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Can I switch to a Business account?

corringham
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Can I switch to a Business account?

I use my residential broadband for home-working - when I signed up I was advised by the Plusnet advisor to take the residential rather than business ADSL Max, as there was no difference at all apart from the minimum contract period. There was an option for a faster repair time for an additional monthly fee, but no other advantages to the business contract at all.

Now, I have been a customer for quite some time, so it is possible the contract terms have changed since I joined. However, there is no practical way for Plusnet to tell what I'm using my connection for - most of my traffic is encapsulated in a pretty secure VPN connection - so I can't see that clause 2.1.3 is at all enforceable.

In any case, if I didn't use it for home working the connection would be pretty useless - it's not as if I can stream video or anything! 

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Changed title to reflect issue after split to own thread.

11 REPLIES 11
Mav
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Moderator's note:

Post split to its own thread in My Account/Billing for better visibility and title changed.

Forum Moderator and Customer
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corringham
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Hmm, I wasn't actually requesting a change to a business account. I was intending to comment on Townsman's warning to the OP of the original thread for using a residential account for working from home. Since this is now in a separate thread the whole point is lost. Never mind.

BTW I won't be changing to a business account, as I'll probably move to using 4G rather than ADSL once my current contract ends, as I already use 4G for watching iPlayer, and I now have a way to have a fixed IP address with 4G.

Townman
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

The point being made there was the OP appeared to be seeking a priority response to their issue because they used the service for business purposes (either their own or their employer’s) more than just occasionally.

If the use of the service is so critical to one’s livelyhood, not only are the T&Cs being infringed, but the target repair times are not adequate. Further to meet the essential higher service levels, business offers a 24x7 call centre.

Yes the technical service is the same (it uses the same technology) but the supporting services are different ... which when things go wrong is what can bite in the bum when attempting to save money doing biz on rez services.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

corringham
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

As I understand it, a business account now has 24/7 call centre so that you can potentially log a fault sooner, and you should get a response within 8 hours. However, unless you also pay for Enhanced Care (which gives a target 24 hour fix) then the resolution time is the same as for residential accounts. If you actually want a real business SLA, then you probably need to pay more with a different ISP.

Townman
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

I believe business has care level 2 - when I had a business service, it certainly did.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

corringham
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Strangely I can't find anything that says for sure what's included currently. I know when I signed up some years ago Enhanced Care cost £££ extra, so I decided to go with a residential account and a 3G backup instead (it provides better redundancy, and was about the same cost).

JonoH
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Maybe I can help Smiley Residential customers as standard get Care Level 1 (that is the basic care level even though every time I see it I think of  Care Level 1 being the best.

 

Business accounts are placed as standard on Care Level 2 

 Jono H
 Plusnet Community Manager
corringham
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Ok, Care Level 2 means a business fault is fixed a day sooner than a residential fault - maybe 2 or 3 days if it crosses a weekend. That may or may not make it worthwhile for home working depending on individual circumstances. Plusnet should make it clearer in their Ts&Cs.

JonoH
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

Feedback noted. Sorry for any confusion. 

 Jono H
 Plusnet Community Manager
Townman
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

The residential T&Cs are very clear - not for business beyond a few occasional emails.

Whatever if the risk impacts ability to work - if one’s livelihood is so dependent on the phone / broadband service then it would be a wise move to use a business grade service and have resilience for it. Expecting a priority service just because is not a resasonable expectation.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

corringham
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Re: Can I switch to a Business account?

I think there are two separate things here:

1) service level - business accounts typically provide lower contention ratios, and enhanced care levels. With some ISPs there are other differentiators such as availability of a fixed IP address. Not all "business" grade users need this - with ADSL Max there was no benefit in performance of the connection, and some people (such as myself) prefer an independent backup connection instead of elevated response times. So for many, the residential account service level is acceptable. For some the extra cost is justified to get the better service level.

2) what is permitted - I think the current terms are different to when I joined Plusnet. I was advised not to take a business account, as there was no advantage at all at that time for ADSL Max (unless you paid extra for the Enhanced Care). I'm clearly in breach of the current terms as I look at more than a few occasional work related e-mails. On a practical level, there is no way (other than an admission) for Plusnet to tell what I'm doing as most of it is through a VPN. I don't use a particularly large amount of data (say 100GB a month), so my "business" activities won't have any impact on other users. The only use of such terms is to intimidate home-workers into paying more for their broadband - now I'm not against paying more for a better connection, but Plusnet can't provide one at any price (in fact I do pay for a better connection - I also have a 4G connection so that I can watch iPlayer, and load balance with the Plusnet connection to quadruple it's performance).