No Reward Card Email - 16 days (and counting) since Activation

[#1]

I joined PlusNet on 08 April 2019 with the promise of a £75 Reward Card. My activation date for landline and broadband was 29 April 2019. According to PlusNet, I should receive an email about claiming the Reward Card - "normally" within 10 days of activation.

It is now day 16 since activation and I have not received an email about the Reward Card and - yes - I did check my spam folder. I phoned PlusNet and the very nice person advised me that it is actually "up to 30 days from activation". I said that this contradicted everything stated online by PlusNet but she insisted that it is 30 days to receive the email and then, once I apply for the Reward Card, another 30 days to receive it.

So which is true...

10 days for the email then 30 days to receive the Reward Card?

Or 30 days for the email and another 30 days to receive the card?

Or are PlusNet just hoping that people will give up and forget about the Reward Card?

[#2]

Hi @Armin_Tamzarian, thanks for getting in touch.

I am really sorry for the mixed messages there have been in regards to your cash back. You should have received an email within 10 working days of your service going live to claim your reward. The reward is then sent within 30 days of you claiming.

As you haven't received an email as of yet, I've raised this off to the relevant department to review. As soon as we have an update we will let you know via your account.

I do apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.

[#3]

They are blaming a third party and have no time scale for when the issue will be fixed.

We should all refuse to pay our bills. Blame a third party just like plusnet do. I signed up based on the promise of the reward card and until I get mine I'm not paying plusnet a penny. If they add a late payment fee I'll just charge them a late reward fee. They can't expect us to pay our bills when they dont pay their rewards.

[#4]

Well, I'm not about to take PlusNet to court any time soon. I've been through this palaver before - when I switched to BT in 2017 it came with the promise of a £125 Reward Card.  I think their tactics are to delay it and make it as difficult as possible so that only persistent customers actually receive their cards. Other people give up so BT / PlusNet - or rather, their "third party providers" - minimise how much they end up paying out. It's just part of their game. 

In the end, I did get the £125 card and spent it immediately on Christmas shopping. So I expect I will get this £75 card...  eventually.

"Blame a third party just like plusnet do."

If it comes to it, I could withhold payment to PlusNet due to the fact that my long lost cousin - Prince Obee Wan-Kenobee of  Nigeria - has not yet come through with the $1,000,000 worth of gold bullion he promised me. Better still, PlusNet could credit £75 directly to my account and leave Grassroots / Blackhawk to negotiate with Prince Obee. 

[#5]

Alice, thank-you for your reply.

I notice you said "You should have received an email within 10 working days of your service going live to claim your reward." 

My service went live on 29 April so, by my reckoning, yesterday - 14 May - was the tenth working day. So, not as late as the 16 (calendar) days stated in my post title. Nevertheless, I did not receive the email within the stipulated timeframe and have still not received it.

Some recent responses from Plusnet staff on this forum have suggested there is a problem with the system generating the Reward Card emails which is hoped to be fixed soon. However, I have gone back through the forum and there are numerous posts about problems with Reward Cards - as far back as Jan 2019. I did not trawl back any further. The most common complaint is people not receiving the email to "claim" the Reward Card.

So this is not a recent thing - it is a persistent ongoing problem. The "explanation" about problems with the system generating emails simply sounds like an excuse from an imaginative customer service agent.

Please rest assured that I will not just go away: I will be in regular communication with Plusnet until this matter is resolved.

I notice that when other customers have reported this issue on the forum, the Plusnet agent has raised a ticket to track the complaint. Please could you - or whichever Plusnet agent reads this - raise a ticket for my complaint?

[#6]

"Some recent responses from Plusnet staff on this forum have suggested there is a problem with the system generating the Reward Card emails which is hoped to be fixed soon. However, I have gone back through the forum and there are numerous posts about problems with Reward Cards - as far back as Jan 2019. "

This is spot on! The staff on this forum look like that don't know what they're talking about or they're lying.

Everything they say sounds dodgy. They love passing the buck too.

[#7]

Okay, so nobody from Plusnet bothered replying to this thread in response to my request to have a ticket raised WRT my not having received a Reward Card email within 10 working days of activation. However, someone did raise a ticket on my account - so thank-you for doing that.

The initial answer to my question includes the standard copy and paste response from Plusnet:

Question #190231163

Our cashback team have advised that there has been an error in our reporting system which normally sends new sign ups to grassroots (the company that issue our cashback rewards) and that any customers who signed up on or after the 29th of April haven't yet received their cashback redemption emails. They're working hard to resolve this and you'll receive your cashback redemption email as soon as this is sorted, but unfortunately we've not got an estimated fix date yet.

The bit I highlighted in bold is curious: How could anyone who "signed up on or after the 29th of April" have possibly received their Reward Card email by now? I signed up on 08 April and did not go live until 29 April. So anyone who signed up on 29 April would not have gone live before this week - at the earliest. Add the 10 working days to receive the mythical Reward Card email and they could not expect to receive the email until the end of May - even with no delay.

And how do you account for all those other customers who did not receive their Reward Card email within 10 working days of activation - going back to Jan 2019? How do you explain them away then, Plusnet?

Come on Plusnet: Stop giving me the run-around. Stop making up pathetic excuses. Stop blaming "third party providers" or problems with IT systems. Just get the Reward Card email sent out to me so I can claim the £75 you promised me. Then we can get out of each others lives and move on. Ta muchly.

P.S. I have still not received my £75 Reward Card claim email as of 22:00 on 16 May 2019. And no - it's not in my spam folder.

[#8]

I am having exactly the same issues as yourself and the date of joining Plusnet was also 29 April. Also as you have found Plusnet are blaming a 3rd party and leaving the customer to deal with the chasing up of their Reward Card.

It is not appropriate for customers to have to independently deal with Plusnet's marketing suppliers, they have to take responsibility for their customers and deal with these suppliers on their behalf. After all, Plusnet employ and contract with these suppliers, we do not. These 3rd parties or affiliates, use a website that imitates Plusnet's own and it expects customers to know the difference simply because they have a small reference at the top. If they can't deal with these suppliers directly and on customer's behalf, then it should be made clearer to customers who they are contracting with and who they will have to deal with. I have signed up for numerous Broadband suppliers over the years and all with various vouchers and gift cards, including BT, SKY and EE - I have had no problems with any of those. If a retailer fails to deliver the goods you purchased, you don't have to directly deal with their supplier or their delivery company, they will do it for you.

It seems that this issue is longstanding with Plusnet and being aware of that I took screenprints of the offers at the time of sign up. Plusnet need to up their game and treat customers more fairly and not simply fob them off with "it's not our problem, it's between you and a 3rd party".

Customer Service personnel may be very pleasant, but it's results that matter and company policy towards it's customers and how they deal with this particular issue is the only way it will improve. People have been sweeping dust under the carpet for centuries in order to avoid taking responsibility for something.

[#9]

CyorusPluto - thank-you for your input.

I signed up directly on the Plusnet site. I know this because I saved the relevant PN pages as offline mht files. So I know what Plusnet promised me. And Plusnet know what they promised me. So, in my case, PN are unable to try and fob me off by saying I need to contact the provider of the offer.

So, instead, Plusnet claim that there is a problem with the system their marketing department use to notify a company called "Grass Roots" who provide the Reward Cards. And this IT problem has remained unresolved since 29 April has it?

Also, it would seem that the alleged IT problem has reached back in time to affect those customers who did not receive their Reward Card emails in Jan, Feb, Mar and Apr 2019. As if.

[#10]

Nothing to say in response to the questions I raised yesterday then, Plusnet? Your silence speaks volumes.

Okay, try this...

I read the response from a Plusnet "customer service agent" to another customer who had not received their Reward Card email. The CSA said that PN were not in breach of contract because PN T&C's state that customers will normally receive their Reward Card claim email within 10 working days of activation. Your CSA went on to say that sometimes events beyond your control could mean that customers would not receive the email within 10 working days.

My questions to Plusnet:

1. How do Plusnet define "normally"? Is it 90% of customers receiving their Reward Card email within 10 working days? Lower than this? Higher? Personally, I would expect it to be at least 95% before you could justify the use of the word "normally". So what percentage of PN customers actually do receive their Reward Card email within 10 working days of activation?

2. You have given me no indication of when my Reward Card email will be sent. So how long after 10 working days since activation do Plusnet consider it reasonable for me to wait? Another 10 working days? 20? 100? Please enlighten me.

Until tomorrow, best regards.
AT

P.S. As at 19:00 on 17 May 2019 I have still not received my £75 Reward Card claim email. And it is not in my spam folder.

[#11]

That's a very good point about plusnet offering the reward card. When I signed up there was no mention of a third party. This isn't via uswitch or quidco or another website. It was directly via the plusnet site with no mention of a third party.

I notice they are now telling people to maybe wait 14 days for the email! No offer of compensation, no definite timescale.

You'd think a manager at plusnet would just get this sorted in a day,, if the problem ain't been fixed this is gonna drag on for ages for them.

I've been with all the major broadband suppliers and this is the worst experience by far and I'm not even a month in.

[#12]

If you read the reward card faq on plusnet site it sounds very much like they send the cards. No mention of a third party, it's called the plusnet reward card, they say they send the email!

"1. How do I claim my Plusnet Reward Card?
You'll get an email sent to the email address you provided when you signed up. You'll normally receive this email within 10 working days of your first service being up and running.

Open the email and click on the link — it's valid for two months from the date we sent it. You'll then be directed to an online form. Fill in your details on this form and then click 'submit'.

You'll then see a confirmation screen — your Plusnet Reward is on its way.

Your Plusnet Reward Card will arrive in the post within 30 days of receiving confirmation that it's on its way."

[#13]

Yes, preecejon - you are right: The Plusnet Reward Card FAQ does give the impression that PN sends out both the Reward Card claim email and the card itself. But, if you look at the wording, it does not say Plusnet themselves send the card. On the other hand, it does not state who really does send the card. This looks very much like Plusnet not being open and transparent or, put another way, intentionally misleading.

For some reason, Plusnet CSA's are telling customers that the Reward Card is provided by a company called "Grassroots". A quick search on the Companies House website shows that the company formerly known as The Grass Roots Group Holdings Limited has not existed for more than a year. On 03 May 2018, they changed their name to HAWK INCENTIVES LIMITED.

So, in reality, the Plusnet Reward Card is provided and sent out by HAWK INCENTIVES LIMITED - a subsidary of Blackhawk Network (UK) Ltd. I wonder why Plusnet are giving customers incorrect information?

[#14]

Good evening Plusnet - it's me again: Remember? One of the (many) customers you promised a Reward Card when signing up - and have now reneged on that promise.

I see, once again, you did not bother responding to the questions I asked you. Giving me the old "silent treatment" are you? Well, just so you know - it won't work.

Ta-ra for now,

AT 

P.S. As at 21:00 on 18 May 2019 I have still not received my £75 Reward Card claim email. And it is not in my spam folder.

[#15]

Hello again, Plusnet. Still not responding to me? Is it because you are too embarrassed? I know I would be - if I was in your shoes.

Until tomorrow,

AT

P.S. As at 19:20 on 19 May 2019 I have still not received my £75 Reward Card claim email. And it is not in my spam folder.