Customer Support

[#1]

I have contacted PN by landline several times during the past 10 days and found those I spoke to were helpful and polite but one fly in the ointment is the time it takes to get through, in my case 20 minutes, ok it's a free call and no big problem for me but at one time you could be put through in a couple of minutes.
Now I would not expect an answer to this statement but it would either seem that PN have reduced the number of staff taking calls or the number of new customers joining has not been matched with an increase in the number of staff to deal with this increase.
As previously stated, not a problem in my case as the issue was non urgent but new or potential customers may no be so impressed with such waiting times.

[#2]

I hardly use the phone any more for contacting customer service the wait is quite ridiculous, I have had a much better experience with the new chat system, have you tried that yet?

[#3]

I tried the chat earlier today for the first time but I'm at work so I had to answer the telephone while waiting for an advisor and when I'd finished my call I have been disconnected (timed-out) and had to have another go (with another wait).
Online chat is fine (for some enquiries at least) if you don't have to wait for a connection to an advisor.

[#4]

Thanks for the feedback. Currently we're about 15 minutes on Customer Support and Technical. I think we're creeping up again at peak times, but this is something our management team are looking at.
Though current wait times for residential aren't showing, some stats can be seen here.

[#5]

Tony,
Current wait times have not been available for months - why and what is being done to fix it please?
Or is it another case of management hiding bad news?  Ticket response times are grim, so let's make it difficult to raise tickets.  Call wait times are grim, so let's hide the stats.
Does PlusNET have stats on the number of missed Chat Session requests and a log of those times Chat is not available during the published (restricted) availability hours?
Similarly, does PlusNET have stats on dropped (unanswered) support calls?
In the name of openness and transparency, can these please be added to the status page referenced above?
Thank you,
Kevin

[#6]

Commercially sensitive data no doubt

[#7]

Dick,
It's only sensitive if it's poor.
Get it right and it becomes a distinctive selling point, something to be proud to shout about!
I've seen the TV adverts, shouting and pride is all what PN are about... so there ought to be no reservation about publishing performance related stats... unless the facts don't meet the claims?  
Kevin

[#8]

well tonight, chat unavailable, 30 minute wait for someone to answer the phone, and if they had actually answered the question on the ticket I raised rather than telling me to use the unavailable live chat they would have saved me wasting my time
.Rubbish service

[#9]

@Kevin, I believe it's to do with the new phone system. I was hoping this could be sorted as it's a handy little feature, but I think we've got other priorities right now.
@rlmjam. What can I say? I've just seen the ticket in question. I'm sorry! I'm speaking to my manager about that ticket reply now.

[#10]

Hi Tony,
Sorry about this, but if "issue ducking answers" are going to be handed down to you by management, they are going to get challenged here.
If the inability to report the residential call wait times is due to an issue with the new phone system, would one be correct in concluding (setting aside there is a different in-bound number) that the business team have a different (distinct) phone system, which is able to report the metric?
I'm off to look at the support pages for some of the other names PlusNET provide service for to see if they display these stats.
Your new team leader really ought to be here on the forum catching all these bullets for you guys, treating the CRT as cannon fodder is indicative of poor leadership and a lack of commitment to improvement.  The attitude seems to be "keep giving the children sweet words when they complain and eventually they will give up complaining...".
Really do wish you could show / tell me I'm wrong by pointing to any system / process issue raised around here which has actually been fixed, other than Chris Pettitt's work on the ticket-touch-to-back-of-queue issue... sadly only to be followed by disencouragement of the use of tickets.
Kevin

[#11]

Quote from: plusnettony

I was hoping this could be sorted as it's a handy little feature, but I think we've got other priorities right now.

Try saying that to customers when on hold for over 15 mins ( most of the time), to the dreadful on hold music, that is always too loud ( i wonder if that has been turned down yet?)
Its seems the average  "answer time today" is nearly always 15 mins and above, PN must have one of the longest average wait times of the biggest ISPs
Are any more resources going into to bringing the wait times down (i would expect so , after trying every effort to get rid of ticket system),  or do PN now think 15 mins and above is acceptable ? ,
Regards
Mike

[#12]

We're making a number of changes which should improve the wait times further.
A few noises have been made about how loud the music is when calling, and these have been raised internally.

[#13]

Quote from: Townman

Sorry about this, but if "issue ducking answers" are going to be handed down to you by management, they are going to get challenged here.

+1

Quote from: Townman

If the inability to report the residential call wait times is due to an issue with the new phone system, would one be correct in concluding (setting aside there is a different in-bound number) that the business team have a different (distinct) phone system, which is able to report the metric?

From memory this 'issue' with the *new* telephone system is at least a year old.  So it is just another one of the long standing Back Office system problems that has not been tackled yet..
Management does appear to be remarkably absent from all of these ongoing discussions.  I'm not sure they exist except in title?
Maurice

[#14]

Quote from: plusnettony

We're making a number of changes which should improve the wait times further.

I am sure we have been told this a number of times , how long before we see this happen  ?
Today's average wait time ( 22.00pm ) 40 minutes and 50 seconds = not good enough
Regards
Mike