PlusNet vs OpenReach

[#1]

I moved house on 30th November and Plusnet arranged for an OpenReach engineer to connect me up for PlusNet Fibre Plus which I had at my old address. Although my new build property borders 5 other properties that already have broadband, the engineer could not connect me due to the fact that there is not already a cable to the front of the house. I understand these things can be awkward, but what I find unacceptable is the lack of information from Plusnet. Openreach will not talk directly to customers, only to the ISPs. But for a company that claims "Award Winning Customer Service" I have had very little information as to what is happening and my ticket/question just gets put on hold. It is now 23rd December and running into the Christmas period with no phone line, let alone calls or internet.

Has a surveyor been out? Did he decide on a course of action? How long will it take to resolve the issue? Is anything happening? 

I understand from OFCOM that Plusnet should pay me £8 a day compensation, but does any other customers who has had a similar experience, have any advice for me please?

[#2]

Hi @SleepyShaw, I am really sorry to hear of your experience so far. I have replied to the open ticket on the account here.

[#3]

How did you manage to place an order to a property without a connection?

Did you go through the Home Move team?

Alas you are wrong about the £8 per day, I think you may have misunderstood something on the OFCOM site.

[#4]

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@Mustrum wrote:

Alas you are wrong about the £8 per day, I think you may have misunderstood something on the OFCOM site.

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I think the OP may be refering to this document scheduled to come into operation 'early 2019'?  Although the document refers to Plusnet as a 'probable' signatory, it isn't clear when this may happen .

It's an interesting read, but a bit long and repetitive, so skip to about page 60 for the proposed compensation details.

HTH

[#5]

Thanks for that document. I obtained the same information directly from OFCOMs website. 6.13 refers to compensation of £8 a day, and 6.15 refers to a maximum of 60 payments. The document is lengthy and it is not clear to what stage any part has yet been implemented. Without a scheme like this there is no incentive for Openreach to actively resolve issues.

[#6]

Hi Mustrum. I have been with PlusNet since 2005 and on fibre since 2012. I arranged the move through PlusNet themselves and they arranged for the Openreach engineer to arrive on the date I moved into the new house. I had no reason to not think the engineer could not connect me up that day. I and my daughter are having to pay extra for add-on bandwidth on our mobiles to access emails, etc.  If I want the internet on my laptop I have to go to the local pub for their wi-fi, which is hardly ideal. This will go on for several weeks. Having changed address there are a lot of authorities, companies, institutions and friends I need to advise. Most people will complain at losing just a day or two.

[#7]

There's a summary box on page 2. For delays with the start of a new service, the automatic compensation is set at £5 per day.

[#8]

Hi ejs. many thanks for any contribution to this thread. 

The document is dated 10 November 2017 so I expect it is in force.

1.7 says "delayed provisioning (£5 per day)" so I assume that is the correct amount and I have mistaken it for the "loss of service (£8 per day)". 

It's a shame PlusNet are not more pro-active under these sort of circumstances. They should issue a clear statement to customers as to what we are entitled to, how and when automatic compensation payments are made, when standard payments start, and regular progress reports without us having to chase for all this information. I can't be the first and won't be the last. I don't hold Plusnet responsible but do expect to be informed rather than just keep waiting several weeks for something to happen.

[#9]

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@SleepyShaw wrote:

Thanks for that document. I obtained the same information directly from OFCOMs website. 6.13 refers to compensation of £8 a day,

Splitting hairs, I think the compensation would be £5 per day as it is a provisioning issue rather than loss of service?  Though it could be argued that BT face a £5 provisioning charge and the ISP an £8 'loss of service' charge?

The document is lengthy and it is not clear to what stage any part has yet been implemented.

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See section 6.9? And also Section 7, particularly 7.29 et seq.

There is also a useful summary / update document here.   NOTE:  Plusnet are not listed as a signatory at this point.

[#10]

The scheme has a 15-month implementation period from the date of this statement.

It also says "From early 2019" at the start of the paragraph above that summary box on page 2.

Basically it's no, the scheme hasn't started yet.

[#11]

@SleepyShaw OK, so forget the compensation bit for now as it is not yet in force.

You need to concentrate on what PN are doing to get you online. 

It would also be worth speaking to your neighbours and builder to make sure you know what infrastructure is in place. New Build developments over a certain size will have FTTP, but that might not be supplied by Openreach.

How much have they put on the tickets re progress, what is the issue that is slowing things down?

[#12]

I don't believe our new billing system will charge during a housemove (Or it will charge a pro-rata fee/apply credits for pro-rata payments if the downtime is mid billing month)

If there's an excessive delay during a housemove we'd be more than happy to look in to a gesture of goodwill due to delays. While we'd generally wait until the service is installed, so we can then review the situation as a whole and provide a fair and proportionate gesture of goodwill in line with the service we provide, I'm afraid this would not be £5 per day past the initial appointment date when we expected the phone service to be installed initially.

As it currently stands, we're waiting on work with our suppliers and their contractors to erect telephone pole(s) to provide a lineplant to provide the service on.

I do sincerely apologise for any inconvenience these delays are causing and I can assure you we'll be doing all we can to get you online as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

[#13]

Thanks for the update @HarryB

[#14]

Anyone have any idea what is a normal timeframe for BT Openreach to install a pole in front of a house? Nearly seven weeks now and I still having nothing installed and no idea of when they should come. The two previous dates I had been given by Plusnet have both passed. BT Openreach appear to be a law unto themselves and won't answer direct questions themselves.

[#15]

Hi @mikeshaw, I'm afraid when it comes to things like erecting telephone poles and digging up roads, there's no real fixed time frame that Plusnet or Openreach can really provide on this as there are other factors determining the lead time on this.

Depending on the extent of the external work required alongside erecting a telephone pole, Openreach may have to raise this to other contractors and then in turn they may need to put in requests for things like traffic management/temporary traffic lights, which would then in turn require authorisation from the local council/relevant highway authority.

If something like this is required, depending on what type of traffic management is required, the lead times vary drastically ranging from 10 working days to 21 working days to 3 months.
(EDIT: Please note this is for traffic management, not erecting the pole and completing any other cabling work to connect it up)

I'll have a look over your order in more detail for updates from our suppliers and provide further updates via the account shortly after discussing this further with our suppliers for you.

Thanks for your patience.