charge £50 if you come from LLU, yet if you look at it the other way around, TT waive their install charge.  

[#11]

quelquod
We will all have different usage requiremenrts, but my point is that sites are making us use more, if they see we have a faster line they give us bigger files to make the content more rich.  I had a day when I spent half a day on eBay looking up pricing for things I plan to sell, I was not online for the rest of the day and my usage on that day was over a gb.
I think PN will have to renegotiate what they pay for traffic in due course, the difficulty is that BT Wholesale have to give the same terms more or less to all their retailers, but they need to wise up.
With Plusnet I have to pay for CLI on my phone, I don't get free access to Hotspots around the country, I pay for a highest product they are able to offer in my exchange, so they need to make it compelling.
I have been about for 10 years and will stay as long as I can but there is a financial storm heading my way and things may be taken out of my hands
It is the service that has kept me here but when my financial circumstances change, having any broadband at all may be a luxury.

[#12]

Quote from: GJenkins

The extra usage would be awesome, but they PN isnt accepting it for people on fibre =/

Fibre customers already have the option of a 120GB product which takes the additional cost of providing Fibre into account.

[#13]

I think that Fibre customers will want more for the same reasons I have specified before; richer content etc.
Perhaps a trial for them enabling them to double up for a few pounds?
The Government has committed to increased investment to provide high speed internet to all etc
As this happens competition will only get worse.
I do think that it is reasonable for people to pay more for a fibre connection but not forever, as the investment will have been recouped.
I started this post because I felt that Plusnet may be falling behind competitors who are really pushing a "real" unlimited service and pointing out that visitor habits and site changes will cause an increased need in allowances or the abolition of these completely.  I still feel the same.
The Extra Trial is all I can do for now but the writing is on the wall, Plusnet need to become more competitive.
Now if only I could see how much I am using I might dare to use my service!

[#14]

I would like to know the answer to this, which I've posted before http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,84166.msg899061.html#msg899061, but so far no one from Plus Net has the back bone to answer, or even try and justify it!

Quote

I would like to know how they can justify £5 for 5GB, when you can have 120GB on fibre for £21.49, that works out at only 18p per GB, and of course its actually far less because for simplicity I've not factored in any other costs, which would probably lower per GB price to pennies if that.

See this report here http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/370393/isps-exaggerate-the-cost-of-data which puts the cost at between £0.01 to £0.03 per GB!
If extra data was a resonable price, and not charged at around 3200% (Yes three thousand two hundred%) mark up people might happily pay extra for it, this in turn would get customers use to paying for what they use.
Whilst I appreciate it's not quite so straightforward as just pumping more data through the network, as the back bone and systems will need to be expanded to cope with it, which in turn costs money, so in the end there are other assoiciated costs to, but  £5 per 5GB is excessive and probably profiteering.

[#15]

Quote from: Ronski

I would like to know the answer to this, which I've posted before http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,84166.msg899061.html#msg899061, but so far no one from Plus Net has the back bone to answer, or even try and justify it! Quote I would like to know how they can justify £5 for 5GB, when you can have 120GB on fibre for £21.49, that works out at only 18p per GB, and of course its actually far less because for simplicity I've not factored in any other costs, which would probably lower per GB price to pennies if that.

We've answered this question before, so saying we don't have the backbone to reply is a bit harsh! Take a look at this thread where the pricing of the additional usage was talked about: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,84166.16.html
jim:green quote tag fixed mod:end