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At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

I switched my fibre broadband from BT to Plusnet after they were recommended to me by a relative. Now I really wish I hadn't bothered.
My switchover date was set for 23rd July. On that morning, I noticed that the blue light on my BT HH4 had gone out and was showing orange. I had expected this and set about doing a factory reset on the hub and entering my new Plusnet username and password in the hope that it would come back up right away. It didn't, so I called Plusnet and a Customer Service representative explained that the connection still had to be activated on their end, but that it would be done before the end of the day. By that evening, I was still not online, so I called Plusnet for an update. After a lengthy wait in a queue (a wait that has averaged between 40-45 minutes for most of my calls), I finally got to talk to a CS representative who informed me that my order was still due to be completed by the end of day. I made the point that I work from home several days a week so it needed to be available by the next morning and I was assured that it would be.
By the next morning, there was still no connection, so I called PN again. Having gone through all of the standard checks, confirming that the Openreach modem DSL light was steady green etc. I was informed that it appeared BT Wholesale hadn't completed the transfer correctly and that this would have to be rectified. Three days later on 26th July and with no contact from Plusnet over those three days, I finally received an e-mail to say that the transfer has been successfully completed. I tried to reconnect, but with no success. I called PlusNet again and a CS representative determined that the BT HH4 was not accepting the username and password for some reason and arranged for a PN router to be sent out instead. She explained that since they were auto configured I just had to plug it into the modem in order to get online. The new PN router arrived on 28th July. I set it up as directed, but there was still no internet connection.
I called Plusnet again on 28th July and they opened up another ticket/question to troubleshoot the issue. At this point, they asked me to connect directly to the OR modem and set up a PPPoE dialler from my computer. Having been unsuccessful, the PN representative stated that it was not a router problem (I believe the error code was 691) and explained they would have to open up a fault with BT, but would call me again within 72 hours with a progress report. Over the course of those 72 hours no one from PN contacted me to provide any sort of update and by 1st August I was forced to chase them up.
Being thoroughly frustrated as this point, I called them again and explained that I did not want to go through the same troubleshooting exercise that I had already been through countless times previously. I requested that a BT Openreach engineer be sent out to my home to resolve the issue. At this point, the CS representative looked into the issue further and had BT rebuild everything on their end. When he determined that this hadn't made any difference he agreed to book an OR engineer to visit my home today, August 4th.
I was not at home today when the engineer called, but the childminder said that the OR engineer had reviewed everything and determined that the cause was a faulty router, something which obviously conflicts with PN's most recent analysis. As a result, he stated that he would be requesting that PN send out a new router to resolve the issue.
So now I assume I am stuck waiting another few days for a second PN router. I say 'assume' as I am still waiting for PlusNet to contact me or update one of my three open questions to inform me of the outcome of the OR engineer's visit today. I also find it hard to believe that my BT HH4 coincidentally stopped working on the morning that I switched over to PlusNet or that the first PN router sent to me was also faulty.
I've now been two weeks without an internet connection and service that I am continuing to pay for, but have never actually received and it seems that PN are no closer to resolving the issue. I haven't been able to work from home at all during this time, which has caused countless problems, and since mobile internet is extremely poor where I live I have to go to a friend or relatives home every time I need to do anything online.
I've been thoroughly underwhelmed by Plusnet's handling of this issue. The attitude of some of those CS representatives that I spoke to was dismissive and poor to say the least. In addition, when I asked for my problem to be escalated to a manager I was refused and in one call told abruptly that 'I was no more important than anyone else'. For a company that supposedly prides itself on its high levels of customer service, I have seen little evidence of that.
I have to say that at this point I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever that Plusnet are now going to be able to resolve this issue. I just want to cancel, put this whole sorry, stressful episode behind me and move to a service provider who will actually do that - provide a service.
Plusnet, I am still waiting for you to prove me wrong, but I won't hold my breath...
26 REPLIES 26
mlmclaren
Grafter
Posts: 855
Registered: ‎04-12-2014

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Hmmm... seems to be a mighty lot of provisioning issues at Plusnet recently?
I thought us with the service connected but running at semi capability was an issue but a company that can't even provide a little is somewhat hilarious, but also very concerning  Sad
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

If the direct PPPoE connection also failed (assuming your username and password was entered correctly) it's not a faulty router!
Did they point you to the following instructions for setting up the PPPoE? http://community.plus.net/library/broadband/fibre-help-how-to-set-up-a-pppoe-dialler-in-vistawindows...
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)
MattyC
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 3,201
Fixes: 46
Registered: ‎10-04-2014

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your experience so far. Looks like Plusnet provisioned your line fine, though a delay was incurred by our supplier which pushed it back three days. It was actually ourselves that intervened upon seeing that the order hadn't completed.
The engineer hasn't put much notes on yesterday's visit. In fact, this is the entirety of them:
Quote
modem in sync. se t is correct but rou ter wouldnt sync up. advised EU to get a new plus net router

You'll be receiving an update from our faults team in about five minutes, and we'll get you an alternative router dispatched on the engineer's advice.
Are you ok to keep us posted on how you get on?
Matty
ex-Plusnet staffer. Any posts after 28/07/2017 aren't on behalf of Plusnet
lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Quote from: jelv
If the direct PPPoE connection also failed (assuming your username and password was entered correctly) it's not a faulty router!
Did they point you to the following instructions for setting up the PPPoE? http://community.plus.net/library/broadband/fibre-help-how-to-set-up-a-pppoe-dialler-in-vistawindows...

That's exactly what I thought. Yes, I went through this process on the phone with a CS representative on 28th July and I also did the same thing again myself on Monday evening by following the instructions in the guide that you've linked to. In both cases, I failed to connect.
lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Quote from: MattyC
Hi there,
Sorry to hear about your experience so far. Looks like Plusnet provisioned your line fine, though a delay was incurred by our supplier which pushed it back three days. It was actually ourselves that intervened upon seeing that the order hadn't completed.
The engineer hasn't put much notes on yesterday's visit. In fact, this is the entirety of them:
Quote
modem in sync. se t is correct but rou ter wouldnt sync up. advised EU to get a new plus net router

You'll be receiving an update from our faults team in about five minutes, and we'll get you an alternative router dispatched on the engineer's advice.
Are you ok to keep us posted on how you get on?
Matty

The update I received from the faults team this morning was that the GEA service test passed fine and no fault was found. So I remain without Internet access for at least another few days until I receive another replacement router which will hopefully magically resolve the issue, even though the direct PPPoE connection failed both times I tried it and my BT HH4 just happened to fail on the day I switched to Plusnet along with the first replacement router that Plusnet initially sent out.
I will keep you posted...
lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

So the new router arrived today from Plusnet. Set it up again correctly and surprise surprise, it's not working. So I've now gone through 1 BT HH and 2 Plusnet routers, all of which are either faulty or the issue lies somewhere else. This is getting beyond a joke  Angry
dick:quote
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

You can't say you are surprised. It was pretty obvious to everyone (well everyone except Plusnet) that this was unlikely to cure the issue as the PPPoE test failed.
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)
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

What's the error message in the router log?
lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

I'm not at home at the moment to check, but I'm sure PN support already ran through this with me and found nothing of significance.
dick:quote
lynne07
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎04-08-2015

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Anyone from Plusnet care to comment or contact me about next steps? Your silence is deafening at the moment...
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
Fixes: 480
Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

We'll have to look at booking another engineer most likely.
I'm getting our Faults team to check.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,575
Thanks: 5,411
Fixes: 385
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

@matthew,
Is there any mileage in trying the bt_test@startup_domain and bt_test_user@plusdsl.net login tests ?

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.

jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Good idea!
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)
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: At the end of my tether with Plusnet...

Quote from: Matthew
We'll have to look at booking another engineer most likely.

... who is likely to say it's in sync so it's a Plusnet problem.
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)