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Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Joebananas
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Registered: ‎13-02-2020

Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

I reported no dial tone on the landline last Thursday and nothing could be done before Tuesday (fair enough) Received a text message that day that the engineer was working on it. Still not working on Wednesday. Called engineer who told me a colleague was on the job (still fair enough!) Got home in the evening and dial tone ok and internet working... Hooray!
Now it gets tricky!
Next morning (today), no internet, no dial tone!!
Rang Plusnet to report that the fault was back. Received message later to tell me that the fault had been reported to BT and it's at the back of the 5 day waiting time for a fix!! This is the same fault as before, so hadn't been properly repaired the first time, but apparently no way to get BT to take any action until next week as its now regarded as a "new fault"!!
This to my mind is poor customer service by Plusnet as they should have the ability to get BT to prioritise in situations like this instead of penalising me... the paying customer! Nearly two weeks without internet for one landline fault!
Come on Guys... Not Good Enough!!
Thoughts on a postcard please.
Also any ideas on how to email Plusnet to make a formal complaint. I've sent two emails so far but both returned stating that they don't read emails for some weird reasons!! Chatline is also permanently offline! Guess they don't want to hear from dissatisfied customers!!
15 REPLIES 15
Kdog
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Welcome to the realities of the UK telecoms industry! Unfortunately, openreach largely have the monopoly here, so no matter how much you complaint to your ISP, openreach determine how they approach things. Common sense as it is to customers to say it's the same fault you haven't fixed so get on with it, the openreach system considers a fault fixed as soon as the engineer says it is, so a new fault has to be opened each time. Escalation processes are also of limited use-plusnet can complain to openreach all they want, but the usual response is that whatever time scale you've been given is the best they can do, aside from the fact that even getting responses to the escalation can take a few days, so it doesnt tend to speed it up anyway.

Regarding plusnet complaints, they don't accept emails. I'd imagine a complaint is likely already raised based on the contact you've already made if you were evidently unhappy on the call. Failing that, a staffer here may raise it for you, you can call back in, or go in to your member centre and add it to the open fault ticket that should be there, though be aware normally complaints will be dealt with once the fault is sorted, so to make sure the full situation is considered.

Bad news is I'm afraid though that this sounds like it may be a while. There isnt much plusnet can do to speed it up, and being honest if this has already had two days work and still failing this sounds like one of those big issues where things need digging up or replacing which can take time when contractors or councils get involved. Hope that's just my pessimism, but just be aware of this possibility.
BrightonRock
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Welcome to the Forum @Joebananas 

My understanding is that you can send a complaint to Plusnet electronically. At the bottom of this page there is a link to "Complaints Code of Practice". Click there and follow the links in "Help Assistant" to raise what is called a ticket which is a record on your account which the complaints team will see and action.

Joebananas
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Thanks for both replies. Useful to understand better how the system works even if it makes no difference to the outcome.
Cheers Guys
Gandalf
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Thanks for your post @Joebananas

I'm sorry for the problems you're experiencing with your service. For a phone fault when an engineer completes the job, there's a 2 day retest period where we can 'reject the clear' and pass it back to Openreach for further investigation which I find normally gets another engineer out quicker than raising a second 'new' fault. 

Unsure if that's what we've done or if we've had to raise a new fault, we may have 'accepted the clear' closing the initial fault following confirmation from you it was fixed. (I'm just not in the office at the moment to check)

Either way though the estimated response time we get is 2 working days which is unfortunately made longer towards a weekend, but an engineer could be looking at the fault at any point subject to their work-stack and what their availability is like. It's not uncommon to see faults assigned to an engineer as quick as within a day (Sometimes within an hour and fixed) or an engineer working on a fault at a weekend.

For repeated engineering attempts at fixing a fault, generally 3+, or multiple missed response times, we can request this is escalated and the Openreach adviser we speak with would usually email a manager to try to ensure the fault is fixed on the next attempt or at least identified and steps put in place to be sorted out. 

As has been said we're happy to discuss a gesture of goodwill once everything's resolved and provide a refund or credit to cover anything you've paid us for a service you've not had.

Apologies for the inconvenience this causes. Let us know how it goes.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Joebananas
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Thanks for your response Gandalf.
That is exactly what I understood to be happening when I reported the second fault, which is why I was surprised and disappointed to then receive a message that it was being dealt with as a "new" fault. Is there any chance of you, or a colleague, looking at the file in the morning to see if it cannot be kicked back to Openreach for further investigation?
Thanks again for for your response and you clearly know a lot more than the young lady I spoke to this afternoon who was getting a bit irritated by my unwillingness to accept it as a new fault.
(I was very polite!)
Kdog
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Gandalf is a legend round here! If anything can be done he's your man!
Joebananas
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Thanks
Great to know that I've got the "HotDog" on the case!
Gandalf
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

@Kdog cheers for the kind words, no pressure then 😬

@Joebananas no problem, I'm happy to take a look into this tomorrow for you. 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Kdog
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

@Gandalf you know it's true!
Gandalf
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Here goes 😬 I've looked into this for you and I can see we raised the fault on the 7th, an engineer went out on the 11th and fixed a battery contact fault on the line, but then identified a disconnection passing this to another engineer who fixed that on the 12th as the first engineer ran out of time in his day.

We then passed this back to our suppliers on the 13th via the same fault report, and we were advised the job has been identified as part of a batch-task, which is basically a bit like a common fault affecting two or more lines in the area.

We should know more by the 19th to allow our suppliers 3 working days to investigate, hopefully fix and provide an update. Apologies that I mentioned that the estimated response time-frame is normally 2 working days, it's actually 3.

I've moved your fault ticket 198798697 to my pool so I can keep an eye on this for you and check back so you won't need to call us again to chase this up.

I hope this helps.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Gandalf
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Looks like an engineer has been out today as they've just reported back to advise they've fixed a fault on your line. I've retested your line and everything is looking OK now. Can you confirm that your phone and broadband are working normally?

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Joebananas
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Hi Gandalf
Apologies for not replying sooner but I've been out all evening so only just read your message.
Yes, an engineer showed up unexpectedly around 8.00 this morning and apparently finished the job around 2.00pm when I rang to find out how he had got on.
Not sure who should take the credit but I'm grateful to all involved and genuine thanks for getting it sorted out before the weekend.
So that's how you turn a disgruntled customer onto a very happy one!!
Have a great weekend All and take care not to stand under any trees for the next few days!!
Gandalf
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Hi @Joebananas thanks for the post back. No problem, I'm glad to see this is fixed now. I'll sort out a refund for the downtime for you next week.

I'd personally give the credit to the advisers you've spoken to for reporting the fault, however I'd also give more credit to Openreach, because while it had taken three engineers, it didn't look like the first engineer anticipated that there would be another fault following identifying and fixing a fault towards the end of his day, he then proactively passed this to a second engineer who fixed that other problem the next day, and when it turned out a fault still existed, Openreach quickly responded to the fault report, sending a third engineer again the next day, who by the looks of it, worked for hours to fix your service before the weekend Thumbs_Up

Here's how to thank the engineers at Openreach: https://www.openreach.com/thank-an-engineer-form if you agree.

And that's why you should mark this post as a fix. Cheesy Hope you have a good weekend.

 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Joebananas
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Re: Put to the back of the Openreach repair queue!

Hi Gandalf
Not sure where to put this but I've been away for a few days and got back this evening to find that my BT landline has fallen over again and I'm without dial tone or any internet connectivity. I don't know when it went down but looks like a repeat of the same fault from two weeks ago.
You did such a great job getting Openreach to get an engineer on the problem that I thought I'd get in touch with you again but I'll call Plusnet in the morning to report it again. Always seems to happen just before the weekend!!
Hey ho!
Thanks
Joebananas