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Third consecutive Which? recommendation for Plusnet

Third consecutive Which? recommendation for Plusnet

Third consecutive Which? recommendation for Plusnet

Plusnet Hot off the heels of the 'Best Consumer Fixed Broadband' accolade we took home at the ISPAs earlier this month, we're happy to announce that we've just bagged our third consecutive recommendation from Which? - the largest independent consumer body in the country. Our home broadband received a four star rating for connection reliability, value for money, customer service and ease of set up in the consumer champion's latest bi-annual survey. Read on to find out what our CEO had to say about this latest endorsement ... To become a “Which? Recommended Provider” a product must receive an overall score of at least 70% in their consumer survey and get average or above ratings for all other aspects of service.  Close to 600 Plusnet customers were questioned in the survey, which was one of the larger sample sizes, and gave Plusnet broadband an overall score of 73%.  This is a hat-trick title for us having previously gained the status in August 2011  and March this year. Jamie, our CEO said:

“It is great to be recognised for the combination of value for money and high quality service which we consistently offer our customers.  To get this recommendation for the third time running, based on genuine customer feedback, is testament to the improvements we have been making at Plusnet. “We continue to offer 24/7, free phone UK support and in the last year we’ve set up specialist teams that focus on the most common customer concerns. Whether it is enabling someone to get the best connection speed or prevent latency on time sensitive services such as on-demand TV, we can now give specific and individual advice to ensure the best possible experience.”

Earlier in the year, we were also proud to take home four uSwitch Broadband Awards including 'Best Customer Rated Broadband Provider' and 'Most Reliable Service'. You can see the full results of the latest Which? survey in the August edition of their magazine. Did you take part in the survey? If not, then how many stars would you have rated us in each of the categories? Have you ever had to call on us for technical assistance or customer support and if so what did you think?

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58 Comments
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58 Comments
Truthteller
Not applicable
WELL DONE TO ALL THE PLEASANT PLUSNET STAFF.....STILL PLENTY OF ROOM FOR FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS SO KEEP UP THE HIGH STANDARDS FOR OTHER ISP,S TO FOLLOW... STILL THE UK,S NO1 PROVIDER . WHERE OTHERS MAY,,,,TALK TALK,,,, ABOUT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, PLUSNET ACTUALLY DELIVERS...
Alan8
Not applicable
Recently joined Plusnet after a problem with the first router (a replacement arrived next day) the service is first class and the broadband has exceeded all my expectations,a very satisfied customer keep up the good work.
Brian2
Not applicable
I recently had router problems and contacted Plusnet.Not only did Plusnet provide me with a new router (cost p&p plus one years service) but they also checked my account and offered me a further discount. The routher arrived the following day and was simple to install and I was up and running again within 24 hours of contacting plusnet. I am quite happy with staying with Plusnet for another year and thank you for a very good service. 5 Stars
quelquod1
Not applicable
Whilst PlusNet has started to lag in terms of cost and download alloowances, its call centre makes up for it in spades! Quick and obliging, technically knowledgeable, and best of all they speak real English unlike the el cheapo foreign call centres.
wardie2437
Dabbler
I've been a Plusnet customer for nearly three years now and NOT ONCE have I had cause to moan or complain. Questions are answered quickly, staff are very knowledgeable, polite and courteous, and the products (I've changed several times) have been outstanding in both value and reliability. I've now got my phone, line rental and broadband all under one roof at an excellent value. Plusnet sets the standards in all areas for other ISP's to follow
Rosemary1
Not applicable
Have been with Plusnet for a month now and cannot fault them. Contacted Customer Service, re unable to connect, Ross dealt with the problem remotely, fantastic friendly staff, and a superb broadband provider, never had better. Keep it up I will definitely be recommending Plusnet
roy1
Not applicable
why after 5 months with plusnet,and with their support services am I still only able to get 0.22 mbs broadband speed
bobpullen1
Not applicable
No idea Roy, but if you've a recent support ticket reference you can share with me then I don't mind taking a look to see if there's anything I can do to help?
Philip_Wagstaff
Not applicable
I'm not impressed with Plusnet: 10gig usage is far to low, while 60gig is too high, most ISP recognise 20gig as a more realistic average, and £65 quid to move your internet to a new address! Most ISPs transfer for free! PlusNet does not get my bestbuy recommendation.
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Hi Philip, how do the other ISP's packages compare to what we charge for 60GB though? When we move your broadband to a new address we are actually charged ourselves by BT Wholesale. It's ~£30 to 'cease' your service at the old address and ~£45 to set it up at the new one. Offering this for free without any conditions makes little commercial sense so I'd be interested to know which ISPs do this without re-contracting you or similar? You don't necessarily have to pay the £65 up front. You can defer it over a 12 month term which means it doesn't cost a thing as long as you stay with us for a year. There's more information over on our website here - http://www.plus.net/support/customer_service/moving_guide.shtml#cost
Joanna_Taylor
Not applicable
I'm really struggling with Plusnet. I want to make an appointment for an engineer to come (as my phone line that was supposed to be connected 10 days ago isn't working), but I don't understand how to get in touch with them. The 2 times I've phoned today I've had to abandon the call due to the 15minutes plus hold time/the difficulty in taking time off work to see through a call with them. Getting a response via the questions section of the website has so far taken in excess of 28 hours. I will need to take a day off work, as an appointment time for the engineer isn't actually an appointment time, but a half day period. It seems I also need to take a day off work to get through to their support services via phone.
chrispurvey1
Not applicable
Hi Joanne, sorry to hear that your phone line isn't working and that you had to wait to speak with our team. You can check our current call wait times at http://csc.plus.net so then you hopefully won't have to wait. I can see your open question and I have got this picked up for you to get this arranged for you. If there's anything else then please let me know.
Michelle_goodse
Not applicable
Could not recommend plusnet any higher than I do. The service is fantastic, value for money, delivers exactly what they say they will and the customer service is second to none. When I have rung the support team have always been friendly and polite and go out of their way to help. Used other providers before won't be using again, other providers should be looking at plusnet and taking tips!
James10
Not applicable
I would say over all very good, but when things do go wrong plusnet are just another don't care, can't be bothered company. The people are nice on the phone and even nice be email, but actually getting progress, that's a different story. I made a complaint 4 days ago and it has not even been acknowledged yet, let alone processed. What else can you do but leave when you have been incorrectly billed?
Lizzie1
Not applicable
Just rang plusnet customer service, spoke to Adam who was really helpful, polite, professional and great advice given regarding my options for moving my existing plusnet broadband to new address, he found cheaper deal for me saving me £12pm so am very pleased. I have been with plusnet for 5 years and can't fault them in any way.
plscott
Dabbler
I wrote a glowing report when I first changed to Plusnet. For the first 18m things were good. Since then, I`ve struggled to maintain connectivity, and download speeds are half what they were. Buying stuff over the internet was frought. Free usage between 12 midnight and 8am is so slow, downloading a film takes forever. Maybe if I coughed up more, things would improve . . . . ! Should I stay or should I go? (sounds like a song)
paula1
Not applicable
find it very hard to complain on line have wrote in regarding my line being cut off for a month whereas my mobile bill was high, offered no refund and still charged me the monthly fee when i had no line, responsed to letter via email and no mention of any offer of refund or help towards my mobile bill, did email bt who orginally cut of line by mistake and told to write to you not resolved and poor customer service will not be renewing
Derick
Not applicable
Well I have nothing but praise for the Plusnet team, I'm a bit of a duffer when it comes to setting things up or dealing with faults on the net so I thank you for taking time to assist in dealing with my recent problem with the modem. Five star Plusnet team.
Julia_Bicknell
Not applicable
I have been with plus.net for MANY years, and have been v. happy so far, but current experience is NOT customer service! Our broadband suddenly cut off on 9th Aug, & as of 2nd Sep, no ‘fix’ date is in sight. I finally discovered 31st Aug that the cut-off of my broadband service on 9th Aug was apparently due to an 'automatic upgrade' to c.12Mps. However, Plusnet seemed to have no way of connecting this 'routine' upgrade with my sudden loss of service. After several days fiddling around being told it was our router's problem, (we wasted time buying & then exchanging 2 brand new routers!) we then got from Plusnet ‘Upon testing the line I have noticed that there was a problem with the initial order and I am now passing this to our provisioning team to investigate this further’. It was finally diagnosed as faulty equipment at the exchange. This after my husband had wasted his whole sunny Sat (18th Aug) waiting for a BT engineer's visit (a no-show!). Then we were told an order for new equipment at the exchange would mean a wait till 27th Aug; it was then delayed again till 31st Aug. 31st Plusnet told me that BT Wholesale had cancelled our order that morning, we have to wait for our order to be fully cancelled from Plusnet system, and then the order has to be re-placed with BT Wholesale. Can someone please fix the communications breakdown between BT Wholesale (and OpenReach assuming OR manages the engineers?) and Plusnet, as these continuing delays are driving me to want to leave Plusnet. Also I heard yesterday that Plusnet should have been testing the line from the start. So what compensation for the ‘problem with the initial order’ and not spotting the link with the automatic upgrade? Our lack of service has dragged on for 25days now. I actually started a new job working from home on 13th Aug, & was about to upgrade with you, but having serious 2nd thoughts ! I don’t want to blame Plusnet, as can see BT’s fault in much of the delay in this. But have checked BTW website, and they make it clear we have to complain via our ISP. However, I am copying this to BT’s CEO, as they need to know what grief their ‘customer service’ is causing. Thanks.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Thanks a lot Michelle Adam.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
I'm sorry to hear you feel that way James. We are happy to help you and endeavour to answer all support tickets as soon as we can. Feel free to send me a private message with either your username or the ID for the ticket you've mentioned and I'll be happy to have a look for you and resolve any issues you've reported to us. Adam
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you had a positive experience when contacting us. Adam
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
I'm sorry to hear about those issues, Is it something you've reported to us? If not I'd strongly advise raising a fault: http://faults.plus.net feel free to send me PM with a support ticket ID and I'll be happy to look into that for you. Adam
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Hi Paula, I'm sorry to hear about the issue you've had there. Please feel free to send me a private message via our forum with your account's username or another means that I can use to find your account and I'll be happy to look further into this matter further. Adam
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
I'm sorry to read about the difficulties that you've mentioned here and in your previous comments. I'm happy to take ownership of this problem from our side and push this back with our suppliers as appropriate. I'd not like to comment further until I've been able to look at at the history of the issue in more detail so that I can properly assess its merits so please bear with me as I will look at this in depth this afternoon before getting back to you. Adam.
samantha1
Not applicable
plusnet is very good on times and the internet is fantastic but sometimes it keeps saying no internet access in the right hand corner and wont let me go onto the internet i have contacted plus.net several times and the people i have spoke to has been fab but my problem still isnt fixed and it still happends all the time.
douglas_godden
Not applicable
well is poor line everytime cut line to each 5 min cut out never get better! maybe i will move new other line what is cut out why? to 5 min every time!
consulting
Newbie
OK, I am now logged in; my comments are as before: I have been a Force 9/Plusnet customer, at more than one location for nealy 20 years, and, on the whole, I have found them to provide a good service. However, I succumbed to their suggestion that I upgrade from my old copper-wire broadband service, to the new, just-available super-fast (up to 76Mbps) optical fibre service. Having placed the order, it took about 3 weeks and a couple of prompts to get any reaction at all. A couple of weeks after that a new router arrived, shortly followed by a BT technician who screwed a new box to the wall, and who commented that the service should be really fast, as the fibre termination cabinet is only about 50 feet from my house. I wish. The fastest speed I have yet managed to see is about 10 Mbps, and, of course, I'm paying double what I was paying before. Plusnet support at first apologised, said that they had omitted to adjust some of their settings, and the speed problem was now fixed. I wish, again. Now Plusnet say I should change my own computer settings, re-test the speed (I have - it is still sub-10Mbps), and lodge a fault with BT if there is still a problem. When I start this process, BT tell me that if the fault lies with the router, they will charge me for their efforts. When I ask Plusnet to underwrite this potential cost, they say: "Get lost". When I ask Plusnet for a new router (on a returnable basis) so I can check if it is the router at fault, they say: "Get lost". When I suggested that perhaps we could just go back to my old service, at the old price, they said: "Get lost - you are locked in for 18 months". If I went into a car showroom, bought a 150mph car and found it actually would only do 20mph, I'd be disappointed. If I was then told by the dealer that if I wanted it fixed, it would be at my expense, and I would have to organise the repairs myself with some 3rd party I had never had any dealings with, I would think they were being a tad unreasonable. COME ON, PLUSNET, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO TAKE THIS TO OFCOM!
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Hi Peter, We've only been around 15 years? Regarding your FTTC speeds, are you connecting wirelessly or wired? If you're using a wireless connection then there's a good chance that it's the quality of the wireless signal/throughput that's creating the bottle neck. If you can provide me with your account username then I'll happily run some tests on your line to see if I can identify what might be happening? We can replace your router but I'm not convinced that's where the problem lies based on your description.
Malcolm_Webber
Not applicable
I've been with Plusnet now for a few months after leaving o2 (primarily to increase bb speed). Have to say that their telephone help line support is excellent Long may it continue and long may it remain in the UK!
paul6
Not applicable
Both mine and my mothers migration to Plusnet were messed up and Plusnet were very poor service in getting the problems sorted. A couple of csas' were as helpful as they could be but the rest were not very useful. One tried to transfer me 3 times then when he couldn't he just disconnected me, after 20minutes on the phone! My general experience is that if you ask something easy they are good but anything a little difficult and they cannot cope. I found the complaints team mis-leading, patronising and inconsistent. My complaint was sort of settled but my mother, a pensioner, was offered less than me even though her problems were much worse! They also did not appear to take Data Protection breaches very seriously. The last nail in the coffin is they are now increasing the cost of the service mid contract, not very fair in my opinion. If this is good honest Yorkshire service I am never going there.
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Thanks for the positive feedback Malcolm :) Paul, your story rings a bell, have I replied to you about it elsewhere? I'm sorry we failed to meet your expectations and must admit I'm surprised you had such a hard time with our complaints team (we typically get really good feedback). Your phone service isn't contracted as such, so you are free to look at other providers. You should find even after the price increase, we fare pretty favourably against most of the other big providers. I'm not sure of the data protection case you're referring to however I can assure you we take data protection very seriously.
Barry_Jezard
Not applicable
What a totally useless service, Customer service agents who dont read files before sending useless email advice, Problems never get sorted, Im currently on 1.8mb for last 3 months, was getting 8mb , Crap sevice yet i still pay premium price?. I know mnore about the problem, than plusnet, due to Bt engineer telling me what the problem was(Too many people on a small Juntion) Yet Plusnet still state they dont know whats wrong, After Ive already told them ??????? I Wish i could still get signal from my 3.5mb Tmobile Dongle, Life was good then ... .. .
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Hi Barry, sorry to hear you're having problems. it's a tricky one. Your line is synchronised at the maximum speed (8128kbps) and your BT profile is the highest it could be (7150kbps). None of the remote testing we've carried out identifies any obvious problems and a check of the virtual paths at your exchange says they're not congested. Having said that, one of the Openreach engineers we've despatched to your premises did advise us that the issue /could/ be the result of congestion. Even if it is though, this congestion is specific to BT Wholesale's area of the network and not ours and would be evident irrespective of the provider you used for your services. The last time you raised a fault with us we advised you that another engineer visit would be required as there's nothing further we can do from this side. If you are wanting to follow this through then please get back in touch. I have noticed that there are times during the day when you upload a *lot* of data? On occasion you're almost saturating your upstream bandwidth. Please be mindful that this can affect the transmission of ack packets when you're browsing/running speedtests etc. and can dramatically reduce your download speeds. Presumably you know what's generating all of this upload traffic?
darren_jones
Not applicable
On the 19th September 2012 I paid my balance on my internet account, only too find out that this company had taken out 5 times the same amount and told me that they had not, they had made mistakes but wouldnt admit it. I still haven't got my 148.78 that they over took back, so dont trust this company with ur money, there all the same.
glfrantom
Newbie
If this is the best ISP around and Which? keeps picking it, then the entire UK is indeed in a sad state. I've been with PlusNet for several years and all has been good until now. But as the old saying goes, it easy to man the helm in calm seas. When PlusNet recently upgraded me to ADSL 2+ they screwed up something. I've been basically down ever since going on 3 weeks now). And they don't really seem to care. At fist I was getting updates - not any more. The last update was 6 days ago saying they were sending the fault back to BT (for the second time) for testing and it would take 48-72 hours. All I've heard since then is crickets chirping. When this all started, PlusNet blamed BT. When the tests came back clean, they blamed me and my equipment. I went out an bought a new router, switch, modem, DSL cable, and microfilter - same problem. It connects cleanly and then drops after a short time (30 sec to 5 min) - then restarts the whole process over, and over, and over..... So now what? I figure they are hoping I'll go away and find a new ISP - they appear to have absolutely no idea how to fix this problem. Oh, but they did send me an advance notice of my next billing cycle - it seems they can get one thing accomplished right every time!
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Hi Gordon, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems. Whilst we could move you back to the 20CN network, BT will eventually be doing away with this technology in the exchanges where 21CN is supported so it makes sense to try and get the fault resolved now rather than delay the inevitable. Have you a fault ticket reference I could take a look at to see if there's anything I can do to help?
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Darren, that concerns me (alot!) and I can assure you it's not typical of the service we provide. If you've a recent support ticket reference you can supply (or some other means of me identifying your account) then I'll happily take a look and see what I can do to help.
glfrantom
Newbie
Yes - 59620719.
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Thanks Gordon, I think I can see what's happened here. When you enquired about cancellation the advisor who handled your ticket sent it back to you which resulted in us losing visibility of it (our fault entirely so sorry about that). The bad news is that means the fault has timed out with BT Wholesale and we've lost some time :( Regarding the fault reporting process in general, it's not unusual for broadband faults to span a week or two. I recognise it's taken longer than usual in this case and part of that can be attributed to us. I can see the drops on your line in our RADIUS logs and I've asked one of our faults guys to jump on your fault later this afternoon. I'm sure once normal service has been resumed we can look at a goodwill gesture or apply some credit to your account to apologise for the unnecessary delay we've added to the fault investigation process.
Geraint_Reynold
Not applicable
I recently had a fault with my line stuck on 2mbs which was sorted out by very friendly, pleasant Plusnet staff. It is not often you deal with several diffrent Customer Service personel and find them all great to deal with. Thanks for the help
kathy1
Not applicable
Although the customer service is good the cost is lagging behind--sky gives you broaband,tv and phone for £21 a month, my service is now £25 a mounth for telephone and broadband. Not very good value and I will be thinking of moving when my contract comes up for renewal.
douglas_godden
Not applicable
what you do again cut out on line why?.
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Hi kathy, are you sure you're factoring the line rental in with that £21/month? The line rental alone on Sky is £14.50/mnth?
douglas_godden
Not applicable
what are you do again cut out again on line!!! can you help it who cut out come on say something? look like make up.
Andrew_Grave
Not applicable
I'm a great fan of PlusNet's and it's fantastic to be able to speak to friendly, down-to-earth staff. However, I think they may be left behind in the value-for-money stakes with the recent launch of YouView from BT and TalkTalk. Does PlusNet have any plans to do something similar? (I appreciate PlusNet is owned by BT who may want to keep the two companies' offerings quite distinct, though)
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Douglas, I'm not entirely sure what is is you're asking? Is your connection dropping out? If so then I'd suggest running through the broadband troubleshooter here to begin with - http://faults.plus.net. One of our Faults Analysts can then run some tests from this side and see if we can identify what's causing the problem. Andrew, we haven't ruled out a television offering, I can't really elaborate much further than that though Wink
glfrantom
Newbie
On 24 Sep I put in a comment about the problems I was having - I got really good words from the rep on this site, a few phone calls, and daily updates ever since - ones that always start out "Sorry, but..." Here we are 9 days later and nothing's changed. I'm still down - it's been a month now - and PlusNet has just informed me they are not going to reengage until Friday... They've got something more important to do. As I stated before, run away from this ISP - they are great as long as it works. I guess I have no other choice; it's another ISP for me.
bobpullen1
Not applicable
Really sorry Gordon but we are doing all we can. Any ISP whose services are provided via BT Openreach would be in exactly the same position as us. The initial delay was caused by us (as mentioned in my last reply to you) however on this occasion we're pushing for a resolution. Probably doesn't help that Openreach engineer resourcing has been affected somewhat by the recent weather (sounds like a lame excuse I know, but it's factual) - http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/10/bt-openreach-uk-engineers-face-more-delays-after-week-of-flooding.html I'm confident we're doing what we can and we'll gladly over something in the way of a goodwill gesture once everything's back up and running.
dirt
Dabbler
Perhaps rather than basking in his own glory Mr Jamie Ford might like to sort out the 100,s of Plusnet customers who have problems.It would be nice if he at least had the common decency to acknoledge e.mails sent to him.I am thinking of buying shares and going to a share holders meeting!