New customer 1 month on...

[Siddy]

31st July placed my order with plusnet and got an email stating that an engineer will be round on the 11th
11th Call plusnet and enquire where the engineer is seeing as ive not heard anything, response "system has messed up and not booked the engineer. If you would like we can book you one manually" so I have to wait another two weeks then? "err, yes brb.... right what we will do is refund you £49.99 which is the installation fee if you stick with us" accepted.
27th Phone line finally installed!!! Engineer did a decent job (Kelly communications) just a shame I had no router and soon as he was done he asked for it. Later that evening I get a text from plus net... "do not plug in your router before the 4th September." Really? Another week? Ive already waited 4 weeks for a phone line!
So, would I recommend plusnet? Not right now, no. I could of joined talktalk and been up and running weeks ago, im kind of disappointed with the whole ordeal ive made two calls to plus net so far with a 10minute wait time and also a 20minute wait time. I can see why their are so many calls with these types of errors.
Guess I will report back when I "finally" have the internet. Ive had to us the local library to do what I need to do today and top up my phone so I have "some" internet access. You would think after making a customer wait so long for a phone line they would sort out the internet faster but seems like they like to drag their heels. :/

[LinnPlusnet]

Hi Siddy,
Sorry to hear of the delay you encountered with your phone line being installed.
When a new line is installed the broadband order is placed after the line is active and it does take a minimum of 5 working days for the broadband order to complete.
You can find more information in our Library here: http://community.plus.net/library/provisioning/signing-up-to-plusnet/
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused by the delay in your phone being installed which in turn delays the broadband service from activating.

[Anotherone]

Hi Siddy, welcome to the Forums and to Plusnet.
You probably won't see this in a hurry, but you wouldn't have got your phone line any quicker with TalkTalk as it's still the same Openreach engineers or their sub-contractors (Kelly in this case) that have to do the installation. I've got the impression that the "system" mess-ups reported in a few places are down to Openreach but can't be certain on that.
You haven't said whether it is FTTC or ADSL that you are connecting to, I'm assuming it's ADSL from the way you have posted your remarks and Linn's response.
Sometimes, often even, the broadband configuration is done sooner than stated. So if you have your Modem/Router, power it on and wait for it to finish booting and they try connecting it to the line and see if the broadband light goes steady.
If so, you are at least working to the exchange! If not, power it off and unplug it. If the BB light went steady, have a cup of tea/coffee whatever,come back at least 15 minutes later and see if the Internet light is steady.
If it is you should be live, try browsing. If you've got the BT Wholesale web page when you try browsing, everything hasn't been configured as of yet. If you can browse and come here, welcome again.

[Townman]

Quote from: Linn

When a new line is installed the broadband order is placed after the line is active and it does take a minimum of 5 working days for the broadband order to complete. You can find more information in our Library here: http://community.plus.net/library/provisioning/signing-up-to-plusnet/

Linn,
It seems like user's expectations are not being clearly set appropriate for their circumstances.  Is there a "journey to installation" referenced in the order journey or in any of the communications after order, which clearly indicates the sequence and timing of events to ENSURE that the user is clear about what will happen and by when?  Effective management of user's expectations UP FRONT has the potential to reduce call volumes and customer dissatisfaction.
If I order A+B+C I expect all three to arrive at the same time UNLESS the supplier clearly indicates otherwise at the time of order.  If I my expectation has not been managed, when A arrives on its own, I am going to be quite dissatisfied!  That is not the time at which to start refining my expectations.
To be honest I do not see why a SIM provision cannot be delivered on a new line (new line plus BB or FTTC on the same day) ... OK so BTOR would need to get an act together, but surely in the 21st century they should be able to do this!
Kevin

[Anotherone]

I would expect SIM provision on FTTC to be something that could not be guaranteed as it requires 2 different engineers, one to install the line, ensure all the relevant jumpering was done at DP, Cab etc. and a 2nd engineer to do the FTTC install. It's pretty obvious that a lot jobs never run to plan often due to unexpected difficulties and engineers get delayed on longer jobs etc. so co-ordinating the two could be a near impossible task.

[Townman]

Anotherone,
The logistics are indeed difficult, however if user's expectations are not properly managed at the outset the onset of real world practicality only leads to disappointment and dissatisfaction.
What I am trying to suggest is that expectations should be set something along the lines of "We will request from our suppliers on your behalf the provision of X+Y to be delivered on the same day.  The decision of when and how this is actually delivered rests solely with our supplier's ability in that area on the requested date(s).  If the supplier fails to fulfil your request we will work with you and our supplier to make alternative arrangements for completion of the installation."
SIM provision is a very reasonable expectation, however given the way BTOR has chosen to split it's POTS and Broadband engineering capability, fulfilment of the expectation is nearly unreasonable.  In this day and age (in the absence of DIY FTTC install) all BTOR installation engineers ought to be capable of doing BOTH POTS and FTTC hook-ups and modem installs during a single visit / journey.  It is not exact rocket science and would drastically reduce the carbon foot print in delivering the service.
Kevin

[Anotherone]

Well installing the FTTC is a touch closer to rocket science than installing a cable ;D and if FTTC trained OR staff had to spend time installing cables, then things would have an even greater delay.
The way BTOR choose to operate - full stop, is the real problem. And that isn't going to change in a hurry, especially when ISP CEO's aren't shouting loudly enough to the BT Board and CEO at Openreach - or if they are they certainly aren't telling us, which is why we believe all they are doing is coaxing in more customers to boost their nice fat salary with a nice fat bonus  >:(
Otherwise I wouldn't disagree about customer expectation, but what CAN be achieved should be very clear at the outset.
Anyway, I think Siddy may be ADSL and hopefully he may already have sync and just need account activation.

[Siddy]

Im visiting family today and brought my laptop to see the replies.
@Linn.
I understand that your system sends the router and and activates the BB connection after the line is installed and believe this could be improved myself as it obviously adds more time to get back online. The thing thats annoyed me though is that ive waited an extra two weeks to get the phone line installed due to your error and now have another week till my internet is activated when you would of thought you would do it sooner seeing as i decided to stay with you rather than moving, though as mentioned below i am going to try it before hand seeing as the router was sent yesterday and arrived today. If that can be done iover night then why can not the activation? Dont make much sense to me, i swear virgin sent a router and it was activated right away but maybe im wrong about that as its been ten years now.
Yes im ADSL, i have just moved from VirginMedia who i have been with for ten years and only got my loyalty discount last year after complaining the prices were getting too high. I went from £30-40 a month to £50-60 a month regally.

[Anotherone]

I think there's a couple of CRT staff around today. Hopefully one may be able to take a look for you.

[DanHodby]

Hey Siddy,
Further to Linns post, I'm sorry to hear about the delays.
I've checked the status of the broadband order, this is actually due to complete on the 04/08/14 but looking at the order you might get activated on the 03/08/14.
Like Anotherone stated in his first post, the work might have been done early (this does happen from time to time). If you plug the router in and get a green broadband light, we can activate things from this side. We usually don't activate accounts until the order has officially been completed as it starts the billing cycle for the broadband. However, if when you get home you find you have a green broadband light we can activate the account for you.
Dan
#praying for green

[Siddy]

Thanks for the replies i shall check things when i get home, tomorrow and Monday.
Its just frustrating as ive not had any internet for a month now and i rel on it for basically everything as i dont watch live tv.

[DanHodby]

Thanks, Siddy
Sounds like you'll have a lot to catch up on :)
Let us know when you're able to check.

[Siddy]

Nope still nothing which don't surprise me,  I mean waisted two weeks waiting for an engineer to appear that wasn't even booked why should I think activation be any quicker  ::)

[DanHodby]

Hi Siddy,
You were activated yesterday so you should now be able to connect once you've set the router up.
Dan

[Siddy]

I was just about to message about this.
I had a text saying broadband order was d completed and tried to connect to th e Internet the router said I had bb and Internet for about an hour though I could only get to the router login and finally into the router! After an hour of trying... The Internet light went off bb light stayed on and I'm stuck with the router login page.  That's as far as I can get before I'm told wrong username and password (seems login is tied to an Internet connection?)
I'm now restarting my laptop (wifi) and trying  another microfilter.