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No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

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Dx7
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

"We'll do you proud" that really needs to be taken off your logo because, well , it's a bit of a joke of late.  There are some wonderful and skilled people at Plusnet, but I think there are also some that are not being trained up to a good standard.   In the last month I have  had problems  with three separate  orders for fibre on three separate accounts \ addresses.  On one account the order was taken but not submitted and it took three months and two routers before that mistake was identified and corrected. On two other accounts, the speed for fibre was actually half the speed of the  ADSL product I was on to start with, the order for fibre should never have been recommended but the available speed was never checked.  I have also had problems with two other of my accounts all to do with the flaky referral system.  These problems alone, I did not complain about, mistakes happen. 

 

I now have a problem with my father's account and  it leaves me no choice but to complain. I am a named administrator on his account.  He had a stroke some time ago leaving him in the position where he cannot talk or understand what is being said to him. Over the last two or three months he has had several problems with his phone service requiring a BT engineer visit. The problem has always been with BT and not my father's phone, we also tried other phone just to make absolutely sure, and on each visit the engineer got it working again without touching his phone, he was also never charged for the visits, that tells me his phone was not and more than likely still is not the problem.  I phoned Plusnet today. The Man I spoke to told me he needed to speak to my father in order to authorise a visit, I told him he could not speak due to the effects of a stroke,  he sympathised but  insisted he had to speak with him.   I am in Brazil and my father is in his home in England, he has  a mobile phone but he no longer knows how to use it - you can see the problem here? The Plusnet rep told me he would try and ring him and text me if he got no answer.  He was about to hang-up when I reminded him he needed my number before he could do that. I didn't fancy waiting another 45min on the phone so  I asked him if he could look at another account I was having problems with, he said he could and asked for my user name for that account, within seconds he told me he could see the problem and had fixed it but it would take some time before bill for £0 that was stopping me from accessing my account would be removed. I question whether he  even tried to do it as 1 it was so quick and 2, if this guy was such a stickler for rules, how come he did it without  asking me for the account password?  

Up to now I have had no text and to be honest I don't think I will get one from him.  O and surprise surprise I still cannot access my account either.  Can someone here tell the Plusnet rep I spoke to that you cannot speak to a man that cannot talk, and also check if he did or did not do what he said he was going to do with my account?  

Is having to leave for another provider really the only option here? And what is the point of me being an administrator when I don't have the power to get problems fixed?     I hope you train more staff up soon and get them call waiting times down, it's costing me a lot of time and money ringing from Brazil. And until you do -  Its no longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet. 

 

Thanks

19 REPLIES 19
Dx7
Rising Star
Posts: 81
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

I think God must have read my post and took pity - I have just had a message that my father's phone has started ringing again so hang fire on any attempt to book a BT visit and I will see how it goes.  

If I can ask Anoush (who has been a brilliant support) to look at my com.... account to remove the payment request for £0 that would be wonderful and much appreciated.  The message that stops me accessing my account is as follows:

 

Payment due

We couldn't take a payment that's due on your account.
So that you can browse without restrictions it's best to make this payment as soon as you can.

Once we've received your payment any service restrictions we've made will be removed.

For more information about paying check our Billing Guide.

Amount owed:
£0.00
Date payment was due:
2016-10-12 00:00:00
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Is there a link to pay the bill? If so I suggest you attempt to make a payment for 0.00 - knowing Plusnet's systems they might accept it and clear the issue.

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)
Jonpe
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Poorly designed systems that demand payments of £0.00 are nothing new.  I remember a report from several decades ago where a gas supplier cut someone off for not paying that amount, and my credit card company still lists a "Pay by" date for balances of £0.00, although they never actually expect me to 'pay' it.  It would be interesting to see what the interest on £0.00 would be if I 'defaulted'.

Surely it would be easy, and should be routine, to correct this anomaly, which is clearly causing problems for many customers, not only those of PN.

Dx7
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Yep actually I did try to pay it but the system said something on the lines of you cannot pay a bill of £0. I know why it's there, it's due to an attempt at clearing problems with my referrals, but I don't think this effect was foreseen.

I am not that upset with the problems I have been having with my accounts, when I can get involved with sorting them out they do get fixed by Plusnet,  it was when I could not see an easy solution to getting my father's phone working again, and over the last 2 or 3 months he has spent weeks without it working and had to still pay for the pleasure.  Some, possibly most  staff see the sense / need in sometimes bending the rules. I think named administrators should be given the option to have permission to be able to authorise situations like this, then rules would not need to be bent and some problems would be solved much quicker. I'm sure Plusnet must have lost customers because of situations like this  -  were it's easier to just jump ship and go with another provider just to get a problem solved. 

jelv
Seasoned Hero
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

He should have received a refund for the time without service!

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)
Dx7
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet


@jelv wrote:

He should have received a refund for the time without service!


Agreed. I did ask, but got no response,  

jelv
Seasoned Hero
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

@Chris

Is it no longer Plusnet policy to compensate people for the time they are without service?

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)
Anoush
Aspiring Hero
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Hello,
Sorry for the issues you and your father are going through.
If you're an authorised user on his account then unfortunately you wouldn't be able to book an engineer I'm afraid without the account holder contacting us.
I appreciate the situation you're in. If you become a power of attorney and then send a copy of the document to us you would then be able to act on the account holder's behalf.
I'm happy that his phone appears to be working however if you private message me with his username I will see what sort of goodwill gesture we can offer.
I'll also look into your account first thing Monday morning regarding the zero balance that's being requested.
Please don't hesitate to PM me with any issues or queries you have.
This is my personal Community Forum account to help out around these parts while I'm at home. If I'm posting from the 1st March 2020, this means I'm off-duty with no access to internal systems.
If this post resolved your issue, please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
Dx7
Rising Star
Posts: 81
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Top man yet again Anoush.  When I get back to England I might just get power of attorney, but still,  If you ask me, given said circumstances, its a bit of a draft rule not to bend. And I wonder if anyone has ever been in trouble from bending it?  I see it as akin to coming to a stuck red traffic light, a line of cars behind you, nothing coming the other way, and even if it takes a day and a night, your not going to move until a policeman tells you its ok to do so. Oh and a tut tut tut (with wagging finger) for him then telling me he had sorted my account out when I seriously doubt he even look at it (and if he did what about them rules?) coughpassword    

Go wag your finger at him for me Anoush and tell him John knows, John knows, John knows...       🙂 

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

Chris
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet


@jelv wrote:

@Chris

Is it no longer Plusnet policy to compensate people for the time they are without service?



Compensate no, refund yes. We'll issue a refund for the time without service from when the fault is reported.

Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
ITWorks
Superuser
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

@Chris In these circumstances, is a refund processed without a customer asking for one, or are customers only given a refund if they ask for it?

Regartds
Mike

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.

Anoush
Aspiring Hero
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Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Thank you for your patience.

I've sorted out the zero balance issue on your account, so you should be able to view the Member Centre normally. Apologies for that.

Looking into your father's account, I believe you reported the phone to be working now. Should the fault to occur again and not be restored by itself, moving forward we will be able to book the engineer appointment with yourself either over the phone or online.

I hope this helps you.

This is my personal Community Forum account to help out around these parts while I'm at home. If I'm posting from the 1st March 2020, this means I'm off-duty with no access to internal systems.
If this post resolved your issue, please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
Dx7
Rising Star
Posts: 81
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

Fix

@Anoush wrote:

Thank you for your patience.

I've sorted out the zero balance issue on your account, so you should be able to view the Member Centre normally. Apologies for that.

Looking into your father's account, I believe you reported the phone to be working now. Should the fault to occur again and not be restored by itself, moving forward we will be able to book the engineer appointment with yourself either over the phone or online.

I hope this helps you.


Yes it does Anoush Wink, My dad and I thank you for all your help - top support  - top man!   And I can confirm my acount seem to be working perfectly, fingers crossed it remains that way. 

 

Thanks again. 

Dx7
Rising Star
Posts: 81
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Registered: ‎12-11-2008

Re: No longer ethical for me to recommend Plusnet

I think the customer would have to really insist on one. My sister phone up for my dad on a couple of occasions and she tells me that she told a rep that my dad should not have to pay for something he is not getting. (I think) I mentioned it on one call also, but I cannot say for %100.    If its a week or so I don't think its worth bothering with it, but when it totals two or three, weeks I think it should be refunded, but really it should come out of BT;s pocket not Plusnets. He did not get a refund, but he is just happy to have his phone working again.


@ITWorks wrote:

@Chris In these circumstances, is a refund processed without a customer asking for one, or are customers only given a refund if they ask for it?

Regartds
Mike