Compensation - What a Let Down

[#1]

Why are Plusnet not offering the standard compensation as other providers? I had no broadband/phone line for 18 days (I work from home and broadband is essential to do my job). When I called to ask about compensation what I was offered in comparison to the Automatic Compensation given by the other providers is just wrong.

I'm new to Plusnet, switching from Sky a couple of months ago. Had I stayed with Sky my compensation would have been satisfactory and covered my extra expenses as well as not being able to access any of my subscribed services which I still had to pay for.

I don't know why Plusnet have not yet signed up to Ofcom's Automatic Compensation Scheme but they have have indicated that they will be signing up to the scheme but are unable to give a date. If this is the case what is stopping them paying me the same level of compensation as a gesture of goodwill? Where is the award winning customer service that convinced me to switch supplier?

The Customer Service Assistant I spoke to on the phone was of little help. When I asked how I speak to a  manager about this, I was told they couldn't put me in touch with anyone because they worked from home and was advised to keep calling their customer service number until I reached an employee that was actually working from an office who would then be able to put me through to a manager! 

Come on Plusnet. Surely you're better than this..........?

[#2]

@JCee 

Plusnet are a budget provider. I'm afraid that you get what you pay for. If you want compensation etc. from the BT Retail goup then pay for the bells and whistles service provided by the BT branded service at a higher cost. I don't know of the EE service which I think is priced somewhere between the two.

[#3]

EE have joined the compensation scheme so their customers automatically receive compensation 

My friend uses EE for her broadband and mobile phone and finds it excellent

She automatically received the extra 5GB of data to her mobile phone  ( not 2GB as PN ) when EE started to give it for mobile users who also had EE broadband

HD

[#4]

We will have to agree to disagree on your "You get what you pay for" theory @Baldrick1

So what if they are a budget provider.

If, as you say, you get what you pay for, why do NOW Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin & Vodafone all offer a service that is equal to or better than the service I'm paying for now but they are all signed up to the Auto Comp Service with the exception of Vodafone who have introduced their own ACS that matches the agreed Ofcom rate.

Plusnet have stated they are "committed to joining the auto-compensation scheme and are working hard to introduce it for customers in 2021". If this is true, they could and should offer me the agreed AC rate as a gesture of goodwill. ISPs can claim compensation from OpenReach.

Thank you for responding to my post. It shows someone is reading them at least!

[#5]

@JCee 

If they offer every customer who has a problem the compensation as a gesture of goodwill then unless you think that you should be treated differently to everyone else then it has effectively been implemented and is not a future plan.

You can dress this up anyway you like but at the end of the day this compensation has to be paid by some-one. You can be pretty sure that it won't come out of the BT Group profits or the Plusnet's suit's bonuses so it can only mean that it has to be reflected in higher prices for we customers.

I doubt that paying the compensation will cause Opentreach to get their act together and work more efficiently and make repairs any faster.

[#6]

It wasn't "a problem". I paid for a service that I didn't have for 18 days. I don't understand your point and you obviously don't get mine. I'm not asking you for the money.

I'm entitled to compensation. The "gesture" I was suggesting is that they match what they are planning on introducing anyway. That's where the goodwill comes in.

Not asking to be treated "differently". How do you know if other customers haven't received what I've asked for? (Rhetorical question)

Not dressing anything up. Just stating facts.

Thanks for the education in how the communication business works.

[#7 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your post @JCee  and welcome to our Community Forums.

I'm really sorry for the downtime you've had caused by a fault and how we've handled compensation for you as well as your request to transfer your call to a manager. 

We're not signed up to the compensation scheme, but we can offer a goodwill gesture similar to this. Also I can confirm that calls can be transferred to a manager, if you're not happy with an adviser's resolution, even if they're working from home as we'd use the same phone system (I'm WFH too) as those still in the office. 

I've therefore arranged for feedback to be passed onto the adviser, and I've added a reply to the ticket 213960786 you can view and respond to by logging into your account and going Here which I hope helps.

[#8]

Good Morning @Gandalf,

Thank you for getting in touch. This gesture of goodwill is much appreciated and I have responded to the ticket in my account.

Plusnet's award winning customer service is alive and well. I'm a happy customer again 😊

Thanks again for resolving this to my satisfaction and confirming that calls can be transferred to a manager by staff WFH.

[#9]

Thanks for getting back to me @JCee 

Awesome and no problem at all. I've just added the goodwill credit now and replied onto your support ticket 213960786.

I'm really sorry again for the poor experience you've had with us both over the phone and the fault with your service.

Let me know if there are further issues or anything else you'd need help with.