cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

stillwaiting
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎13-06-2014

Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

Dont know whether Plusnet read/care about posts here, but...
We placed our order for Fibre/FTTC 7 weeks ago, on April 28th and we are still without internet....and to make matter worse, CS repeatedly give incorrect information and appear to have used "The IT Crowd" as a training video ....("oh just wait 24-48 hours, it will fix itself")...which is why we've ended up here
with a rant post...
So far...
Two attempts for the BT openreach engineer to arrive - first appt. booked but not "confirmed" - no update was given and we had to chase CS to rebook after the confirmation sms/email/call did not arrive. The openreach engineer attended and installed the line/kit.
To try and pre-empt another failed appointment from the Plusnet engineer as we had received no update/information, we rang CS the day before
the engineer was due to activate the line, "just to make sure".
No surprise (in retrospect) that the visit was not "confirmed" (by plusnet/whoever), so we had to rebook. Informed the next day by SMS that the new appointment
was "unavailable", and it took a further call to CS to book again for the Plusnet engineer.
When the plusnet engineer finally arrived, he informed us that there was a potential fault on the line that was probably due to the "pole or cabinet" - we were
told the issue had passed to "our suppliers" and that we would be updated within 24h-48h.
We weren't updated and had to ring CS again, where we were..
Further informed there was possibly a localised fault (ie at the house) and that plusnet had to wait for "their suppliers" to further investigate.
Again, we would be kept up to date.
Again, we weren't and we had to chase CS for an update when we were told an openreach engineer would be making investigations.
After a further visit from an openreach engineer, a CS update via email told us that "a flat roof" is in the way of the access point.
On contacting CS immediately after receiving the above regarding the flat roof, we were informed that there was a completely different issue,
and that the order itself was incorrect (another order/username was "coming up", said username being provided to me, in contravention of DPA).
On the same call, we were told this same "order issue" had been resolved by them and that our internet would "just start working" within 24-48 hours.
The issue did not resolve and no update was forthcoming - had to chase CS yet again for an update after 48 hours, where we were now told that
"dig work" may be required (no reference to the "flat roof"), and that we are "waiting on suppliers" etc. and that an update would be forthcoming by 7/06/2014.
07/06/2014 came and went with no resolution and no update. Chased CS again, told "with our suppliers, update by 12/06/2014"
12/06/2014 was yesterday and neither updated nor resolved.
Chased CS today (13/06/2014) and received the standard fob off line of ..."we are waiting on our suppliers, you will be updated within 24h".
I wont hold my breath for that, as it may prove fatal.
A very unhappy Plusnet customer (for now).
7 REPLIES 7
chenks76
All Star
Posts: 3,274
Thanks: 338
Fixes: 12
Registered: ‎24-10-2013

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

plusnet don't have engineers that visit houses.. .that would have been an openreach engineer.
it seems you have a fault on the line and it's openreach that appear to be causing all the problems here where they are not updating plusnet with the progress of their work.
all ISPs rely entirely on openreach to do installs and fix faults.
"our suppliers" refers to openreach.
tonycollinet
Grafter
Posts: 1,140
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎14-08-2007

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

Still no excuse for plusnet not to be progressing the case, chasing THIER suppliers, and keeping the customer informed.
Acassim
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,075
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

Hi stillwaiting,
Firstly, please accept our apologies for the delay in getting the service up and running. We fully empathise with you and agree that this move has been less than adequate when taking into account the mount of issues we've come up against and the amount of time you've been without the service.
Please be assured that we are trying to get this resolved for you as soon as possible but given the access problems and possibility of dig access, this installation has grown very complex. When we come up against such issues we tend to see that permission from property owners and local councils will need to be contacted and arrangements made to allow access to various locations. As I'm sure you can appreciate, while this doesn't excuse the matter of the delays it must be taken into account when looking at the amount of work required to get the connection up and running for you.
As chenks76 points out, all ISP's that use the BT network must use the BT Openreach engineers. While we are indeed owned by BT, this doesn't give us any direct links into the BT Openreach arm of the company. It works in this way so that no ISP would have preferential treatment over any other. This was put in place some time ago to ensure that BT didn't hold the monopoly on their network which allowed it to be opened up to competition.
Ultimately we would like to be able to provide a call, email and ticket update each day but unfortunately the resource required for this would be massive and in a lot of cases (as with yours) there can be significant delays in between updates where planning and permission are concerned which only leads to frustration on our part and more importantly yours as the customer.
From reviewing the account I can see you spoke with one of the provisioning agents today who has raised a request to the supplier for information on where the matter stands, the notes back from BT are showing that we have requested that the order be expedited so that we can get the matter resolved quicker. At present we've been asked to stand by and see where the outcome lands as to the next moves on completing the work to install.
The best course of action would be to keep an eye on the support ticket you have raised and hopefully we should see some information back on this one soon, again we apologise for the delays in getting this resolved for you and I can assure you that we're moving on this as fast as we can. In the meantime I'll keep an eye on this one for you and provide any updates I pick up and place the on the support ticket for you (where they haven't already been added).

Thanks,
Adam C
stillwaiting
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎13-06-2014

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

*sigh* - the farce continues...
So, the engineer turned up again today. Booked for 1300h-1800h, turned up at 1230h.
Told by engineer that "everything is working as expected" on the fibre, but the plusnet router "might be faulty" as it is showing a "red light" even after a hardware reset.
Rang CS to be told that the order is "stuck" in the system..... and guess what?...We need to pass it to "supply investigation team" and someone will ring me in 24-48 hours.
I bet they don't.
Why would this time be any different to the previous 7 or 8 times?


Acassim
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,075
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

Hi Stillwaiting,
This seems to be an odd one as it sounds like the engineer has installed the Fibre as he tested the speeds and connectivity however he hasn't completed the order in the wholesale system. This means that it hasn't sent the alert to us to activate your account so on the off that this was completed I activated your account to check.
From the looks of it, your equipment connected a few seconds after activation so we just need to you to check and make sure you're able to browse!
On the flip side of this good news it seems that the engineer has booked another appointment for you so you can have another engineer attend and either install it again (which makes no sense but this is how it appears in the system??) or run through some fault checks which shouldn't be required.
I've called your landline number and left a message but if you could let me know how you get on with the connection tests ASAP I can either look at cancelling the second visit or try and get it sped up, should you still require work.

Thanks,
Adam C
[Moderator's note by Jim (Oldjim)  name changed to username ]
stillwaiting
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎13-06-2014

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

This appears to have resolved the issue and the line is now working as predicted.
Acassim
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,075
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Fibre install - waiting 7 weeks and counting....

Thanks for the update stillwaiting,
Apologies for the use of your name in the previous post and glad to hear that everything is up and running as expected for you!
I have now chased this up with our suppliers and they can see that the order is complete although it hasn't been closed off on their side yet so I have arranged for this to be done. This means that the second install engineer will not need to attend. Once we have confirmation of this from our supplier we will close off the support ticket as you requested on the account.

Thanks,
Adam C