So you want less of my business?

[#1]

Hopefully, Mr Baker will be at the BT AGM 12th July in Old Billingsgate. I'll ask him if he's had chance to read my letter.  

Edit: I've just seen another reply from PlusNet which I think is a reply to my letter addressed to BT Group. The response is along the lines, "We've said sorry, given a refund of [most] of the wrongly billed period. It was Openreach's fault because they gave us wrong data. We can't do anything more..."

The whole point of me pushing this issue is because PlusNet could do more to prevent people (us customers) getting wrongly billed in the future. However, it needs some proactive thinking on the part of PlusNet management. They know that OpenReach make mistakes, so assume that this is the case and before sending a bill, during account opening and account closing, check that the customer is satisfied before sending the bill.

I know the accounts department won't like this change to their sedentary lifestyle, but they are supposed to be part of the team.

At present, the PlusNet procedures assume OpenReach never screw up, even though everyone knows this is not the case. In each and every change of account status the PlusNet people should be double checking what has really happened.  It might even require, wait for it ... talking-to-the-customer. There should be root cause analysis when there's a screw up.

The absolute lack of senior management engagement with the customer is indicative of a sick system. ...Spend more on TV adverts, we'll boost the customer take up...  I can understand why the coal-face workers feel helpless. We're getting British Leyland management when what is needed is Toyota Lean Management. As a BT shareholder I loathe inefficient management performance, it reduces the value of my investment by reputation damage, wasted resource,poor workforce morale, re-working, heavy regulator fines.

One final time; I'll offer pro-bono (plus expenses) advice to help PN fix their processes. I've made the offer before and it was ignored. Maybe I'll repeat the offer in the old London fish market.

[#2]

As a BT share holder, I suggest it would be much more beneficial to the industry as a whole if your efforts were directed towards those who caused the screw-ups in the first place ... BT Wholesale and BTOR.  Their business processes are really not fit for purpose and their databases are woefully deficient.  Just take a look around the forums at the number of failed orders and bridge cases being reported.

If BT did not create so many issues in the first place, plusnet would have more time and resources available to address the in-house cockerel-ups of their own making...

[#3]

I've a certain sympathy with those views. The fundamental problem is the BT Board losing track of the primary purpose of the company which is to provide telecoms for the UK making a profit along the way. They've ventured into providing outsourcing for business/government which has lost loads of money and piled on the pension problems. They've tried to compete as a TV company which diverted resources and management focus away from the primary business, etc,etc.

However PlusNet could still protect themselves and their clients from OpenReach screw-ups by using proactive procedures coupled with root cause analysis of failures to prevent their recurrence. Other companies manage this; Zen Internet seem to provide us with a good service and zero snafu's, yet their primary supplier is OpenReach. 

[#4]

Your analysis of the core BT actives is profoundly accurate - they have too many fingers in too many pies.

However the comparison of PN with Zen has weaknesses ... I suspect PN has more exposure to BT flaws (more customers / business) taken at a lower price. Volume and tight margins is a real challenge to the practicality of self protection against suppiler sabotage. There will always be a limit in the amount of resources which can be deployed to deal with the consequences of other's failures. Using your approach this requires RCA and elimination - that is a radical change within the core of BT.

For example it is totally stupid that a CP or ISP end user complaining directly to a BT CEO opens channels of escalation not otherwise available to said CP / ISP. For me that is a clear illustration that BT is severely broken and in need of urgent reform.