Another Plusnet to EE migration Disaster

[#1]

So the day that my BB was supposed to transfer to EE has come and gone - and it didn't happen as it turns out my "order" had been cancelled by EE for some unknown reason.

I got the email with the transfer date at the beginning of July and they sent me a router - about 2 hours after I got that notification I received an email asking me to send the router back - this I just found as it was in my spam so didnt notice.

Anyway, my Plusnet BB is still working, the contract doesn't seem to have ended as my account shows my next billing date.

What will happen to my Plusnet account if I just send the EE router back?  I only have 2 months left on the contract, so now I dont know if it's even worth bothering with the switch to EE.

Anyone else have this problem?

[#2]

@stevenwhit I don't (and won't) have this problem, but my advice, for what it is worth, is to find another ISP. With only two months left on your contract, ETC's will be minimal.

Do you need a home phone?

[#3]

no, i could probably get on with out the landline, but the phone line is still working with plusnet, just checked.  So would my plusnet service just continue even though they were supposed to transfer to EE?

I did see an offer from 4thUtility for £9 a month until Jan, then £18 until March for a 150mb fibre.   I have an offer of £22.50 for 74mb from plusnet hmm

sigh, why is this so messy lol

[#4]

@stevenwhit 

As @jab1 asks, what do you want to do about the landline?

If you want to keep a landline, most of the major ISPs (Plusnet excepted) offer a "landline" service (delivered on a socket on their router. To compare options, the Money Saving Expert checker is good. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/ (select "Need a phone line").

Alternatively (and suitable if you can accept a degree of complexity) some suppliers (Andrews & Arnold and Voipfone being examples from a much larger market) can supply "stand alone" VoIP services which can work with a Plusnet broadband service.

[#5]

Unless and until they do transfer you to EE, your current setup will work, @stevenwhit .

I would research a number of providers, not just go with the first you see. I looked at UW for my electricity, but then discovered they only offered their price if you basically made them your exclusive utility provider - you had to switch your mobile and internet contracts to them, too.

[#6]

Could the EE cancellation be because the final 2 months of the contract can be delivered as is avoiding the cost of a transfer.

[#7]

@PhilipHeyes 

I doubt it.

My best bet is there is some data/address issue and the migration failed.

Whatever happened it's a bit poor but Plusnet (and the BT group generally) hasn't covered itself in glory with the whole Plusnet/Landline saga.

[#8]

Dunno, @PhilipHeyes - this is not the first instance of customers finding that EE  have cancelled the transfer, without explanation.

My feeling is that the left hand of BT Consumer Division are totally clueless about what the right hand is trying to do.

[#9]

@stevenwhit 

I just spotted that 4th Utility offered you a "full fibre" (150Mb/s) service.

As you have said you could "probably get on without the landline" I might see what you are offered for a full fibre upgrade from Plusnet.

You can do that now (without any penalty for not completing the current contract) and then (once the fibre move has happened) move the phone service to (say) Voipfone if you decide to keep it. You have 30 days to do this if you want to.

The "full fibre" aspect may be a clue with the EE order failure. Perhaps your address (as EE see it - which may not be correct) isn't actually able to have a full fibre service.

[#10]

Given the need to address about 2.5 million that is c10,000 FTTC or Telephone services per day to meet the end of Jan 2027 deadline the state of chaos and selection of most viable / most valuable customers is not much of a surprise.

My father-in-law is almost 90 in an FTTC only street and Talk Talk are totally silent on this situation.
We all know the old provisioning rules are if you or OR cease the phone service the internet is terminated too.

The many years of ISPs sitting on their hands is now beginning to bite the customers.

[#11]

@markhawkin 

I tried to get a better deal when my contract ended last year and plusnet wouldnt budge LOL depsite being with them since 2005!  So decided to stay with plusnet back then, I don't like changing things unless I have to, I think we always worry something will go wrong - which seems to have happened this time lol 🙄

So just trying to keep things as simple and cheap as possible

[#12]

So, simple and cheap are not always compatible.

Simple (ish) would be EE. That would probably be a bit over £30 a month (it is surprisingly difficult to get a renewal EE price if you are not with them). The phone calls (and potentially a standing charge) are on top of that.

Plusnet will be perhaps £26 a month and if you went for a phone service with Voipfone with 100 included minutes that's £6 a month (plus a one off cost of an adaptor of about £50).

Which is best is very dependent on your likely usage of the landline and if you also have a mobile with inclusive calls.

What I did was move to Plusnet full fibre and get a freestanding VoIP service that suited my (limited) landline use. I started the process a few months before my previous Plusnet contract ended so I didn't have any time pressure.

[#13]

Well, an update or sorts, I just spoke to someone at EE, and they could see the account had been closed but didnt seem to know why - they asked me if I knew why lol .... and also asked me to return the Hub ! 🤔    I wonder if Plusnet will try another migration or it might just stop my internet randomly in the next few weeks.

[#14]

@stevenwhit See my reply #8 - this whole 'transfer to EE' exercise is an utter dogs dinner, I suspect because it has not been co-ordinated properly within BT Consumer Division. Office 'A' has said 'it will be done this way, even though we don't know if it will work', while office 'B' says 'no, that won't work, we'll do it this way'. Neither A nor B talk to each other, and depending on which one you end up talking to, you get stuck in the middle.

[#15]

@stevenwhit 

I don't think Plusnet will stop your internet "randomly" but if you do nothing they may initiate another attempt with EE.

I suggest you send EE's hub back and try phoning Plusnet (the number seems to be 0330 1239 123).

Just ask what your options are and ignore the preceeding EE saga.

You may be able to renew the copper service (without a phone) or you may have to have fibre (this depends on Openreach policy on a per exchange basis).

Then (if you wish) do something about the phone.