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Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

foxydog
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎17-03-2015

Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

For 4 days currently, I have been without broadband. All was working till Friday 13th, now only phone works. I am moving to BT as it is about £20 cheaper per month for same service. Have spoken to Plusnet who said there is a 'seizure' on the line therefore Plusnet cannot test it. I have spoken to BT who said they cannot take over the line which seems to make sense after all what is to stop any other provider seizing a line when they want to...............
MAC codes.........Plusnet have given me a MAC code, BT say they no longer need them.....who is right?
16 REPLIES 16
dnpark38
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎24-02-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Last week I transferred to Plusnet from Sky and transfer was done through Plusnet who did not require me to obtain a MAC.
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/1476198475230638155-mini.png
davidj66
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎04-09-2008

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Suspect that "seizure" is actually "cease" - because BT are taking over your service WITHOUT a MAC, Plusnet are treating it as a cancellation/cease -they will probably charge you the £20 (??)cease fee as well!
Its about time that this fiasco over MACs was sorted PN !!!
dnpark38
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎24-02-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Yes David some of what you say applied to me Sky sent me an e-mail which quoted the date Plusnet had given me and Sky stated they would cancel me on that date.
Sky are not charging me though.
Sky were very helpful when I phoned their Accounts dept. to check how final payments for phone calls would be handled, they even suggested changing of payment date to make it better for me, I have no leaving early charges because I was on a monthly contract.
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/1476198475230638155-mini.png
Chris
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Quote
MAC codes.........Plusnet have given me a MAC code, BT say they no longer need them.....who is right?

Both unfortunately! Using a MAC is still a recognised process, but BT and some other providers have started using a different process. Unfortunately as soon as an order is placed on a line the line state it set to 'ceased' on the wholesale side, this is to stop any other orders impacting it, however it also has the side-effect of us not being able to test for faults on the line.
I'm pretty confident there isn't actually a fault and it's simply that part of the migration to BT has completed early meaning you're stuck in the middle without a connection. Realistically your service should continue with us until the date of your migration to BT, we've done nothing to stop this happening.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
foxydog
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎17-03-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Being without a service for what will amount to a week by 20th is bad enough, I would expect Plusnet not to charge me for that week and not to charge me for migrating. If Plusnet wish to charge me for either, they need to speak to whoever has ceased the line! This is really not acceptable - in fact Plusnet should be talking to BT who in effect have 'stolen' my connection, if that is the case. Does the right arm not know what the left is doing, Plusnet is owned by BT.  Cry
ian007jen
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Registered: ‎06-09-2007

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Quote
I would expect Plusnet not to charge me for that week and not to charge me for migrating.

Best bet is to pay up and reclaim from BT....they are causing the problems.
Ian
mwarby
Grafter
Posts: 85
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Maybe worth speaking to BT to see if you can use one of thier openzone hotspots while your waiting for migration, if theres one in range of you
Townman
Superuser
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Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Quote from: foxydog
Does the right arm not know what the left is doing, Plusnet is owned by BT.   Cry

No they do not and they are not intended to.  Rather than being limbs of the same body, BT Retail and PlusNet are seperate independent commercial bodies, having no interorganisational relationships.
On common terms with no preferantial treatment, each buys broadband services from BT Wholesale who are the common spanner in the works, similar to BT Openreach who provide the infrastructure for the services sold by Wholesale.
Belonging to the same group confers no favours, indeed there are some of us who believe BT's ownership of PlusNET is extremely detrimental to commercial pressure being applied to other BT divisions to improve service delivery.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

foxydog
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎17-03-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. The only way I have internet at the moment is with a BT Hotspot, not sure how secure that is though. 3G is rubbish here.
Have spoken to BT again and they say have not touched the line. Now down to Plusnet who seem reluctant to respond. Guess that makes them guilty of turning off the line a week early - wait till they want their money!
mwarby
Grafter
Posts: 85
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Unfortunatly BT seems to consist of 3 companies which dont talk to each other, not nice for the customer
BT Retail (the only people the end user can phone at BT), they buy from BT Openreach and Wholesale, same as any other provider
BT Wholesale sell broadband to ISPs
BT openreach sell local loop access to wholesale providers(including BT Wholesale)
The chinese walls between them are designed so that others ISPs can compete with BT retail and other wholesale broadband provides can compete with BT wholesale
Townman
Superuser
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Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

BT consists of a lot more than 3 companies!

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

foxydog
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎17-03-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

[tt][/tt] Well whatever the problem, Plusnet have refused to talk to me until after 20th by which time my contract with them will have finished - days of customer service have gone it seems! They have just notified me that my direct debit to them has been cancelled though even though the bill is nowhere near due!!
Townman
Superuser
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Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Quote from: Chris
Unfortunately as soon as an order is placed on a line the line state it set to 'ceased' on the wholesale side, this is to stop any other orders impacting it, however it also has the side-effect of us not being able to test for faults on the line.
I'm pretty confident there isn't actually a fault and it's simply that part of the migration to BT has completed early meaning you're stuck in the middle without a connection. Realistically your service should continue with us until the date of your migration to BT, we've done nothing to stop this happening.

I think it more of a case that PlusNET are - due to restrictions placed by BT Wholesale - now unable to do anything in respect of your line.  It is no longer within their gift to manage / control.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

foxydog
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎17-03-2015

Re: Total Outage now 4 days...Line Seizure????

Then why does 'ceased' mean that the line has suddenly gone dead? How can this be right and who do I blame - this is the principle of the thing, I have been without internet for a week now, I have never had this problem before.....