Sorry this is a long post - just skip to the last couple of paragraphs for the abridged version.
It was almost 2 weeks ago that my Plusnet Internet service died and this nightmare began.
First I tried the option of "text 'help' to this number" and waited but nothing happened - this should have been a hint of what was to follow.
The next day I phoned Plusnet Customer Support (the first of many calls - I have lost count of just how many) they ran some checks and concluded it was a line fault. A BT Openreach engineer visited and spent much of the next day at my house and the local Exchange but could not find any evidence of a line fault but as a precaution he did swap most of the routing of my phone line to the Exchange.
Back to Plusnet and a request for the problem to be escalated - but that was against policy - I needed a second visit from an engineer before they could do that. The engineer was booked for Saturday afternoon but didn't show, although he did appear unannounced on Sunday morning and unsurprisingly concluded the line was OK.
Back to Plusnet again - they finally agreed to escalate to their 'cat' team and also to send me a replacement router - I had already tried and failed with two of my own routers - so I wasn't hopeful it would help but was willing to try it.
A cat team member phoned me, ran some more tests and yes, you guessed it, concluded it was a line problem. I could now look forward to a visit from a 'Senior Engineer' and a wireless dongle would be posted to provide alternative Internet access while the 'line' problem was being fixed.
Next day I got a text message (in a format that I couldn't reply to) saying the problem had been fixed. It was evening when I got home from work (I should be working from home but that's hard without Internet connection) I checked and found broadband still dead. I called Plusnet again to find the engineer visit had already been cancelled as the fault had been fixed and it was too late to rearrange. I asked for the problem to escalated to their management - was told they would call back - they didn't. Later I spoke to a more helpful Plusnet Customer Support person who rebooked the engineer appointment.
The 'Senior Engineer' turned out to be the same bloke from BT Openreach who had visited previously. During a phone conversation with him at the Exchange he did notice a crackling line, which he fixed - I suspect this was simply due to something that had been disturbed during previous visits - as this did not fix the broadband issue. And the Plusnet router was no help either.
The wireless dongle had also arrived but wasn't so helpful for use on the 2 desktop computers I use (it could only be plugged in one of them) and although it gave me internet access and I could receive e-mails I could not send e-mails.
Back to Plusnet again for another escalation request and another broken promise - I am still waiting for them to respond.
E-mail is rather important at the moment as I am just about to move house and just prior to the death of my broadband I received an e-mail from my solicitor advising me of a potential mining subsidence issue which I needed to forward to my surveyor. Only now I couldn't. When I finally found a convoluted method for forwarding this e-mail I got an auto-reply saying the surveyor had just left on holiday for 2 weeks.
So the current situation is I have been without Internet access for 12 days. After numerous conversations with representatives of Plusnet and visits from BT Openreach engineers I am no nearer to an understanding of the problem or a satisfactory resolution. There are numerous "fingers in the pie" from BT Openreach (for the line), BT Wholesale (for the exchange equipment) and Plusnet as the Internet ‘Service’ Supplier. The Plusnet customer service people are polite and friendly but out of their depth with complex issues and are unable or unwilling to provide access to anyone else in the organisation. There is no evidence of anyone at Plusnet coordinating the response. Far too much of my time has been wasted trying to get a resolution, my house purchase chain is on hold (and I am hoping it won’t break), my stress levels are through the roof, working from home has varied between difficult and impossible and I still can’t send e-mails.
Why do I write this? I have a forlorn hope that it might somehow reach someone at Plusnet with the skills needed to investigate and resolve what just might be a complex problem.
