Just had a call from plusnet

[#1]

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@Petard wrote:

It follows that the only safe thing we can do is not tell callers sensitive data. If the call is important, then we should ring the company back on a published number  to be sure whom we're speaking to.

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I completely agree and that is generally what I personally do (When I'm on the customer side of things) when I receive calls from companies or people claiming to be from companies that I'm dealing with.

Another option I often suggest to people (When here at work) when I call them, if they don't want to discuss the matter with me due to any security concerns, is that I can provide a detailed update via a ticket on their account, which they can view via the member centre and reply to in order to proceed or re-arrange the callback.

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@Petard wrote:

Can you confirm that the calls being talked about in Plusnet's forums now are important, and are not 'sugging' - selling under the guise of research (etc.)?

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I'm not aware of the specifics of each call being discussed.

@MauriceC - As always, I'm happy to pass feedback on.

As I stated previously, personally if a customer refuses to go through DPA on an outbound call I make, I would state they refused to go through DPA.

I'd only say failed DPA checks on inbound calls.

[#2]

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@HarryB wrote:

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@Petard wrote:

Can you confirm that the calls being talked about in Plusnet's forums now are important, and are not 'sugging' - selling under the guise of research (etc.)?

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I'm not aware of the specifics of each call being discussed.

All right. Does Plusnet make calls to customers, calls that are not essential to the provision of service, during which it asks those customers to prove who they are?

And does Plusnet make calls that are ostensibly about service, but whose real purpose is selling?

[#3]

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@Petard wrote:

All right. Does Plusnet make calls to customers, calls that are not essential to the provision of service, during which it asks those customers to prove who they are?

Plusnet do at times make outbound calls that are important but not essential to the provision of service, these could be anything from advising of a delay in an order or any other such update, on all calls where we are going to discuss account specific information.

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@Petard wrote:

And does Plusnet make calls that are ostensibly about service, but whose real purpose is selling?

Plusnet or its representatives may make calls where re-contracting or product change are discussed, for example when some customers are about to come out of their contract/discounted period we sometimes contact them to advise and offer new options.

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[#4]

I think that's "yes" and "yes", then.

As Harry and I have discussed in this thread, it is unwise to give sensitive details to callers whose identity one has not verified, and I don't think a responsible company would expect people to do so.

As for advising and offering options, that sounds like a sales call to me. I take it you talk only about your own products, and would not advise a customer that his best option was to go with another IAP? I think most people would prefer to receive such information in an e-mail, so they can think about it at leisure and look at the competition. I know I would.

[#5]

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@Petard wrote:

And does Plusnet make calls that are ostensibly about service, but whose real purpose is selling?

Plusnet or its representatives may make calls where re-contracting or product change are discussed, for example when some customers are about to come out of their contract/discounted period we sometimes contact them to advise and offer new options."

JonoH, I thank you for actually giving a proper answer to these questions.

Could I ask a couple more related to the second answer you gave to Petard, highlighted above.

1 - What is Plusnets official category for these type of calls?

2 - Would a customer unticking all the contact options in the communication preferences section of their customer portal actually stop these calls?

Thanks.

Cleandishee

[#6]

Hi @cleandishee

Really sorry for the late reply, I've been out of the office,

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cleandishee wrote:

1 - What is Plusnets official category for these type of calls?

Most of these calls will be classed as retention/marketing calls where we are telling the customer that their discounts are due to expire in the hope that the customer would wish to re-contract.  Some of these calls will be genuine customer service calls with absolutely no marketing intent where we are calling to resolve a problem and whilst we're there we may notice and mention that a customers contract/discounts are due to expire or recommend a different product such as FTTC.

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cleandishee wrote:

2 - Would a customer unticking all the contact options in the communication preferences section of their customer portal actually stop these calls?

Changing your marketing preferences should prevent the actual marketing calls, we're not perfect and sometimes the occasional mistake will happen just let us know and we will fix it.

If you are receiving any unwanted marketing calls another option is to register your telephone numbers with the TPS

I hope that's helped

[#7]

I didn't think TPS applied to companies you already are a customer of or have been a customer of?

[#8]

JonoH,

I again thank - you for your clear response to my questions.

I have no issue with any slight delay in response, or even if the information given isn't positive, as long as I feel it is honest and that I am being treated like an adult.

It is just a shame this has come a little too late to be of real help to me.

Your answers make perfect sense, unlike what I have have been told by others dealing with this issue at Plusnet.

Of course these are marketing calls, though I was told differently.

Of course these should have been stopped if someone has indicated on their preferences that they did not want them.

While I can understand (though not agree) that a call made to help with an existing problem could also be used to discuss contract or marketing issues, it is clear a cold call made solely for such marketing matters should not happen to those who have said they did not wish them.

This is what happened to me and caused a significant amount of confusion and distress because of it.

Either we were put on the marketing list in total error or you have invented a new category we have been placed on to make a type of call that is identical to a marketing but simply called something else.

It doesn't matter anymore which occurred, but Plusnet should try to help correct it as it is causing a lot of issues for some of your customer base, as shown in the other thread linked in an earlier post.

I have already spent nearly 2 months trying to sort this out and it just isn't worth the energy for a service I can choose to move elsewhere.

Hopefully Plusnet will actually try and sort the issues caused by making cold calls to those who said they did not want them.

Good customer service was a reason why I originally joined, even though this wasn't all that long ago. At that point no thread was ignored or selectively answered. It was a honest approach that I was happy to support as a customer.

Again it was nice to get the type of response that didn't duck the question.

Thanks again.

Cleandishee.

[#9]

I've just had a cold call from someone claiming to be from Plusnet and wanting to discuss my package - I said fine but then she started to ask security questions regarding my password - clearly no-one should be giving this to a cold caller.  If Plusnet are in fact cold calling customers like this then they need to stop - no-one should be giving out any security information to unsolicited callers!