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Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Hi there,
Long story short, we've been living abroad for the last 3 years and have been letting our house while we were gone. Now that we're back, and after a 2 month notice period, the tenant is moving out on Friday and we're moving back in over the weekend.
Keen to get online asap, I ordered a Plusnet fibre connection in what I thought was plenty of time on the 15th of November, with a requested install date of the 3rd or 4th of December. The ordering system told me that I'd be provisioned with a new number as it was unable to port the existing Sky managed line, which I was fine with as the number had changed since we left anyway. I heard nothing further and assumed the order was progressing normally until the 24th, when I got an email from your ticketing system saying that you couldn't port the old number (I know) and would I be OK with a new one?! Surely I confirmed this when I signed up?
I immediately replied saying yes that's fine, mentioning that I'd agreed to the same when I signed up, and would this delay my order at all? (I also noticed a previous comment in the thread from the 18th mentioning that there was an issue with the order, but unfortunately I wasn't notified of that one.) I had no acknowledgement of my question but a further (internal) comment appeared 2 days later saying that an ADSL order had been placed in error (by you) and requesting that it be cancelled and a fibre order be placed instead. This was followed shortly by an email informing me that my number transfer (with a new number listed) would take place on the 10th!
Does this mean that the line itself won't be provisioned until then and instead of a manageable 5 days without any Internet, it'll now be 12?
Really not the best start to my relationship with Plusnet! Is there anything at all that can be done? Have my originally requested engineer slots on the 3rd and 4th been passed on to someone else?
Any help from a rep would be greatly appreciated!
22 REPLIES 22
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
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Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Hi MaximumFish,
I'm really sorry about the mistakes made when we've been placing the order for your services.
Without wishing to sound cliched we're genuinely sorry and appreciate your frustration, I've already made sure some feedback gets passed on to the relevant agents as we'd expect much much better in terms of care taken when placing orders and the quality of responses we want to give you.
I'm going to make sure this gets the urgency and attention it needs today so I'll make sure that new orders are placed for you today. Sorry to disappoint further but it's likely to mean that the orders will go through after the dates you were hoping for. However I'm going to make sure we push the orders through as quickly as can be allowed.
Leave this with me and I'll make sure ticket  94838799 is updated again before the end of today and apologies again.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Thanks for the reply, Adam. I appreciate that install slots are at the mercy of Openreach but it is especially frustrating when it feels like I'm being punished for Plusnet's mistake.
On the one hand I feel like this is the epitome of a "first world problem", but on the other hand, to a lot of people including myself, Internet access has almost become as much of a necessity as electricity, so if there is anything at all that can be done to push the install date forward I'd be incredibly grateful. As it is, our tenant is moving out tomorrow so the line will be officially back under our control as of then, so on the off chance that anyone else has managed to lose their slot I'll gladly take it!
Thanks for your help, and it's worth noting that an active forum presence is one of the main reasons I chose Plusnet. I just had no idea I'd be making use of it so soon!
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

I've just made a post in the support portal thread, but I thought it worth posting here too...
At around 10:30 I had an email saying that my phone order had been cancelled, which I put down to you expediting the order as per your comment in the support thread. However I've just received another email telling me my phone number transfer (with yet another new number listed) will now happen on the 16th! So now my order has gone from a week beyond the originally requested install date to nearly 2 weeks!
I appreciate your efforts but this is going from bad to worse!
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Hi there,
I'm sorry that we're not able to arrange anything sooner MaximumFish
I apologise if the wording I used raised your expectations to something much sooner. My intention was to make sure we're doing all we can to get the services up and running ASAP.
I've updated ticket  94838799 with regards to a good will gesture which I'm suggesting we apply as soon as you've been reconnected.
Can you drop us a reply to the ticket about that please?
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Sorry, the part that's making me mad is that at 12:36 yesterday, a post in the support thread said:
"Phone order placed. ADSL order placed in error. Please place SIM fibre order once cancelled."
Then at 13:02 I received an email with a new phone number and an activation date of the 10th (which is what brought me here in the first place). The fact that this appeared after the reply above suggests that it was part of the fixed fibre order. Then today, by trying to expedite the order you've instead CANCELLED the existing, seemingly correct order and unnecessarily pushed the date back further! And now you're telling me that nothing can be done about it.
Clearly I shouldn't have bothered raising the issue in the first place and should've just accepted the initial delay, as it seems that every time somebody attempts to fix the issue I just get pushed back further. But this is literally 6 or 7 days delay at a time. Openreach can't be that busy, surely? What happened to my original slot, and why can't I have that back? Right now I'd quite happily take the slot on the 10th back.
I'll reply to your offer in the support thread.
barnyandpippa
Rising Star
Posts: 106
Thanks: 6
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎05-10-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

PlusNet suffer from the classic problem of companies that pretend to be good at customer service - they are fine when things are going ok but they go into complete meltdown when things go wrong, which is of course when you need them to be good.
I've been waiting since August for my fibre install. They've messed up the order which means I have fibre to the onside of the house but no internal equipment.
Latest in the saga is that I gave 3 dates I could make and they booked an appointment for a different day. I raised a request 8 days ago for them to correct it but nobody has bother to read the ticket. I raised another separate ticket and they told be it was being dealt with on the original ticket. Sadly they didn't bother to actually check whether anything was being done. I raised a complaint 3 dats ago and they haven't read it.
The trouble with PlusNet is they are cheap - and not in the good sense of the word. The call centre is so understaffed that call wait times are unacceptable and those responding to electronic tickets just want to close them or pass them on rather than actually do anything.
If I was sticking with ADSL I would be off like a shot to a business that wasn't failing.
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

I'm kind of getting that vibe too. I get that they're at the mercy of Openreach when it comes to these installs, but they're not even trying to escalate or expedite the matter with them. There must be some system for arranging rush jobs to mitigate screw ups like this, but they only seem interested in what the automated booking system is telling them. In the meantime, what is happening to the original slots I had? Are they just disappearing into the ether or being allocated to an ISP who actually bothers to check for availability? Of course there's no public facing entity for Openreach so we're ultimately left in the dark.
Adam offered me 2 months free as a good will gesture, which to me seems almost like a kick in the teeth. Because really, what good is 2 months free Internet when you don't even have a means of using it in the first place? I'd much rather pay for the connection I signed up for and have Adam, or indeed anyone, fight my corner with Openreach to arrange a slot closer to the one I originally booked.
And of course if I just cancelled the entire thing and went elsewhere I'd lose my current slot on the 16th and be pushed back even further! At this rate I'm going to have to beg the neighbours to let me use their connection or pay BT to use FON for a few weeks. ADSL is looking mighty tempting right now. It's a pity BE went under. Sad
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Hi MaximumFish,
I'm sorry that we're unable to arrange anything sooner for you, it's why I made the offer of a goodwill gesture.
Cheers for replying to the ticket, I'll drop you a reply to the question you've asked there.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
barnyandpippa
Rising Star
Posts: 106
Thanks: 6
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎05-10-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

@_Adam_Walker_ You are supposed to do customer relations; I need your help.

  • I phoned the call centre (wasting half an hour of my life listening to rubbish music) and the issue inched forward slightly

  • I asked someone to take the issue on and see it through - like a good customer service organisation would do. They've clearly dropped it.

  • I responded to the ongoing ticket to correct the appointment 8 days ago. Nobody has read it.

  • I raised a general ticket to try to attract some attention, the response was that it is being dealt with by the first ticket. But it isn't

  • I raised a complaint 3 days ago. Nobody has read it.


I've run out of ideas about how to get anyone to do anything. Classic failure of an organisation that talks about customer service but hasn't a clue how to do it.
I've been with PlusNet for 12 years and they used to be good but they've lost it so I'm now actively looking for an alternative FTTP provider.
@MaximumFish I haven't even begun to talk about how much I'm owed for undelivered service. Have you found another ISP that offers FTTP?
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

I'm only after FTTC so I'm not sure we're in the same boat. If you can get FTTP though, you might be able to get service from Hyperoptic who offer a 1Gbps service! Probably won't be allowed to post a link here.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Hi there barnyandpippa,
Really sorry about the issues you've highlighted here.
We're not always able to offer individual ownership of such issues as much as we'd like to It just isn't always possible so apologies if we've falsely given that impression. It shouldn't honestly be necessary in this case, I do agree that the length of time without a reply is unreasonable though so I will be passing on some feedback about this.
I'm going to take a look at the ticket myself and if I'll, unable to progress this personally I'll get the help of a colleague who can.
Just to mention with regards to your complaint we aim to respond to all online complaints within 7 days so we will be addressing that ticket separately soon.
Quote
I've been with PlusNet for 12 years and they used to be good but they've lost it so I'm now actively looking for an alternative FTTP provider.

We're not an FTTP provider, its something we're providing as part of a trial. We've let you down in this instance clearly though so I can understand why you feel that way.
I'll make sure we respond to this before the end of the day and I'll do all I can to make sure the issue is getting the attention it needs.

UPDATE:
I've just updated the ticket myself about a new appointment, mind dropping me a reply here if that needs to be rearranged please?
If you need to I'll deal with re-booking it for you
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
barnyandpippa
Rising Star
Posts: 106
Thanks: 6
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎05-10-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Adam,
Thanks for checking that out. The date of new new appointment is fine.
I'm confused as to whether you corrected the appointment, whether someone had already done that and not told me or whether the appointment was always on the 1st and BT gave me the wrong date in their voicemail, in which case somebody could have easily have clarified that.
If it's the first then thank you for finally sorting it. If it's either of the latter then how did your customer service fail so spectacularly?
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

No problem and cheers for getting back to me as requested.
We've confirmed the appointment with our suppliers (BT Wholesale) for you.
The appointment had already come back from BT before I checked that earlier for you and we've now confirmed that to take place on Monday.
Quote
If it's the first then thank you for finally sorting it. If it's either of the latter then how did your customer service fail so spectacularly?

From my point of view the issue was the length of time passed with no update to the ticket I'm unaware exactly why this might have happened but I will be speaking with the managers of the team that handles any such orders to make sure we're keeping right on top of that workflow.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
MaximumFish
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎26-11-2014

Re: Fibre install delayed by Plusnet's error. Can anything be done?

Glad you've managed to help someone today. Meanwhile I've replied to the support thread.