Should cancel before the 14 days?

[#1]

A week ago I signed up to Plusnet but, having read some posts on this forum, am already considering cancelling.

• Sales said I can cancel before 14 days. But the earliest Openreach technician visit was 22 days. They've then sent a text saying that has been delayed.  The nonsense is that I won't have been able to try the service for, looking like, some weeks after 14 days so I might want to cancel after a fair period of trying it. Is that 14 days limit 'set in stone', even when they can't install it for a month?

• Due to £1/month cheaper than the on-line offer I signed up over the phone, but sales got my email address wrong so I didn't receive any of the emails, does that matter? Is there info in that that I couldn't get from logging into my account at the website?

• I stated during sign up that I need an afternoon visit.  I've received a text and call last Friday saying it's been moved to the morning of the original day.  I re-stated that I need an afternoon visit.  Just now I get an email stating that it's a morning visit and on the website there is an opened and a straight away closed question saying the same.

This joining Plusnet process already not going well.

I did log in, but that must be amongst the worst user interfaces I've had to sift though to my account details, edit my setting, etc.. I edited my email address but it wouldn't allow me to change my incorrectly listed home address.

I'm in East London and four years with Virgin Media, it's been largely fault free and with consistent 83Mbit / 4.3Mbit, although browsing pages seems slower than it used to even though I have a new fast desktop PC with the latest software.

I'm wanting to leave VM because:
• I don't use their TV package and feel the price is too high at £45 or so for internet and a landline that I don't make outgoing calls from.
• They don't offer the BT Call Protect that claims to filter landline spam callers at higher server level by blocking ranges of number that criminals use and currently I get one or two silent calling spams a day. Plusnet are offering most of that service for free as Plusnet call protect.
• I'm now paying more than I need to for Virgin Mobile, £13.23, 1GB & unlimited minutes, and could get the same with Plusnet £7.50 with mates rates saving £69/year.

Virgin Media price just goes up and up and up, like their download speed, but I, at least, have no use for expensive 400Mbit dl speed, or even 100mBit. Whilst the technology improvement is nice, the way they use it seems more of a gimmick to take sales from BT.

£24/month from Plusnet + £50 to Openreach is £338 for 1st year vs £530 to VM = £190 saved. Unless I take up the VM incentive to stay deal for 12 months at £418 = £80 saved.  But not if I have to buy my own modem, then I'll be worse off in the first year.

• A noisey Plusnet MODEM is not acceptable to me, not even for a few days while they keep replacing it. I've done everything I can to have a silent computer; no noise not low noise. As other people have said here in these threads, in a quiet room the modem noise soon becomes very wearing, and for me then annoying, then angry making. I need to not have the stress the noise causes me so that I can remain calm and relaxed.

• Slow, or delayed, or not working, outgoing email is not acceptable. I still use email from home from a desktop PC and need it working properly. I have maybe 10 email addresses and receive quite a few each day and while various forms of instant messaging and social media have replaced a lot of what email did, I still send some from my PC email client, currently Thuderbird.  I won't be using a Plusnet email address so that will avoid problems with that.  It's just outgoing email via the relay.plus.net.

• Am I better of saving money with Plusnet and possibly having spasmodic or ongoing aggravation or paying VM for faultless service and no stress?

Thanks in advance for any helpful help.

[#2]

@IanIan

Welcome to the forums.

Yes the 14 days is fixed in stone and it is from the date you order. There is no try it and see policy.

And you really want to get a copy of the emails as they may have information not logged elsewhere.

[#3]

@IanIan It's just outgoing email via the relay.plus.net.

Nothing says you have to use Plusnet server to send email. I use the ones attached to whatever email address I'm using, be it gmail, hotmail or even my own domain server. They all go direct with not a relay.plus.net in the mix. But then I don't use the Plusnet email address at all. I'm not even certain what I'd gain going via a 3rd party server anyway.

[#4]

With Virgin and, briefly Sky, I was required to use their outgoing server.  I had to create an account specially and it's secured and authenticated. At least that what I recall from four years ago.  I just looked in Thunderbird and it a chaotic mess.  But that's Thunderbird.  I can't tell how it's working or what it's doing or why.  But it seems to be working!

Prior to that I was with Be Unlimited, IIRC, we had to use their outgoing but it was very flaky and we had to keep changing servers.

So with Plusnet then I can use what ever I want.   Well that's good news then.  Thanks for that

Why do they keep going on about using their relay.plus.net? I read all I could find and that's all it said.

Thanks.

[#5]

@IanIan, the thoughts in you post were very recognisable, and rather eloquent. 

It seems to me that "competition" in broadband is something like a bad joke. Basically, you've got 20-th century copper-based services, under a plethora of brands, underneath "BT/openreach/whatever", and Virgin.  

I've some experience of congestion using ADSL under Virgin, and it would take serious inducements for me to use them again for anything.  Their technology is probably miles better than the copper-network we gave BT in the 80's, but I don't want football, telly and suchlike, and my impression is that once they've hoovered you up, you can go hang. I've literally two feet deep of monthly Virgin advertising attracting moths in my garage, desperate for me to connect to their cable running under the pavement outside my house.

On the other hand, being on VDSL with plusnet, I can't complain much. They've not been too bad. The technology is ridiculous, the arcane distinctions between BT subdivisions are even more ridiculous, designed to bamboozle users into taking what they're given and shutting up like good sheep, but there are distinctions between the customer-facing companies in terms of diligence in sorting out problems, of which I've a little experience.  In that(my) case Plusnet support were'nt at all bad, though I've heard there are (considerably) more expensive ISP's who are way better.  Whoever, it needs time and energy on your own part, which you might well grudge, depending on details. (Of course, problems arise at the worst possible time in terms of your own life-priorities.) 

If you judge you'll get faultless, stressless service from Virgin, go for it. Good luck. You probably won't get exactly that from Plusnet, but (as in my case), you might, with luck, not be too disappointed/exasperated. Plusnet aren't positively evil, compared to many large corporations one has to deal with nowadays, IMHO.

[#6]

@IanIan Until you mentioned it, I didn't even know relay.plus.net existed. 🙂

[#7]

Hi @IanIan and welcome to our community forums.

I'm sorry to hear you're having second thoughts about joining us.

• Sales said I can cancel before 14 days. But the earliest Openreach technician visit was 22 days. They've then sent a text saying that has been delayed.  The nonsense is that I won't have been able to try the service for, looking like, some weeks after 14 days so I might want to cancel after a fair period of trying it. Is that 14 days limit 'set in stone', even when they can't install it for a month?

As @SpendLessTime has mentioned the 14 day cooling off period isn't there for you to trial the service, it's a period of time you have to cancel an order if you're not happy with the terms of the contract you've agreed to.

• Due to £1/month cheaper than the on-line offer I signed up over the phone, but sales got my email address wrong so I didn't receive any of the emails, does that matter? Is there info in that that I couldn't get from logging into my account at the website?

Sorry to hear we got your email address wrong  I can see you've updated it yourself online.

If you want I'll be happy to resend you the content of the emails we've already sent. Alternatively you can view the emails you've missed from us because of this online Here.

• I stated during sign up that I need an afternoon visit.  I've received a text and call last Friday saying it's been moved to the morning of the original day.  I re-stated that I need an afternoon visit.  Just now I get an email stating that it's a morning visit and on the website there is an opened and a straight away closed question saying the same.

Unfortunately it looks like due to engineer availability our suppliers would unable to fulfill the appointment slot we chose and pushed the order back to the next available date which I appreciate is the same day but earlier.

If you can let me know a few afternoons you'll be available from the 29th August I'll rebook the appointment for the soonest one we have available. 

I did log in, but that must be amongst the worst user interfaces I've had to sift though to my account details, edit my setting, etc.. I edited my email address but it wouldn't allow me to change my incorrectly listed home address.

Sorry to hear your home address is incorrectly listed.

Mind sending me a PM with what it should be?

If you have any further queries or concerns please let me know.

[#8]

Thanks for your reply and the link to the emails.  I had a look there, there is some important info.  I would never have found those.

Regarding the outgoing email.  Looking back at my previous IPS's, it appears that I've only ever sent through their outgoing relay.  Can you please confirm that with Plusnet it's not a requirement.  I'll then have to ascertain the smtp to use for some of the addresses I send from.

I think it might be that all afternoons that week, at least, 28th, 30th, 31st are OK for the visit.

Thanks.

[#9]

Hi @IanIan I have created a ticket on your account, if you could reply here and let us know once you have done so, we will pick this up for you.

With regards to your email query, as it currently stands, you are not required to use our outgoing relay.

[#10]

I've replied to the support ticket.

Thanks for the confirmation about the outgoing email.  That should remove that as one of my concerns.

Just the noisy modems and line dropping.  I expected FTTC would mean an end to the line and connection problems with ADSL, but reading some of the Fibre section of the forum seems to say the issues are still there.  I'm about 200 metres from the cabinet that I presume my modem will be joined to so maybe that will help but there seems to be at least five BT manholes between here and there so there may be scope for corroded wire joins.  BT may be struggling but Openreach are taking on another 6000 technicians to the 22,000 they already have, it said in the news, so maybe there's hope for a better service from them?

Thanks.

[#11]

I do think PN should be changing this policy about cooling off period should start from live of service, not start from first order as it would be seem unfair because openreach normally take 7-14 days to have the installation and live. Most cases, it often gone pass this 14 days and no service are installing yet until went live after 14 days then u cannot cancel it if the live service doesn't go right in your connection guarantee speed when first sign up. No ones will know what the connection will be like on activated day due to crosstalk, poor quality line etc.

Virgin Media offer 14 days cooling off period on the day of first live, not the day of first order.

[#12]

And TalkTalk are now going to offer a 30 day period from sign up to enable you to leave free of charge if the service isn't up to your liking.

So the gauntlet has been thrown down.

[#13]

@SpendLessTime - But will anyone else pick it up, that's the question.

[#14]

Hi @IanIan

Thank you for responding to the support ticket, I have got this sent through to Openreach for you to make sure everything runs smoothly.