New customer.

[#1]

Hi all.
I am hopefully in the process of changing from tiscali to plusnet.
I have signed up for the phoneline and broadband via the website, 3 days ago.
I have been following the order process through the tracker option, which is very helpful.
Anyway tonight the order status changed to 'checking phone line', and the status said there was an error.
So, I phoned customer service to see what the problem is.
The lady that answered didnt seem to have any idea of anything!!
She said the problem was I had to pay £49 for a phone line to be provided.
I explained that this was the first I had heard of it, and that when I placed the order, I was informed there was an up front fee of £18.99 to pay, which is fine.
I also explained that I dont need a new line, as I was phoning from my home phone, that is working fine, it is a BT line, and my provider is Tiscali.
I explained that Tiscali put a tag on the line, and that was needed, is for the tag to be removed.
The lady wasent having any of it.
She kept saying I had to pay the extra amount.

I told her that nowhere on the website did it say I had to pay this money, also when I made the order, it said I had an upfront payment of £18.99 to pay, and no more.
The lady got very rude and said 'well I cant help you' and went to hang up, so I asked to speak to her manager.
He then told me she was mistaken and that I had nothing to pay, and plusnet are waiting for my number to be ported.
Well,, I am now waiting to see what is going to happen.
My payment still hasent been taken, my order hasent been update, Im waiting.
If this is how Im treated before I am even connected, god knows what its going to be like when I go live.
Im thinking of cancelling and going to bt for phone and o2 for broadband, unless this is dealt with properly.

[#2]

Hi there and welcome aboard, The lady you spoken too was not indian by any chance? I am sure you will have nothing to worry yourself about and im sure a member of plusnet staff will pick this post up in the morning

[#3]

We dont have a call centre in India, we do have a few foreign nationals in our Shefield centre and a few more in the Sub Centre in Durban South Africa
Tiscalli are notorious in holding onto the line and Occasional need a kick from our comms team, hopefully one will see this posting shortly, they dont work nights

[#4]

Hi there,
I've added a response to your ticket to explain what's going on, and have passed on feedback regarding the agents you spoke to.
There is no install fee to pay, and your order is progressing.

[#5]

Hi Mand, was it you that treid to call?
I was battling my way through breakfast at work, sorry I couldnt answer.
Thank you for taking the time to look into the account for me, your reply answered alot for me.
The lady did sound South African actually.
Up to that point, the customer service had been very good, so hopefully that was just a blip!

[#6]

Yeah, it was me, but hopefully my ticket reply adequately explained the situation.
The person you spoke to was in our CS team in Durban, and I've passed feedback to her manager to ensure she doesn't make the same error again.

[#7]

Ok thanks.
My ticket was updated earlier to;
(internal)
The VIC was sent off today and we do not have a response.
Placing the ticket on hold for the correct date.
The next action on your Help Assistant Question is due on Friday 19th March at 9:00am. This Question will remain open with the BOT - Phone Provisioning MPF until this time.
Kind regards,
link:CSA Removed

Can you tell what a VIC is?
As a VIC was sent a few days ago also.
And what does 'place the ticket on hold for the correct date' mean?
Thanks for your help.
[Moderator's note by Barry Zubel: CSA Agent name removed as per the Forum Rules]

[#8]

Hi there,
A VIC is a number portability request, and is the first step in porting your number back over to the BT network.
They've basically placed the ticket on hold until today, as we should have the VIC request back today.

[#9]

Hiya Mand, thanks for all the help so far.
I got a message on my support ticket saying my order has now been placed, my line will be active in 10-15 days, and after that, my broadband will be ordered.
You said the both would be done together?
Also, it says my first payment has been taken, however the money is still sat in my bank account!

[#10]

Hi there,
The broadband order has been placed, to complete at the same time as your phone line.
The order tracker saying payment taken is incorrect, we've just manually moved the status of your account so that it will activate automatically when the order completes.
I'm really sorry about the confusion caused here.
You'll be glad to hear we're changing these order journeys soon to make it clearer.

[#11]

Your job ticket will stay that way until you actually get a service, which takes PN forever.
My post above:-
From my experience I would find someone other than plusnet.
My connection has been a disaster my day one, they took over a month to get my telephone across from talk talk, then forgot my broadband, which took another 10 days, finally got it all, but very slow, bought 20mb, even TT could get nearly 10mb, plus net only get 3mb, just found out I'm not on adsl2, so another 5 days, assuming they don't c*ck up again.
On top of all that they took over £45 out of my bank account, took 9 days to raise a credit note, god only knows when it'll arrive back in my account?. And all they can say, in an accent I struggle to understand, is "it was a mistake".
If I could turn back time and not be with plusnet I would. It's your choice.

[#12]

@dustymil - please do not cross post as it is against  the link:rules
B.

[#13]

Hi Mand,
Can I just say, if you are a typical member of staff at Plusnet, then you will have a VERY happy customer!
Thank you for all your help so far.
So, if the payment hasent been taken, do you know when it will be?
Also, since the request to port my number to plusnet, tiscali have cancelled all of my services without notice, which is nice of them hey?
So I am without phone and broadband, and can access the internet from work.
However, as I do part of my work from home via email, I am really stuck.
Any idea how long it will be before I am activated?
Thanks again.
Marc

[#14]

Hi Dustymill.
I have to say, so far (apart from one incident with a foreign call centre) Plusnet have been very helpful to me, much better than my year with Tiscali, and with Sky before that.
Hopefully your experiance is a one off, and Plusnet fix your service soon.
However, bearing in mind I havent yet been activated, the service I have received has been excellent.

[#15]

Barry, I apologise, but I canoont tell how unhappy and frustrated I am with Plusnet.
They're making me lose the will to live