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No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

thomasshaw84
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Registered: ‎01-04-2018

No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

  • I signed up for Plusnet Broadband on the 28.02.2018 (to be activated in the new property I was moving in to). At that point I was told there would be ten working day until it was activated.
  • On the 09.03.2018 Plusnet called me to explain they had forgotten to place the order, and I would have to wait another 2 weeks (statutory period to take over a line) for my broadband to be activated.
  • On the 23.03 I received my new Plusnet router and an email on the 24.03.18 notified me my broadband was ready to use.
  • I setup my router and found it was not working, all lights were green except the "internet" light which was red. No one has been able to resolve the issue, I'm still without a connection 5 weeks later. Trouble shooting is going in circles, the case management completely incompetent (have to start from scratch ever phone call). And no manager will take my call (agents always say the managers are too busy dealing with similar cases and will not speak to me).
  • Im completely stuck without internet for 5 weeks, and have been goin in circles with inconsistent troubeshooting and incompetent case management from Plusnet. 

  • Who can I speak to to get this resolved? And how can I launch an official complaint? And can Plusnet really charge me for cancelling if they haven't even provided the service I signed up for?

Here is a breakdown of what has happened so far:

  1. 24.03 called plusnet to report the issue - did standard trouble shooting steps but could not get the broadband working. The agent advised I buy a handset so I could test there was a tone on the line and it was connected.
  2. 25.03 bought a phone, plugged it on to the socket, could hear a dial tone but could not ring out - called plusnet back. The agent I spoke to was surprised I had been asked to buy a phone, his opinion was that would not help us identify the problem. He carried out more trouble shooting steps but again could not resolve the issue. He advised he would need to raise the fault to BT who could test the line and that i should call back in 24 hours
  3. I received an email from plusnet on 26.03 claiming the fault was resolved and I could not connect to the internet, again, i tried by the same fault presented (red "internet " light and no connection
  4. 26.03 I called Plusnet again to report the issue, again we carried out trouble shooting steps with no success. I was told the fault would be escalated to level 2 support, and that BY would also need to check the line again and I would need to wait 72 hours to be called back. 
  5. I received a voicemail and message on 31.03, and message telling me:

    "i have tested the line and can see that the details do match at the exchange please do the following when connected directly to the router via Ethernet cable

    you can log in to your router by typing IP ADDRESS into the address bar

    this will bring you to your router log in page you will need to enter the password on the back of your router and the user name is admin once inside the router you need to select broadband connection and internet potentially configure

    you will now need to make sure that your details are correct

    your username is your username@plusdsl.net and the password is the one for your account

    if this fails then do a factory reset

     

6. I carried out the above steps on 01.04 and again, could not connect to the internet, the router was still showing a red light for "internet". I called the Plusnet support line and explained. Despite the agent having full access to my account and previous escalations, the agent claimed he could not comment on or understand the issue. The agent told me that the best he could do would be to escalate my issue, and that I would receive a call back within 3 to 7 days. I asked for the call to be escalated right away due to the circumstances, he refused. I asked to speak to a manager more than 3 times, each time the agent put me on hold to ask, but each time the manager refused to speak with me. The agent said I could not jump the queue as they were busy and I would have to wait 3 to 7 days to speak with a manager. At this point I asked for my contract to be cancelled so I could go with anothe provider. The agent told me I would need to call back tomorrow as the cancellation department was colsed, he further explained there would be a charge to cancel my contract. I explained that I would not pay a charge for canceling a service that I had never recieved, at which piont the agent diconnected the call.

 

Thanks

27 REPLIES 27
SpendLessTime
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Official complaints procedure is given at https://www.plus.net/help/legal/complaints-code-of-practice/

Alternatively you could use the Martin Lewis approved https://www.resolver.co.uk/companies/plusnet-complaints 

(Martin is the MoneySavingExpert and has his own ITV consumer rights show. I've used it for energy company complaints which worked out great. More details about Resolver at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/resolver).

I would only use the written communication as you need to have an audit trail which the phone doesn't give and if you don't click the right button neither does the Plusnet Chat system.

Ex - Plusnet Customer (2009 - 2023) now with BT
MasterOfReality
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Registered: ‎26-03-2018

Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi @thomasshaw84,

I’m really sorry to hear about the issues you have experienced since you joined us, that really isn’t the relationship we want to have with our customers at all. I assure you that we will look into this and pass on our findings to the relevant people.

I have checked your account today and can see that your router is In Sync and has a Download speed which is well within your estimated range.

xDSL Status Test Summary
Sync Status: Circuit In Sync
General Information
NTE Status:   NTE Power Status: PowerOn Bypass Status:  
 
  Upstream DSL Link Information Downstream DSL Link Information
Loop Loss: 10.3 21.5
SNR Margin: 6.0 6.1
Errored Seconds: 0 12
HEC Errors: 0  
Cell Count: 8056 16377
Speed: 1211 11603

 


On the same test, I noticed a reply which informed me that your PPP session is currently down and not connecting due to the ADSL Username & Password being incorrect.

I can’t see any other cause for concern on your account, therefore could you please attempt the manual authentication process which you were sent previously? This manual authentication process should get you up and running without any more hassle, however, if for any reason that does not happen, please get in touch with our Technical Support teams as soon as possible. 

Here is a copy of the Manual Authentication steps again (I've found the below steps work best on a windows PC/laptop using Internet Explorer/Microsoft Edge if you have trouble bringing up the necessary pages with your current device/browser);

1) Open up a webpage and in the address bar type http://192.168.1.254

2) When you connect, you will see an option listed as 'Broadband Username' followed by an option to the right labeled 'Change' which you will need to click on.

3) You will now be prompted for a 'Router Password' which is listed both on the back of the router and on the card that came with the router.

4) You will now be asked to input your username and password from ourselves, if it does not allow you to change your username and password, please press 'Disconnect' first. Your username is username@plusdsl.net and your account password is the same as what you would use to log into the Members Centre. Input both of these and press 'Connect' and you should now be online.

Again, let me apologise for the experience which you have had up until now, we will investigate the points you have made then escalate and action all of them accordingly.

Please let us know how you get on with this so we can provide more support if needed. 

thomasshaw84
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Registered: ‎01-04-2018

Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi, and thank you for the quick response, its appreciated. 

 

I just carried out the trouble shooting steps you gave me and the issue remains, router is showing a red light against "internet" and the router login page is showing as disconnected. 

When i click connect on the router broadband setting page after inputting username and password the internet status reads "connecting" (for about 5 seconds) then for a second reads "DSL down connection disconnected connecting bridge not configured" before reading "disconnected".

Please, please don't refer me back to tech support. I have spent hours on the phone and  honestly have no faith in calling them back. I don't have the time to talk an agent through this story gain, every time I have to start from scratch and i get the same trouble shooting steps. 

 

Thanks 

Tom

thomasshaw84
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Thanks. 

thomasshaw84
Dabbler
Posts: 12
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Registered: ‎01-04-2018

Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

@MasterOfReality Hi, did you see my response? Did you have any more ideas on how to fix this? I'm desperate. Thanks.

Gandalf
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi Tom.

I'm sorry to read of your experience. I'm taking ownership of this for you and I'll post back shortly.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Gandalf
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Thanks for waiting.

I've updated the ticket on your account which you can view and reply to here.

Can you let me know how you get on?

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
thomasshaw84
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi, I have done this again and have the same outcome. Still reading disconnected. I'm not sure if this is anything to do with it, but my password is 11 characters long, after I input it on the router page and it tries and fails to connect it defaults to a much shorter password (i cant see what it is because the letters are hidden). See attached. In the internet status box, it reads "DSL Down connected disconnected connecting bridge not found" for about a second before it changes to "disconnected".

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Personal information removed from attachments in a public forum.

Gandalf
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Thanks for getting back to me Tom.

I'd like to investigate this further with our suppliers and I'll update you this afternoon

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
TheMightyAJ
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi @thomasshaw84, I've had a look into this one and after speaking with my colleague Anoush (or Gandalf as he's more often know on here) we've decided to send a replacement router out to try and resolve this issue that you're experiencing. It should arrive in the next 3-5 working days and will hopefully resolve the issues you've been experiencing. Once it's arrived, please let us know if the new router is working or not so we can take another look into it if needs be.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alex H
 Plusnet Help Team
thomasshaw84
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the update. It's really frustrating to have to wait another 3 to 5 days - can't this be expedited in this case!? I was supposed to be online on the 13th of March - I work from home most of the time and am having to make a daily 50 mile round trip to the office.

Supposing the router is not the issue? Then what are our options and how long will that take?

 

It may appear that I am overreacting but if you look back at how my case has been managed, listen to the calls see from day 1 how Plusnet initially forgot to even place my order resulting in a 2 week delay. 

Thanks

Gandalf
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Whilst the official timeframe for a router to be delivered is 3-5 working days, they usually arrive much sooner. I've known a router to arrive next day before, as they're sent by royal mail 1st class.

 

If the new router doesn't work then the next step would be to arrange an engineer visit to investigate the Openreach network. We're normally able to book a visit within 24-48 hours.

 

Once you're up and running I'll be happy to discuss a gesture of goodwill.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Baldrick1
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

This may be a long shot but where are you setting the log in credentials? The screen grab that you have put out earlier looks like the status page. If I remember correctly you have to go into the advanced settings then broadband to set it up. 

It was just a thought...

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Gandalf
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Re: No internet for 5 weeks - no one owning my issue worst service ever received

Hi Tom.

I can see your replacement router should've been dispatched yesterday so if you haven't received it yet it should arrive very soon.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet