Just feeling the need to vent some frustration at PlusNet/OpenReach/BT Wholesale!
We received a letter telling us that we would have a broadband outage on 16th and 17th April to migrate our fibre cabinet. Sure enough we lost service on the 17th. When the service had not returned by the 18th, I raised a fault with PlusNet. PlusNet texted me a link to a video on how to diagnose phone faults, I updated the ticket to restate that the phone was fine, but we had no internet that day.
I had no response, so I called again on Saturday 21st. I was told that the line was on an "MSO" and that was why I had no service. I reminded them that the outage should have finished on the 17th, but I was told that sometimes outages over run and that I should try rebooting my router hourly! The ticket was update to say I'd been given an estimate repair time. I had not! I updated the ticket to query this.
I had no response, so I called again on Monday 23rd. I was told that there was now no longer an "MSO" on my line, but that testing had revealed a fault. This had been raised with OpenReach and I should get a response by the 26th April. I wondered whether OpenReach would need a time-slot to visit, so I called again on Tuesday 24th and was told that there should be no need to visit the house and repeats that I should get a response by 26th April.
An Engineer visited on 25th and cleared a couple of minor faults on the line (outside the property) but said there was still a configuration issue. I called PlusNet and was told that this had been raised with "the suppliers" and I would get an update in 3 days time.
I had no response by 28th, so I called PlusNet again. Another test was run which showed a "copper fault" and that this would be raised in OpenReach, I should get a response by the 30th.
I had no response by the evening of the 30th, So I called PlusNet to chase again. I was told that I needed to book an appointment for the OpenReach engineer to visit the house again. The first available appointment was 2nd May, which I took. The engineer fixed some more minor faults (outside the property) but still no service.
So I called PlusNet again on the evening of the 2nd. I was told that I now had sync but my router was not authenticating - the likely fault being on my router. I explained all the above and that it was unlikely that my router was at fault, but luckily I have two routers, so I spent a happy hour or so factory resetting them and satisfying myself that they were OK. I then did the same with a PlusNet advisor on the phone. The advisor raised this as a "non appointed task" and I was told there was a 48 hour SLA for resolution.
I'd heard nothing by Saturday 5th, so I phoned PlusNet again. I was told another engineer needed to visit and that the soonest available slot was Tuesday 8th, which I took. I also asked to escalate this fault to a manager. The manager explained that she was not technical but would try to help. I told her that I was tired of being piggy in the middle between PlusNet and OpenReach and that I wanted someone from PlusNet to take responsibility for my fault. I was told that the fault would now be managed by technical support and that one person would be contacting me throughout until my fault was resolved. This has not happened.
On the 8th, the engineer took nearly 6 hours without finding any problem. He closed the fault on the basis there was nothing further he could do. I called PlusNet again that evening to see what the next steps would be. I was told that the fault would be re-opened.
I called again on the 9th to see if there had been any progress, I was told that someone would get back to me. On the 9th my ticket was updated to say that a CSC Analyst had tried to contact me, but had been unable to leave a message. There was no record of a call on my landline or my mobile phone. The message suggested I should try factory resetting my router. I did this (again) without success and updated the ticket.
I called again on the 10th to see what the next steps would be. I was told that I'd need another engineer visit. The next available slot was Monday 14th May which I took.
Later on that Friday I saw an OpenReach van outside and at some point my Internet service came back to life. I called PlusNet to let them know - they cancelled the engineer visit and closed the ticket.
By Monday 15th we'd lost service again. I called PlusNet again on Monday evening and a new fault ticket was raised. I was called on Tuesday afternoon and asked to try replacing the filter on my master socket and factory resetting my router (again). I did this without success and was told that I needed another engineer visit, the next available was on 16th, which I took.
The Engineer came on the 16th and after spend a few hours told us the problem was with our routing and that we were connected to the wrong cabinet. I called PlusNet and was told that I would need another engineer visit! the next available was on Friday 18th, which I took. I received the usual text and warning that if I wasn't in I'd get a £65 bill.
I took time off and sat around the house but no engineer showed. I got an apologetic call from PlusNet to say that BT had now realised that I have a routing fault and that an engineer visit won't fix anything. I now see that PlusNet knew this on Thursday - but not-one bothered to tell me. I was told that the fault had been passed to BT's cease and re-provide team to resolve.
I phoned again on Sunday 20th to chase and was told that the fault had been escalated and that they were expecting updates over the weekend.
I heard nothing by Tuesday 22nd May so I phoned PlusNet again that evening. I spoke to the excellent [CSA Removed] (who's answered a few times that I've called) who told me that the fix would be for me to have my service ceased, then re-provided as ADSL, then finally upgraded back to fibre. It was a 5 working day SLA and I should have an update within 48 hours. I complained that this was unacceptable bearing in mind all I've been through and that I wanted to see some urgency from BT in correcting what was their error. [CSA Removed] very kindly offered me some money to buy myself a 3G WIFI dongle to at least give me some connectivity.
[CSA Removed] chased up BTW for me that evening and I was told I should expect service again in 2-3 days.
By Thursday 24th I'd had no update so I called PlusNet again. I was told my fault had only been escalated to team member level and needed to be escalated to Team Leader level. I was again told the process would take 5 working days. I pushed to say that I wanted an actual date, because the 5 working days seemed to re-start every time I phoned. I was told I'd get an update by close of day Thursday.
I had no further response Thursday, so I phoned again this morning (25th May). I again asked the fault to escalated to a Manager: who I have spoken to this morning. I've been told that "cease service" part is now complete (tell me about it!) and that I should get service back by next Tuesday (29th May). The manager has also promised to phone me on Monday with an update.
Each of these calls has taken a minimum of 45 minutes of my time, often greater than 30 minutes on hold. Each of the engineer visits is a day off work for my wife or I.
I'd like to ask the community - is there anything I should have done differently through all of this? What are my odds of actually getting service back on Tuesday? Is this kind of thing typical or have I just been incredibly stupid or unlucky?
I'm generally quite a patient chap, but I'm at my wits end with this...
Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): CSA name(s) removed (to an area staff can see) as per Forum rules.
