Plusnet Mobile Signup

[#1]

I was trying to sign up to Plusnet mobile but I encountered a few issues so thought I would just give some feedback on the process so that maybe I can actually order it in the future? (I know, don't hold my breath).

The personal details page asks for Plusnet username and postcode, then asks you for your address, which then causes an error if you submit the page with a different address which raises the question, why not say this at the top of the page, or simply pre-fill the address section or use the existing customer postcode to search for the address rather than ask for it again without saying it needs to match.

The only guidance I see on the page is at the bottom where it says "Please note that the topmost address must match the payment card's registration address" but it only asks for one address so I don't know what this means. I also want to use a different card to pay for my mobile bills so after several guesses at filling things out correctly this means that I cannot use Plusnet mobile anyway so after all that it was a complete waste of time.

One other thing is the mobile number box is limited to 11 characters, which is incorrect as I always type numbers with at least one space in them. There is no reason you cannot do this on form submission. The email address confirm box doesn't let you copy paste, but none of the boxes use any sort of history/autofill so it's like you are going out of your way to be awkward and difficult.

Pretty sure the sort code box on the bank details page has a similar issue with hyphens, again these should be perfectly acceptable, as should spaces. They should be removed on form submission rather than trying to infuriate and annoy potential customers.

[#2]

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@Lurch wrote:

One other thing is the mobile number box is limited to 11 characters, which is incorrect as I always type numbers with at least one space in them. There is no reason you cannot do this on form submission. The email address confirm box doesn't let you copy paste, but none of the boxes use any sort of history/autofill so it's like you are going out of your way to be awkward and difficult.

Pretty sure the sort code box on the bank details page has a similar issue with hyphens, again these should be perfectly acceptable, as should spaces. They should be removed on form submission rather than trying to infuriate and annoy potential customers.

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you should not be entering a mobile number with spaces included.
same for sort code, it should be a 6 digit number with no spaces or other characters.

it is also pretty standard to not allow copy/paste in confirmation fields, as obviously if you made a mistake in the first field you would simply be copying that mistake into the second field. the whole point of a confirmation field is that you TYPE it again to make sure it is correct.

stop being overly picky. these things you mention are done for a valid purpose.

[#3]

OK then @chenks76 What is the valid purpose behind not allowing spaces in phone numbers? Most people add spaces for extra clarity e.g PlusNet customer support

• 0800 432 0200 (from within the UK)
• +44 345 140 0200 (from abroad)

My chequebook displays the sort code with hyphens - why can't the form accept (and discard if necessary) these?

And I always find it strange that the only field on a form that needs confirmation is the email address. Is it that being able to spam contact customers by email is more important than their bank account number?

This is the customer feedback forum and Lurch was providing feedback - if the form irritated him then it could possibly be irritating other potential customers too

[#4]

because you don't use a space when you manually dial someone's number do you?
the space you are adding is simply to make it look better for you to read,
a UK mobile number will always be 11 digits longs, so that is the obvious validation to make.

the sort code is a 6 digit number, the hyphen is not part of the sort code.

yes this is the customer feedback section (although the post was originally made elsewhere and was moved to here later), and i am giving feedback on that feedback.

the OP was clearly irritated because he couldn't get service, due to them wanting to use a different billing address.
the validation in place makes perfect sense to me.
it will only irritate those who choose to get irritated by it.

[#5]

Perhaps the addition of some text to clarify input would help people registering such as.

For telephone adding - In the format 07xxxxxxxxx (no spaces)

For Sort Code adding - In the format nnnnnn (eg 202020)

Just a thought

[#6]

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@chenks76 wrote:

you should not be entering a mobile number with spaces included.

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Says who?

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@chenks76 wrote:

same for sort code, it should be a 6 digit number with no spaces or other characters.

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But I am simply copy/pasting it from my banks online banking summary screen. It is presented with hyphens everywhere.

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@chenks76 wrote:

it is also pretty standard to not allow copy/paste in confirmation fields, as obviously if you made a mistake in the first field you would simply be copying that mistake into the second field. the whole point of a confirmation field is that you TYPE it again to make sure it is correct.

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OK, I'll sort of slightly retract the specific copy/pasting issue, although I didn't say I wanted to copy it from the first field. If I have copied an email address from elsewhere why can't I paste it in? Of course, this could all be avoided if the page worked with some sort of autofill or form history.

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@chenks76 wrote:

stop being overly picky. these things you mention are done for a valid purpose.

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What purpose specifically? To annoy the user? There is no reason why sanitising the fields on submission should be a problem. I know they aren't major problems and there are workarounds but why should it be down to me to work out the subtle ways in which the page wants me to do things? There is no reason to make it difficult for the user in the first place.

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@chenks76 wrote:

the OP was clearly irritated because he couldn't get service, due to them wanting to use a different billing address.

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That's not quite it, I would be sort of happy to use the same billing address for the mobile, but the address the card is registered to is not the same which is the main problem according to the signup page.

[#7]

I'm with you Lurch... certainly non standard behaviour for online forms.

I use a password manager so I can have much more complex passwords, but also unique for each service I sign up for - having to type it in manually twice was a pain and unnecessary - since when you login to PlusNet account area, the password manager works.

As for the spacing, they should be able to accommodate it either way - or clearly state the format they require.

I know it's new... but my experience of PlusNet Mobile so far is it's not very well thought through, poorly executed and they kinda don't really care when you ask them for help to pickup the pieces (parent company: BT... I should have set my expectations appropriately I guess).

Hope you have more luck than me from here on