Panicking after all the reviews

[#1]

Oh yuk. I hear their customer service is worse than TalkTalk.

[#2]

Perhaps you need a member of the Plusnet CRT to check FTTC availability and estimated speeds for you.

[#3]

Does checking by address give the same information? http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.AddressOutput

[#4]

Quote from: purleigh

Perhaps you need a member of the Plusnet CRT to check FTTC availability and estimated speeds for you.

I noticed on the BT checker it says FTTC Range A - HI 47.8 Low - 34.8 - FTTC Range B - HI 40 - Low 23.
Does this make sense. I know the Plusnet sales person said I would get 34 out of 38.

[#5]

The range B is usually related to poor wiring/cables and possibly cross-talk from other lines IIRC see https://evolving.net.uk/fttc-range-a-clean-and-fttc-range-b-impacted/ (note last paragraph) I'm sure I read about cross-talk somewhere else in this context as well.

[#6]

Hi Brako and welcome.
I hope you don't mind me attaching a shot of your projected speeds based on wholesale's checker. I'm thinking it may simplify things for our experts here. We'll have advised you that you can get speeds on the low side of a "Clean" line.
I have to say that you couldn't really have picked a worse time to call us, though we are attempting to address the call queues on a grander scale. In attempt to combat this specifically for you, I'll be happy to personally look after your account and make sure that your provision goes hitch free if you want to send me a PM. I can also see that you have asked a couple of questions on our internal ticket system so I'll address those for you shortly.
Matty

[#7]

What does low side of a clean line mean though? What speeds would you say I'd be looking at? I will  PM you properly when I get home from work.
dick:quote

[#8]

From the table Range A - 34Mbps 

[#9]

Quote from: purleigh

[quote=http://aaisp.net.uk/broadband-home1-info.html#faq]Home::1 Add-On: Phone line for broadband usage Phone line provided to support broadband serviceNot usable for calls. Residential grade line. Otherwise a BT phone line is needed at your cost. £10 pcm

Therefore the AA vs PlusNet comparison which kind of suggested that PN are more expensive than AA was somewhat skewed.  With PN you get a usable phone line, with AA you do not.
Some might miss that twist! 

[#10]

The comparison was for the cost of 'broadband only', as many people don't want a usable landline phone.

[#11]

Careful we don't go off-topic chaps, it's Brako's thread don't forget 

[#12]

This is the email ticket response I got.
"Dear Mr Brako,
Thank you for getting in touch. I am sorry to hear you are looking to close your services with us. Sadly the only way to so this is to speak to our Customer Options Team. You can contact them on:0845 140 60020330 123 9197 Monday to Friday: 9.00am - 8.00pmSaturday: 9.00am - 5.30pm"
Please look at the contact number provided for the cancelation line. What earth is that?
One thing next to no company does right when it comes to someone wanting to leave them. If a company is confident of its product, it should be the customers loss to want to leave. However most companies, and that ticket response is a prime example, shows that most companies are scarred of the product they offer and in most cases try to wriggle out someone leaving.
Today my hopes were lifted by customer responses, but on the occasions when Plusnet staff have responded, that's when I've started to doubt it again. I should not be having bad gut feelings like I'm having with this experience.

[#13]

Don't worry about the ticket responses, I'm sure MattyC will sort it out. Probably some newbie that just put on a standard response. But not sure why the 0800 number wasn't on there as an aside

[#14]

Just tried to call and now waiting times are up to 45 minutes. From experience that means that you will not get answered before the estimated time and could be much longer. This is really pants.
If I decided to stay with Virgin on ADSL surely they could sort this out?

[#15]

Brako,
Only you can make the decision.  To be straight with you, there does not really seem to be tangible reasons for you not to proceed, just fear based on a little difficulty contacting PlusNet in the wake of a system failure.  These can happen with any supplier from time to time,  No supplier assures 100% availability - not even for high availability 24x7x52 systems.
However people do expect a great deal and when they do not get exactly what they think they are entitled to they stamp their feet like spoilt 3 year olds - which is what a lot of what you see on this and other forums is.  Lets be frank, everyone knows how to complain, some do a better job than others (know how best to garner help) other just rant - far fewer people know how to say thank you for good service and even a smaller number ever bother to do so.
I have been with PlusNet more years than I can remember - initially on pay-as-you-go dial up, way before anything in the billing system which might have given me a clue how long it is.  I have numerous referrals all of whom are very happy with their PlusNet service.  In all those years there have been an odd issue or two - the bulk of them have been down to BTOR line issues, some of which have been resolved quickly, others have required PlusNet's tenacity and diligence to push BTOR for a proper resolution.  Yes sometimes it takes time and a lot of visits - that is a function of BTOR's variable performance (a long time) and PlusNet's tenacity (a proper resolution).  If there is a problem with the BTOR part of the service delivery to your home, that will impact all ISPs a like - unless you stay with Virgin, of whom you know far more than I do.
PlusNet is not perfect - none of us are - things can always be done better, however there are much worse suppliers out there.  On that assessment I can recommend PlusNet with minimal reservation - if that were not the case, I would not be spending my time on here helping other users get the best out of the internet as possible.
HTH you reach a decision,
Kevin