Engineer no show

[#1]

Well the statistics were from that Sky document:

Quote

Openreach engineers fail to turn up for large numbers of appointments or fail to complete line installations. For example, in the year to February 2015 on average Openreach missed over 500 appointments to install new lines ordered by Sky customers every month, and when an appointment is finally met, a further 4,000 jobs per month were not completed. These failures are enormously burdensome for consumers – often involving wasted days off work and significant inconvenience.

In the case, the OP didn't even need an engineer, they already had FTTC, they just needed an Openreach modem delivered. I thought Openreach never send out an engineer in this case, and Plusnet should have known that.

Quote from: AlaricAdair

So you are content it is perfectly acceptable for OpenReach to force "the retired/at home anyway" to wait around for a No Show? Do you think they are second class citizens?

No, but I don't see how they will be running out of days they can take off work. Do you want people to kick up a huge fuss if it wasn't enormously burdensome and significantly inconvenient for them to be at home, but it could have been if their circumstances were different?

[#2]

In support of AA's post re inefficient job planning by BTOR ,I recently had to wait in on behalf of my daughter who had a phone fault - the OR engineer turned up within the appointed window and sorted her fault out but whilst completing his tests he told me that his next call for the morning (which was almost over by then!) was about 30 miles away " up in the Valleys" -he estimated that with traffic he had, at least, an hours driving time. And then his final call for his day (IF he had time left) was virtually back in our area !!!!

[#3]

Quote from: davidj60

...And then his final call for his day (IF he had time left) was virtually back in our area !!!!

...entailing a hour's drive back?  Swapping around the remote job and the nearly local job sequence might have allowed an hour to fix another problem within the day elsewhere, or at worse ensured that the other local job would not have resulted in a no show?

[#4]

Quote from: ejs

No, but I don't see how they will be running out of days they can take off work. Do you want people to kick up a huge fuss if it wasn't enormously burdensome and significantly inconvenient for them to be at home, but it could have been if their circumstances were different?

So you do think the retired/stay-at-home should accept a worse level of service from OpenReach than those in jobs?  I don't you'll find everyone agrees with you:....
...notes with concern the number of businesses and households who have experienced telecommunication problems because of the failure of BT Openreach contractors to install telephone landlines and repair faults within a reasonable timeframe; recognises that reliable telephone and broadband connections are crucial for businesses and families across the UK; further notes the frustration and difficulties experienced by those who have been left without a telephone line or broadband access; further notes that people cannot complain directly to Openreach but must go through their service provider often causing further inconvenience to consumers; and calls on Ofcom to ensure that the minimum targets imposed on BT Openreach are met and their performance is monitored to ensure that future customers do not experience the levels of poor service that have been reported.
This is a quote from an Early Day Motion by a group of MPs in Nov 2014

[#5]

Quote from: AlaricAdair

This is a quote from an Early Day Motion by a group of MPs in Nov 2014

A motion supported by 3.5% of MPs....nice.

[#6]

Stayed in all day waiting for engineer 21/09/2015 Engineer did not show. PlusNet didn't acknowledge that there was a problem til 23rd September. now on 5th October and still no broadband or adequate reasoning from PlusNet. The company that prides itself on customer service has been a bit of a joke so far.

[#7]

Quote from: AlaricAdair

So you do think the retired/stay-at-home should accept a worse level of service from OpenReach than those in jobs?

No, I was expecting people to be reasonable, evidently that was stupid. We seem to live in a world where whoever shouts the loudest gets the best service, so everyone better do that, or they'll definitely get a worse level of service.
Do you always respond to a question by attacking the person who asked it, rather than answering it?

[#8]

Quote from: Townman

Quote from: davidj60 ...And then his final call for his day (IF he had time left) was virtually back in our area !!!! ...entailing a hour's drive back?  Swapping around the remote job and the nearly local job sequence might have allowed an hour to fix another problem within the day elsewhere, or at worse ensured that the other local job would not have resulted in a no show?

Yup - I suggested that....but he was adamant that he had to complete jobs in the order he was told -no freedom of action. He had actually originally been attached to a local exchange, but since a "reorganisation" about  5 years ago, he had been given a choice ,redundancy or that  he had no real home base and could be sent almost anywhere within 35 miles of Cardiff city centre.

[#9]

Quote from: ejs

Quote from: AlaricAdair So you do think the retired/stay-at-home should accept a worse level of service from OpenReach than those in jobs? Do you always respond to a question by attacking the person who asked it,

Attack the person? No.  I was merely trying to get clarity on your early statement which appeared to say that for OpenReach "Engineer" No Shows only those people who are in paid employment should complain, while those with "free time" on their hands such as retired or unemployed people should accept the situation.
However, all this is getting away from the main topic. PlusNet needs to up its game in dealing with orders and changes to services. Until they do proper root cause analysis to identify and resolve the issues, their customers will continue to suffer. They also need to take OpenReach to task on each and every OpenReach failure to deliver service. Where OpenReach, its employees/agents have caused failures, delays or inconvenience to the public they should provide adequate compensation. Unfortunately the regulator Ofcom hasn't yet achieved sufficient pain within OpenReach for them to mend their ways so the public need to increase the pressure to force the changes in service or to change the structure of management within OpenReach.

[#10]

I've had the same. Taken the day off work and waited in for the engineer to come, a pm appointment. No show, no phone call, nothing. Been a plusnet member for a few years now as well.

[#11]

Quote from: MattyC

Really sorry to hear that the engineer didn't turn up. I have to admit that it was down to advisor error on this occasion.

This was the main topic, but everything gets diverted towards criticising Openreach these days. Perhaps Plusnet should get their own house in order first. Perhaps Plusnet are quite happy if it's made to look like everything is always Openreach's their supplier's fault.

[#12]

We have been with Plusnet for years but we had an appalling experience when we moved house recently. Lost or mishandled orders. no-show engineer and hours spent listening to overloud music whilst on hold. I had to cancel work (I'm on a zero hours contract so no work - no money) to be in for the engineer who was scheduled between 1 and 6, when I rang after 6 to find out what had happened I was told BT had cancelled at 5.55. No-one thought it important to pass that on to me. Whilst individuals were sympathetic and apologetic some carried out "remedial" action that made things worse. One lied on his update on part of the problem. I put in a formal complaint, was awarded £25 (by a manager who I had to insist to be allowed to talk to) as an ex-gratia payment and two months free broadband. However, what added insult to injury was that when the second engineers appointment was booked I was threatened with a £50 charge if I failed to make the time. When the engineer arrived he was technically late (by 5 minutes or so) but redeemed himself by the quality of his work. To date I have had no formal response from Plusnet regarding my complaint or apology for the catalogue of errors.
I believe that Plusnet, who used to be very user friendly, have grown too fast and their systems and infrastructure have failed to keep up leading to errors, long waiting times and disgruntled customers.
Sorry Plusnet - need to do better.