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Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

AndyA
Newbie
Posts: 4
Thanks: 10
Registered: ‎23-11-2016

Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

Moving house can be a stressful experience? I find it more difficult than most - I work away from home, at sea, and do not have the benefit of anyone at home or my new address to manage the move,meet & greet etc. Everything has to be arranged during my leave, or via email when I am away. Mindful of this, I rang Plusnet from home to advise that I was moving and wanted to take the broadband and phone service with me? No, problems, I was told, we agreed a price, and parted with the words - "Just let us know when the moving date is finalised, and we will do the rest...?" So, after being at sea for a week, I finally received a moving date, and advised, by replying to the account question, the date the new service was to start and the old service to be terminated. Simple, eh? Not, it now seems, for Plusnet!! In reply, I was told that I have to phone customer services, as they have to read out over the phone, a set of terms and conditions to me, before the move can proceed......?? But I am at sea, way out of phone range, why didn't you do this in the beginning? Could you email me the terms and conditions, and I will sign any form agreeing with them, and scan the form and email you back?? No, you must phone us, was the reply.....!! Fast forward a week, and we make a quick port call into the UK. I forego my lunch break to phone Plusnet on my mobile - 20 minutes I waited (good job 0800 calls on mobiles are now free??), before the phone was answered, only to be told that it wasn't customer services who could help, but I had to phone Home Moves? Yes they could transfer me, but I would still have to wait in a new queue!! So, another 20 minutes later, the call is eventually answered. That's 40 minutes on the phone, most of my lunch break and still no further forward. So, I cancelled the service then and there, only then to be hit with a £30 cessation fee for my trouble - no apologies mind?? Plusnet customer service and management have a lot to learn. In 1985, just about the only ISP available was AOL. Customers, myself included suffered from poor customer service, for years,and left in droves, AOL ignored the problems until it just about sunk the UK company?? Plusnet are slowly but surely building up a reputation for poor customer service, and they ignore this at their peril? So, for those of you reading this and thinking of joining Plusnet, or moving with Plusnet, think again. After 3 years of fast fibre, I can honestly say that you will be a satisfied customer until the first time you have to contact customer services, when the problems escalate! Lack of customer service operatives, intransigence, plus the lack of being able to think out of the box when the situation demands, will conspire against you. As far as moving house is concerned, use the opportunity to leave Plusnet, if you want a stress free move, you can get the same service cheaper elsewhere?

10 REPLIES 10
rongtw
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 6,973
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Registered: ‎01-12-2010

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

This is not good reading Sad   but no doubt PN will come here and say Sorry

I honestly wish they pass this up to the top of the  PN escalator

Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
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AndyA
Newbie
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Registered: ‎23-11-2016

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

Aaaah! But that would be relying on the assumption that Customer Service and PN Management actually care about poor customer service and customer dis-satisfaction, which, from some of the comments, and lack of replies, here, and other forums, would indicate not. I did get a cursory apology to the end of my customer service account question, a few days later, - not satisfactory, but hey, ho, onward to another provider? My advice to those who find themselves in a similar situation, with a genuine complaint, and little or no redress or feedback, or even an explanation, is to  spend a little bit of time, and visit as many on line review sites and forums as possible, adversely rate Plusnet, and the service received. Already, some review sites are rating PN 1 star out of 5, and that is only because it is not possible to give a company zero stars? Perhaps, there will only be a customer service policy change at PN, when the number of new customers signing up has dried to a trickle??????

chenks76
All Star
Posts: 3,274
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Registered: ‎24-10-2013

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

i think the term "you get what you pay for" is certainly coming true with plusnet.
plusnet are a cheap ISP, there is no arguing with that.
and with cheap ISPs you get cheap customer support.

to get really good customer support you have to pay for it, and the more expensive ISPs do have that (i'm not including BT, Sky etc as an expensive ISP), but people simply don't want to pay more to get that, thus the expensive ISPs remain "niche" ISPs.

yes, Plusnet CS is abysmal, but am i will to pay more to get better, that's where it becomes an interesting conundrum.
am i happy to keep paying less and simply put up with the abysmal CS....
rongtw
Seasoned Hero
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Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

AndyA Posted this 5 days ago ,,, and not ONE staff has replied Embarrassed
Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
samsung 850evo 250gig , WD black 2 TB . Asus Phoebus sound ,
16 gig Avexir ram 2400 , water cooling Corsair H100i gtx ,
Corsair 750HXI Psu , Phanteks Enthoo pro case .
chenks76
All Star
Posts: 3,274
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Registered: ‎24-10-2013

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

the forum has never been an official method to communicate with PN support though.
if you want to speak to them about anything you inevitably need to use the bloody phone.

besides, the OP didn't appear to ask any question directed to PN. it was a simply a "letting off steam" type of post.

rongtw
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎01-12-2010

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

Yes Chenks , BUT he hasnt had the PN sorry yet

Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
samsung 850evo 250gig , WD black 2 TB . Asus Phoebus sound ,
16 gig Avexir ram 2400 , water cooling Corsair H100i gtx ,
Corsair 750HXI Psu , Phanteks Enthoo pro case .
chenks76
All Star
Posts: 3,274
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Registered: ‎24-10-2013

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

i'd rather have no comment than a half-hearted "sorry"
AndyA
Newbie
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Registered: ‎23-11-2016

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

Yes, Chenks has a good point? While I did not post for a specific apology, the general fall in PN customer service should pose some interesting questions? Should paying less for an ISP generally mean that you are paying for below standard customer service? What level of customer service should be considered adequate, or not adequate? Everyone will have different definitions, depending on whether you have used them successfully or not? By commenting, or providing feedback, as this forum is titled, there is always a hope that those the complaint is directed at may learn from a perceived shortfall in the level of service, and improve - hence the title "Feedback". If you take this one stage further, and look at the general levels of satisfaction with the big 4 or 5 ISP's, is there a general fall off in level of customer service provided? Should Offcom be looking at this in the same way as Offgen does with the power supply companies, and either issue guidlines or warning letters? I would consider having to wait for more than 5 minutes for a call to customer service to be answered to be excessive, let alone 2 x 20 minute waits. Is the excessive wait time for customer service calls to Plusnet a result of a lack of operators, or a fall off in the quality of service?? I don't suppose this question will be answered, and it very much looks like the feedback will be ignored. As Chenks points out, time to look for an ISP where good customer service is one of the highest priorities, and if it means I pay a little more, then so be it? In the meantime, thanks for your constructive comments. AndyA

ejs
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Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

jelv
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Poor customer service - a salutary lesson....!

@AndyA

You might like to read why after being a Plusnet user for 15 years I have also left Plusnet:

https://community.plus.net/t5/Plusnet-Feedback/Why-I-have-left-Plusnet/td-p/1389353

jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)