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47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

rmcglade
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-03-2013

47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

This has to be one of the worst services that I haven't even got. Angry
I ordered on the 1st and selected an install date based on the calendar you are presented with during the sign up process, that being Tues 12th of March. Many dates around that time were shown as free! Today I get an email telling me that the install date is the 18th! I booked a holiday for the 12th and it can't be changed. So I called and that call took 21 mins to be answered and spoke to somebody who was very matter of fact like - told that dates selected during signup are not actual dates at all - (maybe just something to make it look good and professional).
I hope that the call was recorded because in all I was on the phone for almost 50 mins  Angry and had to put it down in the end as I was just being left on hold whilst trying to cancel the order **** PLUSNET CUSTOMER SERVICE STATS on the website are LIES checkout this video that proves it.  
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17 REPLIES 17
picbits
Rising Star
Posts: 3,435
Thanks: 23
Registered: ‎18-01-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

Fair play for providing  evidence to back it up.
Obviously something isn't right somewhere.
I've been fortunate not to have to call Plusnet for any issues since signing up - in fact they actually called me out of the blue to discuss a couple of questions I'd asked via tickets.
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

Hi there,
There's several departments in our call centre that can be routed to, and the stats shown on the site are from the tech support team who receive more calls than any other department. Unfortunately if calls are passed through to other teams this can and does lead to extra queueing time, but we'd definitely dispute that the stats are a lie.
I'm sorry you've had the experience you did.
rmcglade
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-03-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

You see, you are already trying to use small print as a way out of the obviously fake stats- just like the fake calendar during signup! I mean what is the point of a calendar that means nothing and stats that mean nothing! Smoke and Mirrors me thinks
The stats on the website says calls to customer service - I called customer service
ITWorks
Superuser
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Posts: 2,118
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Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎05-11-2008

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

Matt, if those call stats are for tech support only, why does the heading says "calls to customer service" this is as clear as mud.
Also i note the graphing says it does not include Sales and Customer Options Teams. Does the graphing include calls to tech support and customer service, or just tech support ?
Regards
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.

picbits
Rising Star
Posts: 3,435
Thanks: 23
Registered: ‎18-01-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

I have to agree with Mike above - looking at the graph here :
http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=212&helpheader=rhmcallstats
I'd currently expect around a 18 minute wait for a call to customer services.
Would it not be possible to split the information into the relevant call center sections i.e. Cancellations / Technical Support / Whatever ?
rmcglade
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-03-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

Could somebody from Plusnet please call me so that I don't  have to spend another hour on the phone trying to cancel the installation.
thanks
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: 47 mins on the phone to just get some service - BYE

Hi all,
While the ideal would be to show wait times for the different queues unfortunately this isn't something we can do at the moment. I'll pick this up with Kelly though and look at getting the page updated and made a lot clearer.
@rmcglade I'll see what I can do there for you, sorry but I can't make any promises. I will however update either way.
Phileasfrog
Grafter
Posts: 51
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

I must stop being positive but at least the PN phone number is a free 0800, and not an 0845 / 0870 as with many other ISPs.....  Apart from that, the PN argument that the performance figures do not specifically relate to Customer Support is disingenuous to say the very least.
rmcglade
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-03-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

Quote from: Phileasfrog
I must stop being positive but at least the PN phone number is a free 0800

A free call is not that positive, what about my time? Spent my whole lunch break trying to get some sort of service and was deliberately put on hold for as long as possible so i wasted even more time trying to cancel. I notice reading the other posts in here that all responses from plusnet seem to be the same old variations of "Sorry to hear that, we'll ...." Do they have a sorry line generator I wonder? it might be the only bit of software that does what is says on the box 
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

Quote from: rmcglade
I ordered on the 1st and selected an install date based on the calendar you are presented with during the sign up process, that being Tues 12th of March. Many dates around that time were shown as free! Today I get an email telling me that the install date is the 18th!

Like Matt says, really sorry about this Sad
We booked your appointment on the 7th March and sent you a text that day advising that the installation date would be the 18th. Didn't you receive this? The dates available during signup are taken from a live appointing system (the calendar is *not* fake), the logic being that we'll pick your order up and place it shortly after you sign up. If we had picked this up in a timely fashion then the 12th would have been available. As it happens it wasn't and we had to book the 18th. For reasons I'm not sure about yet it looks like we put your order on hold awaiting a MAC despite the fact that we already had it. That's our fault entirely and I apologise unreservedly for it.
Quote from: rmcglade
I booked a holiday for the 12th and it can't be changed. So I called and that call took 21 mins to be answered and spoke to somebody who was very matter of fact like - told that dates selected during signup are not actual dates at all - (maybe just something to make it look good and professional).

They can change but under normal circumstances you'd be alerted to this within a day or two of placing the order. Looking at the experience you've had though I think we need to make this clearer. I've just completed a mock signup and it isn't made clear during the order journey and neither is it made clear in the confirmation email. On the contrary, it gives the impression that the appointment is fully booked and confirmed! Undecided This is something we'll need to look at improving.
Quote
I hope that the call was recorded because in all I was on the phone for almost 50 mins  Angry and had to put it down in the end as I was just being left on hold whilst trying to cancel the order **** PLUSNET CUSTOMER SERVICE STATS on the website are LIES checkout this video that proves it.  
>


I think most of the confusion here has stemmed from how we refer to different call queues internally and the route you may have taken through the IVR/recorded message. The wait times are taken from a 'trunk' in our phone system and fed straight to our website. Whilst I'm not 100% sure it's actually the technical 'hunt group' the stats represent, the principal as to why customers can be left waiting longer is the same as Matt's explained.
Things used to be pretty simple with Sales, Customer Service & Technical/Faults Teams. These days there are many more lines and workflows. Order Updates, House Moves, Early Life Support  and Jeopardy to name but a few. What we refer to internally as the Customer Support or Technical lines may well be an accurate reflection of the wait time on the website. From a customer perspective though, you may choose Customer Service from the recorded menu and then e.g. Order Updates and that will route to the 'Order Updates' line rather than what we'd refer to as the 'Customer Support' line. Does that make sense?
Also worth considering is the fact that the stats won't apply to certain calls that are transferred once somebody here has picked up the phone.
Not an ideal situation I know but we're not trying to deliberately mislead people. It's just the algorithm for the stats is probably a tad dated now that our phone systems are as complex as they are. Something we should definitely fix I guess, although it's not a five minute job.
Quote from: rmcglade
Quote from: Phileasfrog
I must stop being positive but at least the PN phone number is a free 0800

A free call is not that positive, what about my time? Spent my whole lunch break trying to get some sort of service and was deliberately put on hold for as long as possible so i wasted even more time trying to cancel.

I'm pretty sure you weren't deliberately put on hold. As I understand it Matt has asked that somebody try giving you a call so hopefully you'll be hearing from us instead.
Regarding your situation, it should be simple enough to move the installation date back. Regrettably we can't move it forward because, through the eyes of our wholesaler, they haven't actually done anything wrong to cause the delay (it was our fault). Hopefully you can understand that.
One thing I am curious about is what service you're migrating in from? Is it an FTTC service with another BT-supplied provider? If it is then I've an inkling that whilst we need to book the engineer appointment, site access might not actually be required?
Obviously you can elect to cancel if that's what you'd rather do however it would be a shame not to have the opportunity to restore some of your lost confidence Sad

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

rmcglade
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎08-03-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

Thanks Bob for your candid response. So what your saying is that I was right during my phone conversation with *whoever*  that was trying to make me feel stupid and that these issues are just the way it is, so suck it up. Sorry to be such a winge bag but whoever I spoke to just wouldn't give me the time of day with my issues.
Sadly, after being purchased by Sky I am coming from BE so it's old tech but they had the best customer service that I almost never needed, so entry is required. I await the call.
picbits
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Posts: 3,435
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Registered: ‎18-01-2013

Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

I also made the move from BE but in January. I was getting a little uneasy about the way BE were going and something didn't feel right.
I saw the chance to move to Plusnet and took it - I pay slightly less now for my phone and internet than I did with BE / BT.
Plusnet are a little quirky at times, they also have had some issues with latency / low speeds at times.
Generally though I'm pretty happy with the service, read the forums every day, see the level of service offered through the forums (not had to call up yet thankfully) and if I continue to get the service provided currently can see me being here until Sky decide to buy them out as well ........
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

Quote from: rmcglade
Thanks Bob for your candid response. So what your saying is that I was right during my phone conversation with *whoever*  that was trying to make me feel stupid and that these issues are just the way it is, so suck it up. Sorry to be such a winge bag but whoever I spoke to just wouldn't give me the time of day with my issues.

I've not listened to the call but it doesn't sound like it was handled too well Embarrassed
I'll have a word with the agent you spoke to and make sure that they understand the situation so as not to make the same mistake again.
Quote
Sadly, after being purchased by Sky I am coming from BE so it's old tech but they had the best customer service that I almost never needed, so entry is required. I await the call.

Yes, you're right a visit would be required.
Anyway, enjoy your hols and sorry again about all the hassle.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

keith4x4
Grafter
Posts: 78
Registered: ‎07-07-2011

Re: 47 mins on the phone - no joy - video proof of madeup website Stats - BYE

Bob
I see you are carrying out your main PN occupation which seems to be fighting fires with a water pistol.
If you could take a minute out from all the apologising you have to make, could you possibly wake up a CSC Team manager and ask them to acknowledge the fact that I am still waiting for a update to my now 5 month old call!!!
It’s now looking a whole lot closer to 2 complete years of abysmal service

And yes ..Smoke and Mirrors are spot on