FTTP and Residential number porting

[#1]

Well I've just spent 35 minutes talking to PN customer support as recommended by @Baldrick1 . Pleased to say they re-contracted me on my current product for 24 months at the lower cost, with assurances given that none of my existing services (email, webspace, referrals or static ip) would be affected. I think this achieves exactly what I wanted as I'm more than happy with the product I'm on (but not the cost). 👍

Interestingly they spent some time trying to convince me that I could actually port my landline number out to a voip provider without terminating my FTTC........

@pjmarsh @SpendLessTime @davidj66 @bgiles @bmc Many thanks for the replies and for the info, looks like I'm a happy camper again for the foreseeable.

[#2]

@madgav Glad that now you're sorted for the next 2 years and hopefully by the next renewal time Plusnet will have a working solution for those wanting to keep their Plusnet perks like (email, domains, referrals etc), move voice number to a VOIP provider and get FTTP.

Or you plan ahead before the perks vanish and work out your own exit strategy.

[#3]

@davidj66 Since we chatted before, I have had a terrible experience. Plusnet passed me on to BT sales to switch to Full Fibre with Digital Voice to keep my existing landline number. A few days later I received a mystery email from plusnet saying "Welcome back to Plusnet. We are pleased you are keeping your home phone service..........". Upon checking my new BT account my cease order with port had been cancelled by Plusnet with no explanation and the entire order had failed. Anoush says it had been "accidentally" cancelled by an (anonymous) Plusnet agent. I know they can trace who made the mistake! I am now expected to place a brand new order with BT with another credit check which may damage my credit rating. In addition I cannot get any guarantee that Plusnet wont "accidentaly" cancel the port again and I will have to go through this all over again. I think that Plusnet are covertly trying to prevent customers from porting their numbers to BT which is against OFCOM guidelines. They also refuse to let me progress the complaint to the CEO's office even though no acceptable solution can be offered by them. So I have written to the CEO directly and complained to OFCOM. They were quite interested that Plusnet was actively trying to stopp me switching. There is no guarantee that any request to port a landline number from Plusnet will not be "accidentally" cancelled by Plusnet. I believe that staff are being secretly instructed to do this to disrupt switching from Plusnet. I cannot prove it but without the guarantee I have requested I am stuck with Plusnet as I cannot guarantee a succesful number port. My only alternative is to contact everyone who has my existing number and use a 3rd party VoIP provider to provide me with a new number alongside a (definitely NON-BT!) new full fibre provider. Don't take the chance of trying to port your number. t's not worth the hours on the phone and cancelled orders. Remember Plusnet can reject the port and collapse the order up to the day of installation and nobody can stop them or re-instate the order!! They seem accountable to noone!! Be warned!!

[#4]

Hi @KeithKnight,

I just want to make things clear, I haven't refused to escalate your complaint. As discussed Here, I've offered to arrange for a manager to call you back, as per the complaints process. There's also again no conspiracy, as what happened was due to human error and feedback has been provided. I appreciate the frustration again which I'm genuinely sorry about. 

I understand you're just posting in this topic to let someone else know, so I won't go over more of the same stuff. 

[#5]

1) You cannot guarantee that this error will not happen again. This is either intentional or a serious system error.

2) Why should I have to go through the whole process again and risk it being cancelled again?

3) Why should Plusnet have the right to cancel a contract and order I made myself with BT?

4) I am not prepared to have endless credit checks made by BT sales thus damaging my credit record

5) You have categorically stated that talking with a manager will make no difference at all. If I were your manager, I would discipline you for pre-empting the complaint process. You have no intention of providing me with an acceptable resolution.

This entire matter is going to recieve the utmost publicity on social media and direct to BT and Plusnet CEOs. You cannot expect csutomers to take the risk of number ports being rejected and theor orders made void. It takes hours at the moment to make a BT order online. Why should customers have to go through this time after time. Plusnet are no longer fit for purpose.

[#6]

Hi @KeithKnight,

I can't 100% guarantee a mistake won't happen as human error will always be a thing, but we'll do our best to try to prevent it. Personally this is the first time I've ever seen something like this happen. It's not intentional nor a system error. 

As we can't reactivate a closed account, the only way we can progress the order is by opening a new account.

If you choose to sign up for a BT account again then either myself or one of my colleagues will be happy to keep a very close eye on things to try to ensure that the transfer goes smoothly for you.

We will also be happy to discuss a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience we've caused. 

I do again appreciate the worry of doing another credit check so I have provided an alternative resolution to stay with us for your existing service or move to another provider without termination fees.

As for the manager escalation, I haven't said it won't make a difference, I've said that I can't guarantee the outcome of escalating your complaint will be any different, because I believe I'm doing all we can.

[#7]

I don't trust your responses. Your systems aren't fit for purpose if they are unable to reverse an error. It shouldn't be possible for Plusnet to cancel a contract between myself and BT. So much for the companies being separate entities when they have access to each other's systems. Openreach engineers say they still work for BT and their tools are supplied by them. All I want now is to be rid of any BT company. I no longer care if I keep my landline number. It pales into insignificance compared to the trouble and anxiety I have been caused due to an "accidental" deletion by an anonymous agent. Ths is not the first time this has happened by a long chalk according to social media. The entire group conspire to manipulate customer choices and monopolise the market. I will wait for a non-BT solution to my needs. In the meantime I shall continue to correspond with all interested parties, including OFCOM, Philip Jansena and Marc Allera. I suggest that no further reply is required. You are completely unable to fix Plusnet mistakes.

[#8]

@KeithKnight    In an indirect way you have OFCOM to thank for the position you are in. The have dictated the way Openreach work in order that each ISP is treated the same way. One of the results of their directive is that each line can only have one order on it at a time in the system, hence if a PN agent put a cease order on your number, a BT Retail order to transfer that number would fail, and in turn your BT Retail order failed. In similar circumstances the results would have been the same no matter which ISP you had selected.

I have no idea on what basis you mistrust the responses given but given what has been said I see no reason for the mistrust.

As for your conspiracy theories, they sound very implausible.

Despite the BT Group owning all three entities, OFCOM have dictated they are kept separate from an operations point of view.

[#9]

Thanks again for your time on the phone earlier this morning @KeithKnight, it was good to speak with you.

I've updated the ticket Here already following our conversation, but I just wanted to let you know that we've received your email to our CEO and your case has been passed to our complaints team who will be in touch soon. 

[#10]

@madgav

I’ve also decided to hold off from moving to FTTP, and instead renewed my FTTC contract for another 18 months, at £5 less than before. However, I’ve done it for slightly different reasons;

Although I no longer need to retain my analogue phone number, having used VoIP for 10 years, I want to make 100% sure my DrayTek Vigor2762 will work on Plusnet FTTP, as this router has 2 integrated VoIP ports, and up to 12 SIP accounts. Although DrayTek provide information on how to configure it for FTTP use, there is very little on this forum to confirm there will be no issues.

Furthermore, I’m currently more than happy with 75/20Mbps, and by the time my contract ends, there should be more options on the table, including dropping the line rental & analogue phone, but remaining on FTTC.

I’m sure there are many cases where there’s no convenient power supply and/or ethernet wiring to router location, so having the option to remain on FTTC for certain customers may be desirable.

[#11]

@bgiles Glad you got sorted. Seems like a good option to kick the can down the road for another 2 years. As you say hopefully in that time more options will become available.

I'm also happy with ~70Mb but who knows what will be available for similar cost in 2024.....

[#12]

OK, problem.

Since I called PN and re-contracted my speed has dropped from 73Mb to 36Mb.

The person I spoke to assured me that I would be re-contracted on the product I was on, which was 'up to 74Mb'. 

There was an issue in that PN's system incorrectly had my product as 'Unlimited fibre' but since moving to FTTC I have always been on 'Unlimited fibre extra'. So the mistake was at their end. Which is why I asked them to confirm that my speed wouldn't change. I even did a speed check as I was talking to them and it came out as 70.58Mb on a laptop connected over wifi.

I've also just checked the new contract that I signed and it says 'Unlimited fibre extra broadband...... estimated speed 71 to 75Mb'.

[#13]

@madgav  You need to check your modem/router sync speeds. Don't know what device you are using, I don't use the Plusnet Hubs but there is info on the main website to help you find the stats.

[#14]

Hi @madgav, I agree this is a problem and I'm really sorry for what has happened.

Our systems have confused the legacy "extra" package "Plusnet Unlimited Fibre" with "Unlimited Fibre" so have downgraded the FTTC product with Openreach, which has now caused a mismatch between our systems and our suppliers. 

Unfortunately we can't change your account type to "Unlimited Fibre Extra" and we can't put you back onto the 80/20 FTTC product, due to Stop Sell. When trying to place a modify order, we receive the message: "WARNING: Only Downstream speed of 40Mbit/s and upstream speed of 10Mbit/s combination can be selected".

I'd like to offer you a once in a lifetime chance to upgrade your service to FTTP, transfer your landline number to VOIP, and retain the same account. I'd note that when full fibre is installed, the engineer may remove the copper line if they have to use the same route, so your landline may be down for a little while until you transfer the number to VOIP. 

[#15]

Well that should make a lot of other people happy - not!  You seem to indicate transferring your number to VOIP on transfer to FTTP is/was possible as a 'special', although for the majority of us it was a definite no-no.  I even still have my copper line (and I still have a dial tone) even though it comes up as number unobtainable; I would dearly liked to have been able to port it out.