Delay in fibre order - is this normal?!

[#1]

Hi there,
I rang plusnet on the 18th May to let them know that we were going to be moving house on the 1st June and that we would like to transfer our phone line and internet services plus upgrade to fibre.
We had an engineer come out to the new house on the 11th to set up the phone line and we assumed that the fibre would be up and running too.... Err no.... Rang up plusnet and due to some issue with the previous tenants putting a cease on the line or whatever there was a delay and the engineer has been booked to come out and set up the fibre on the 26th June! What!? That's more than a month from when you were first informed!
I understand that there are issues with Openreach and that they can make life awkward but why weren't we told or had the issue with the cease on the line explained to us so that we could have anticipated the delay? It's all well and good having a working phone line but when you rely on the internet for your livelihood it really puts a spanner in the works.

[#2]

Hi feelthesteele,
Really sorry to see that this has happened, you're right in that it can be a bit debilitating having no internet access.
As it sounds like you have been told; the previous supplier arranged to put a cease on your line. As the previous supplier are paying to keep that line up and running, their orders take priority over ours. Typically, it'd make more sense to allow us to take over (it's cheaper for all parties that way) so I'm a bit disappointed that the service was ceased. It was also unforeseeable on Plusnet's side.
Moving forward, we will make sure that downtime is refunded. We're good to go for the 26th, and as we have the phone line now there are definitely no more foreseeable issues.
Once again, apologies for the inconvenience.
Matty

[#3]

Hi MattyC
Thanks for the response and I appreciate the refund.
It's sadly disappointing that we weren't kept up to speed on any delays or ceases on the line as this has had a terrible knock-on effect for my business. I work from home as a Graphic Designer and rely on the internet to be able to do my job: without it I can't receive emails or work, send work to clients for their deadlines or communicate at all with my international clients. The downtime suffered as a result of Plusnet's inability to keep us in the loop has resulted in at least one lost commission which would have equated to around £2000. Currently the only way I can do any work is to travel to my in-law's house with a bare bones setup and use their broadband on the kitchen table - hardly the ideal situation. It is EXTREMELY frustrating to have to try and work this way, we chose to stay with Plusnet rather than go to BT because at our previous address your service was always excellent.
I patiently await a resolution to this situation when our Fibre finally gets installed next Friday 26th, and whilst I realise that some of the delay is due to ceases on the line and the availability of engineers in my area, I cannot in good faith recommend Plusnet to anybody looking for a new provider. Here's hoping that the fibre speed and your service from here going forward is worth the wait!

[#4]

Ouch, that is a lot of money to be losing out on. It's probably not the best of times to mention this, but it may be better to migrate over to a business account once you're settled down. I'd prefer you to have a higher duty of care should there be any faults in service.
As I said in my comments, it was one of those things that was also unforeseeable on PN's side until it's happened. The order for the cease was placed and actioned on the same day.
Keep us posted on the 26th, and if you have any worries, then either update this thread or pop me a PM.
Matty

[#5]

Thanks for the feedback, Matty. Fingers crossed all goes smooth on the 26th.