My webspace has disappeared

[#1]

With effect from this Monday 13 December 2010, I 'upgraded' my package from the old Free-online broadband plus 'up to 8Mb' at £14.99pm  to the Value package with 'up to 20Mb' at £6.49 per month.  I was told that, as an existing customer (since 1999), I could retain the 100MB of webspace that I had with old package.
However, since Monday the two websites that I host have disappeared and replaced by a "Server not Found" message.  In addition, I cannot upload to the homepages server.
I raised a query on 15 December at 2:26pm and have still not received a response.  #37775713
Are there any PlusNet staff on here who can tell me what is happening?
I used to be very pleased with the service level from PN but since the advertising campaign and expansion they seem to be unable to cope.

[#2]

You've left it very late in the day/week to post about that, there's a good chance it won't be seen by any Plusnet staff until Monday

[#3]

it used to be that you  had to add it to your upgrade ticket that you wanted to keep your add ons, I did it with no problem, and am also on  the Value pack

[#4]

This eventually resolved itself after several attempts.
I did raise a ticket before the transfer and PN confirmed that my webspace would be retained as an existing user.
Despite this, they deleted it when I was transferred to the new package.
When I raised a ticket I was told that it had gone and no way could the old 'free-online' space be reinstated but I could have a plusnet address instead - most unsatisfactory as the old address was widely publicised.
After phoning I was told it could be reinstated but would take up to 24 hours to reactivate
Phoned again 24 hours later - still no webspace - and was told to wait another 24 hours
After another 48 hours raised a ticket again, this time threatening a formal complaint.  I  was then told all a mistake, big apologies, and my free-online webspace was made available again.
Luckily the site content was stored on my hard drive, so I could simply upload it again.
Moral - don't believe what Customer Support tell you first time if it's not what you want to hear.
John

[#5]

Same bad experience - changed package - first time I tried to revamp website I was not allowed access.  Usual traipse around closed question "help" pages.  0845 helpline offers so many button options you lose the will to live and press anything - no answer anyhow - .  Eventually (two days) a ticket question elicited the response that my webspace was once again available - no apology or explanation.  A further inquiry produced a nastily toned reply which inferred that I had done something wrong - but what exactly  was/is hard to figure.  Whether website and connections are working correctly I do not know as yet.  Certainly in the past week or so I have had the slowest connection and most dropped connections in nine years.  As soon as I saw adverts on tele I was worried - seems I was right to be.  This is not Plus.net as I have known it.  An apology eh  -fat chance,

[#6]

I too have been suffering dropped connections, although since upgrade my actual download speed has increased from around 6.4 to 9.4Mbps.  The disconnections improved a lot when I changed my old modem (3 years old) for the new one supplied by PlusNet and now only happen once or twice a day, but the modem stats are showing a lot of errors.  I live about 1.3Km from the exchange by road and with download attenuation of 20dB and SN margin of 13.0dB, I was hoping for an even higher speed - perhaps around 15Mbps.
Apart from one short occasion I have not had any problems uploading to my webspace once I got it back - indeed uploads seem faster and more reliable than before although speedtester indicates upload speeds are actually marginally slower.
My telephone line comes in from a pole on heavy twin wire (not twisted) that is over 30 years old so that probably doesn't help.  My internal extension wiring was renewed last year, but I plan to replace it soon with twisted pair to reduce any possible interference.  The third, ring wire is not connected.
Have been with PlusNet (or rather Free-Online, who they took over) since 1999 when I was on  28Kb dial-up, then on 2Mb  broadband, followed by 8Mb and now 20Mb.  As a small, specialist UK based ISP their service was great but with the recent expansion and advertising campaign this seems to have been lost.  I guess they may have taken on additional staff who simply do not have the experience.  Have to say that they did answer the phone quickly but response times to an online ticket were days, rather than hours, and their information was wrong.
John

[#7]

WEbSite "withdrawn" again this morning due to "abuse".  This time my webstats do show a big overload.  When I go to correct matters via FTP the site is empty of all my content.  The feeling is growing that I am being bullied into restoring my old account which allowed plus.net to charge for extra usage quite regularly .  I do not like to be called an "abuser" .  Plus.net locked me out of updating my website 10 days ago.  Next time I used FTP (for a different ISP) the plus.net process which had been halted resumed.  No idea what was going on - I would not be surprised if two websites resulted but really have no idea.  MY webspace was cleared of accrued "junk" last year and the website should have been way within limits.  Ticketed question submitted - still waiting for the last one to be settled.  Has Plus.net changed hands recently ?

[#8]

PlusNet has been a subsidiary of BT for several years now and although it absorbed several other small IPSs (including Free-Online that I was with) it had always been a fairly small ISP with the emphasis on good service.  That's one of the reasons why I stayed with them for over 10 years.
There seems to have been a recent change of strategy and PlusNet are now going all out to gain market share from their competitors with national advertising, including peak time TV, and the promise to undercut rival's prices for equivalent products.
Unfortunately, this has inevitably let to increased pressure on their support functions.  They have also recently closed their old Masdafish call centre in India and brought it back in house to Sheffield.  I suspect that they have recruited a lot of new staff who are less experienced and do not have the same level of knowledge of sorting out problems.  Telephone support answered quickly, were very friendly and sympathetic and obviously trying to help, but they didn't manage to sort the problem.
My advice is to raise the ticket again, mark it in capital letters that you require the attention of a Manager or Supervisor. Ask for details of their complaint procedure and tell them that if it is not resolved within 24 hours you will escalate it to a formal complaint.
John

[#9]

The call centre was South Africa not India

[#10]

Is a formal complaint to a regulator or somesuch ?  I thought a complaint was a complaint.  For a company boasting top customer service they're not doing very well.  After nine years I've had enough in nine days to have me looking elsewhere.

[#11]

I had this happen to me, but I was told why, got it back within 24 hours after rectifying the problem and had to agree to conditions
the problem can be either too much traffic, or used to much web space, the traffic can be a problem as you have to identify the reason

[#12]

Hi portfolio,
I suspect the over webspace usage is kicking in and removing the site because there's a .pub file in your htdocs folder that's about 290MB in size. If you remove that you should find we stop archiving the site.
Hope that helps,

[#13]

Nice to be told what the problem is.  When you remove the site I can't see any problem at all - logic kicks both ways you see.  How or why that file got in there I'll never know: I am but a customer - for the present.

[#14]

I believe .pub files are Microsoft Publisher document files.

[#15]

.pub is indeed a Publisher file -that's not the prblem as I see it.  The problem is that Plus.net closes the site and then asks the customer to fix the problem.  Is that logical ?  Is it possible ? What a turn-off (literally).  PLus.net I imagine think they are in the technology business  but they are in the communications business and learning that BT is the owner explains alot.  BT is possibly the worst communicator I have ever encountered:  the whole ethos could be described as "the customer is always wrong" -  I once had a BT engineer deny that a cable sticking out of the floor had anything to do with BT - despite my having been present over two days while the road was excavated by a BT gang and said cable routed into the building.  I once checked in to a Moscow hotel only to find I was not there - how could I be ?  I was arriving tomorrow - the system said so .  The system was wrong but some people love their systems and don't see outside their systems.  Computer geeks check other computer geeks'  troubleshooting routines - the fact that the normal customer is out of his depth with both specialised jargon,hardware and software is never tested.  Most ISP customers are not interested in computers or how the Interweb works - nor I hope are we intent on criminal or "abusive" behaviour.  Discuss