Call centre scripted robots

[#1]

I've recently been having problems with my mobile service - not being able to receive calls and texts.  I wasn't sure if this was related to the EE data outage last week, but this seems to be unrelated as others are also experiencing the same issues.

The PlusNet call centre seem to have a scripted troubleshooting process:

• Turn the handset off
• Take the SIM card out
• Leave it for a couple of minutes
• Replace the SIM card
• Turn the handset back on
• If that doesn't work, try the SIM in another phone

After you've done the above, they'll then resort to sending you a new SIM.  It's obvious that if you can make calls and receive data, it's unlikely to be a SIM fault.  However, the call centre staff operate like robots and aren't allowed to circumvent the above troubleshooting script.

Any other non-MVNO network would refer this issue to back office to resolve however, PlusNet have to go through a pointless troubleshooting process.

People complain about oversees call centres, yet in fact PlusNet's is worse!  They agree that the issue probably isn't going to be resolved with a new SIM yet have to follow standard procedure.

I agree with Arcan788 in this post:

https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Not-receiving-incoming-amp-Texts/m-p/1431713#M3785

Life Mobile's support was much much better.

I am due to receive a new SIM this week, but the problem has now resolved itself and all my missing voicemails and text messages arrived at once!  PlusNet are you sure a new SIM will resolve my issue - I think not.

[#2]

Hi LifeMobileFan!

Thanks for getting in touch with us!

I'm really sorry to hear that you we're experiencing issues with your SIM card, this is certainly not our usual high standard of service that we provide and we always try our best to help in anyway we can!

Although this may sound scripted as this is the first troubleshooting step we always advise of, this is certainly not the case. The reason we advise customers of the SIM re-boot initially before any other steps, is because of any fixes that may have been implemented. If there is an issue with the network or the masts, following the steps to re-boot will refresh the signal to the SIM card and apply any changes; in the majority of cases, fix the issue quite quickly. 

We then move on to other troubleshooting steps to investigate further. I completely understand that you feel this can be a tedious, drawn-out process however, it is vital that we investigate the issue and find the core root of the problem. 

If the issue cannot be resolved at the Customer Service stage, we do send off to our Operations Team for further investigation however, we cannot send this off straight away without troubleshooting first. Our Operations Team require us to perform these checks first, to eliminate any possibilities of a fix that can be dealt with as quickly and efficiently at our end. If we we're to send straight off to our Operations Team without investigation first, this will only prolong the process. As the team are not customer facing, it is vital that the Customer Service Team communicate first with the customer and try to help in anyway we can. 

I do not have any information as to what the issue was initially however, as the issue has now been resolved, it sounds as if it could have been an issue with the masts in your area, You can always check this out over at https://myaccount.ee.co.uk/networkchecker/checkservice.

I'm glad everything is now up and running for you LifeMobileFan, if you have any further questions at all, feel free to drop me a message and I'll do my best to help!

- Rebeka