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Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
Fixes: 8
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

I had Broadband from Plusnet (11 years) and Phone from BT (35years). I considered both the Plusnet  & BT options now that FTTC is available here. After considering all the options I decided to go with Plusnet for Phone & Broadband as it seemed to be the lower hassle but slightly more expensive option. I was So Wrong.
I placed the order for FTTC, agreeing to the transfer of the phone line, on the 23rd and received confirmation of the order by E-mail together with an installation date of 7th October. The order ticket (111389441) says "Your Home Phone transfer order will be placed when your Fibre service activates." and a ticket (111389153) raised informing me that "We need to place the order for your phone service once the broadband order has completed. Our support team will pick up this ticket and advise you of the order date once we have placed it."
I then got  E-mail from BT and Plusnet saying my Phone was being transferred on the 7th - but did not appreciate the significance of that. So I took today off  and while waiting for the engineer decided to check on the support centre to see when the phone was happening. There I found a ticket (111390296) telling me that "Unfortunately your phone transfer has caused the Fibre order to cancel. We will need to await for this to complete before rebooking an appointment for your Fibre connection".
But I have received received no E-mail, no phone call,nothing informing me of the delay except for the posting of a ticket on the system that we are discouraged from using. So why would I have looked!
Only when I rang this morning (after the phone line apparently transferred  and I got hit with a day 1 direct debit for the charges) and after 45 minutes on hold has the fibre order been reinstated - for the 21st October.  {they could have done the 16th, but I can't simply take days off when I feel like it - I have teaching commitments most days}. If I had not looked at the ticket system I would be sitting here all day waiting for an Engineer who never came.
AND I can't now order the TV option for another two weeks because Plusnet will not take an order for TV until the Fibre order completes!!!!!!
It is clear from the original ticket that Plusnet KNEW that they needed to place the Fibre order, let it complete and then place the phone order. But they can't even do something a simple as that. This is a known problem, and they should have standard processes in place to deal with it. They can't blame Openreach for this customer service issue - it is all of their own making.
The icing on the cake is that I don't even NEED an engineer visit . I have Billion 8800XL fibre capable modem/router and a VDSL faceplate (installed  to squeeze the best out of my ADSLMax rural line). All I need is the Cab jumpering. But because of Plusnet's Engineer install only policy - I have to be at home.
As you can imagine I am NOT a happy customer.
12 REPLIES 12
andyblac
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎06-07-2015

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

thats is nothing, plusnet ceased my line by mistake 21st September (when i ordered a 2nd line), cut long story short, fibre was supposed to reconnected today 8-1pm BT engineer visit (as when BT came to reconnect my phone line he removed my VDSL faceplate) it is now 5:07pm and guess what no BT engineer, i have had enough and come tomorrow i am gona to report PlusNet to the CISAS.  this is a joke i am disabled and have no access to transport. i use my internet to order groceries, but atm i can't so i am having to rely on neighbours to help.
(currently on my neighbours computer), thought i would come here to if they where any other people having same issues.
for your situation i would not hold my breath.
Andy.
andyblac
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎06-07-2015

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

just a follow up, called plusnet today, well the Fibre install was done yesterday, but as a "Self Install" according to the person on the phone, that why no engineer visited my home. so if mine was done a self install surely the OP can be done as such too ?.
i would phone them back and ask for "Provisions" insist on speaking to them, then ask them to change your fibre order to Self Install.

hope this helps.
Andy.
wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Just an update
Neighbor and friend who was in the same position ( BT phone and Plusnet Internet) opted for the other choice - go 100% BT.
Thursday this week (due date) he came home to find his ADSL broadband down. Plugged in the HH5 that had come in the post. It synced immediately and he now has 39Mb/s down and 9.3Mbs up.
No engineer visit, no hassle, no delay  and 9.3 upstream
Definitely feeling I made the wrong call.
BenB
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 541
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎02-03-2015

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Hi Wisty,
I am sorry to hear about the delays with getting your fibre service up and running with Plusnet. From looking into this further for you I can see that the order when placed were done as a simultaneous order when it should have been done individually, as you already know now will make your fibre order cancel.
With this I have fed this back to the agents manager who has informed the agent of the correct process for this.
From checking your order I can see that it is fully committed for the 21/10/2015 between 8am-1pm. The reason why we haven't performed a self install is because we are not fully rolling this out at the moment as a form of instillation which in most cases at the moment would cause further delays to your services being operational.
I understand this has been frustrating and an inconvenience and once the order has completed I would be more than happy to look at your TV order and discuss that further with you. 
wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Thank you for the update Ben.
I am awaiting the 21st, and hoping nothing goes wrong - either at your end, Openreach's end or here (I have a 94 year old Mother in Law in hospital and you just never know!).
I look forward to contact  about the TV order as soon as possible after Fibre goes live. What I don't want to find is that the TV order can't be placed until Thursday 22nd, Parcelforce then take two working days to deliver the box (so Monday at the earliest) and it becomes almost five weeks from when I placed the original order to completion. I don't see why I can't place the TV order now.
As a secondary query. If I find 40/2 restrictive on upload, is the switch to 80/20 simply a configuration change from your end, or do I need another engineer visit?
BenB
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 541
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎02-03-2015

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Hi wisty,
Certainly and we will go through everything together but to make sure everything goes through OK it will probably be the 22nd when we will place the TV order just to make sure the job has cleared on our suppliers records and connection established.
If you find that the 40/2 fibre connection is not adequate for you then we can just check if the higher amount is available for you and it is just simply a package change on our side and no engineer required.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

You might also have pointed out that if his connection is not capable of more than 40 mbps you won't allow him to go on extra (80/20) and that his best option would be move to one of the many ISPs that offer the 40/10 option.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
Fixes: 8
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

I probably can.
The Openreach Line check is attached. It shows a clean range of 65.5 to 45.5 with 18.7 to 11.7 up.
The line reliably holds ADSLMax sync at 7.1 with a 4.9 SNR  ( with the Billion router tweaked only slightly) so I would imagine my line is fairly clean.
PS No sign of Openreach as yet!!
wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Final update
Engineer rang at 11:30, arrived 12:00.
After some minor issues configuring the Billion to talk to PlusNet all is up and running.
39,998 down and 1,999.
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Excellent news, glad all is looking good for you.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
wisty
Pro
Posts: 591
Thanks: 112
Fixes: 8
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

One last update.
I rang the TV sales line on the 21st after the fibre went live, and finalised the deal I had struck with them. The delay got me six months BT Sport free - so no complaints there. Youview+ box delivered 11:00am on the 23rd. Plugged in and router configured for multicast - and away it went. Great service.
Today (27th October 9.48) I receive an E-mail from Plusnet
YouView TV from Plusnet - order update  Your equipment is on its way
We're pleased to confirm that we've now processed your order and your new equipment is on its way.
Order details
=============
The tracking number for this delivery is PBXXXXXXXXX Your package was sent via Parcelforce on 27th October 2015 and
it includes the following items:
* YouView+ box
So I checked Parcelforce's tracking system - that parcel was delivered to my address at 11:00 on the 23rd - so at least I am not in line for a second box!!
Just another glitch in the system - or perhaps Parcelforce has a new time (machine) based service. 
barnyandpippa
Rising Star
Posts: 106
Thanks: 6
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎05-10-2007

Re: Lousy Service Day 1 of a transfer

Like anything that is this complicated, things can go wrong. The trouble is that PN then meltdown and routinely deliver appalling service.
Everybody knows that the companies with the best reputations for customer service are those who cope well when things go wrong, not those where nothing goes wrong.
The stated PN aim to deliver excellent service is marketing bulls**t. No company could be this bad unless they deliberately tried. It isn't that they are bad, in the way that TV's Arkwright wasn't bad. It must be a Yorkshire thing but they are always trying to steal a bit. The "service" is skewed to extracting maximum cash for minimum return. Basically every conversation is geared to make you think you're wrong and they the phoney excuses are true.
Hope you get sorted in the end. Once you get connected the technical service is reliable, which is lucky because everything that goes a bit wrong is made deliberately difficult by PN.