Customer Service seems to have gone down the pan ... the BT effect??

[#1]

Well I thought this was going to be easy, but it seems not!

I logged on to try to change my home phone calling plan to the unlimited UK and mobile package advertised as £8 per month (

https://www.plus.net/help/legal/residential-phone-tariffs=/#unlimited-uk )

First of all I found that usingthe self-service dashboard this package does not appear for me to select. 

Then I found that other users have had the same problem, but PlusNet staff (Gandalf on the forums) have sorted it out.

Then I read that PlusNet staff have been instructed not to sort this out any more (via https://community.plus.net/t5/Home-Phone/Unlimited-UK-and-Mobile-package-with-LRS/m-p/1437357#M23540 ) but suggest raising a support ticket.

Which led me to find out that it appears to be impossible to raise a new support ticket any more ... and some forum users report that this has been stopped by BT as owners and therefore controllers of PN.

So I thought I'd reply to a Plus-Net e-mail about my home phone service to ask for help, but that e-mail bounced back with a sarcastic auto response about e-mail being insecure so please raise a support ticket ... with a link that goes to a 404 not found page. Odd how e-mail is secure enough for PN to use in an outward direction with all my account details in it but apparently not secure enough to mail the asking for help?  Sounds very like a contracted-out call centre ploy (as used by e.g. Convergis) to ensure that they don't actually get any calls and therefore don't actually have to provide any support.

The one thing I won't do is waste my time on the 'phone to PN because a) they never answer in less than about 20 minutes and b) whilst waiting for an answer the music on hold is ear-damagingly loud and has been for years, despite the many complaints i have made about this ... doubtless another ploy to avoid providing service: make it insufferable for callers to stay on the line long enough to get through, so no call placed therefore no support to provide! You have to admire the lengths BT / PN go to to avoid actually doing any work!

So here I am on the forums as the last ditch attempt to find a way to select the unlimited UK and mobile package to have it added to my account on or before Dec 17th when my Line Rental Saver is due for renewal, because i have worked out that I can't add it during an active LRS period.

Here's hoping Gandalf or someone can give me some advice ...... other than the very obvious solution of moving to a different broadband and phone provider ...any recommendations out there please? Would prefer not Post Office Telephones as their broadband is pretty slow. Other suggestions welcome.

[#2]

Hi there.

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing problems changing your call package.

Apologies for the wait times over the phone. It's something we're absolutely aware of and don't find to be acceptable. We're continually reviewing our service levels and at the moment we're hiring more staff.

As there's no fix or feasible workaround for this problem, I'm sorry to say but I won't be able to add your desired call plan whilst line rental saver remains active.

My advice would be the same as over here.

[#3]

Good to know that Gandalf is still trying to help.

Its a shame that PlusNet gets it's lowest paid, call-centre minions, to lie on their behalf ... sorry, that should be BTgets their PlusNet minions who are on minimum wages in atrocious conditions to lie .....

Why do I use such a strong word as lie? Well, the last three years, when my LRS has come up for renewal, the call queues have been in excess f 25 minutes each time I have rung, the music on hold has been ear-splitting, and the LRS renewal has not been possible on-line via self-service and guess what, the last three years I have made formal complaints to PlusNet senior staff about these things and what has their answer been each year:

1) - inability to renew on line "Our systems are old an we are investing heavily in new technology, By the next time you renew you will be able to do it on line" ....glad I have kept all the e-mails to prove this, the earliest was Nov 2014 ..... so lie number 1, told in 2014, 2015 and 2016, but not yet reached me in 2017 is that the systems are being upgraded to allow online renewal. Obviously they are not being upgraded and there is no investment.

2) - volume of music on hold "We'll investigate and ensure that the volume is reduced to a comfortable level, thank you for bringing it to our attention". Again, a complaint made via self-service ticket and also by letter and e-mail to senior PlusNet staff over a number of years, but included in my November 2014, 2015 and 2016 complaints, but as yet not even a change of tracks being played, still less a change in volume. Having some slight insider experience of call centers in general I am aware that making the music deafeningly loud is a strategy employed by a several call center operators with the deliberate aim that it will make people hang up and this reduce the number of calls to be handled. The fact there has been no change shows its a lie when they say they will change it.

3) - on hold time unacceptable and more staff are being employed to deal with it. A huge lie. Again, I have letters and e-mails from 2014, 2015 and 2016 all stating these exact words - they are clearly taken from a prescribed script of stock responses. BT are not investing in PlusNet - hat's public domain knowledge, so how we are expected to believe this is beyond me, but when we get the same response for three or more years running and there is no change we have th proof that his is a lie. (The only other possible alternative is that PlusNet / BT make cal handlers' lives so painful and miserable that the turnover of staff exceeds the recruitment rate .... which if a rival, Convergis, is anything to go by just could be true, but it more likely just empty words: lies.

So, thanks Gandalf for your help, because you have helped, the link you posted tells me how to go about making the change, but no thanks to PlusNet / BT at all for meaning that I can't make this change at a time that would benefit me in terms of call charges ... oh I forgot: BT are well known for overcharging and ripping off customers, doh! Silly me, so that's why we can't change - it's so BT can profiteer from changes in our circumstances!

Time to look for alternative providers methinks. I hear that Sky are quite competative .....and Virgin .......