There is a strict process to be considered here: Plusnet can only advise what they are told by BT Openreach or BT Wholesale at the time that the fault is raised with their suppliers. Thereafter, updates can only be provided to Plusnet's customers when Plusnet's suppliers provide such updates to Plusnet. There will always be the first report being considered as a point fault until more reports in a locality suggest that the problem might be more wide spread.
I would hope that this issue did not escape the network's self diagnosis, but I'm not betting on it. Similarly if the issue was detected by such monitoring, I'd not bet on that information being communicated through to the fault reporting tools used by CP/ISP retailers, such as Plusnet et al.
If one is not happy with that reality then the change which is required is to the questionable service standards provided by BTw and BTOR to the CP/ISP industry. A retail division part of the BT group is not going to curry any favours here; to ensure a level playing field, all ISPs are supposed to be treat equally and at arm's length. That said over the years, there has been a deal of empirical evidence that suggests ISPs not part of the BT Group get priority repair services from BTOR / BTw so as to avoid any potential claim of bias in favour of BT Retail, EE or Plusnet CP/ISP services.
If you want better service from BTOR / BTw then lobby Offcom and your MP. Both of those bodies need to do much better with their service delivery. In the case cited here, it is quite incomprehensible that a pan-user situation was not detected on the first fault call. That suggests that the self monitoring diagnostics in the the FTTP infrastructure is not fit for purpose. If it were, BTOR / BTw would have been on the case before any ISP raised a fault report for an individual user ... and the issue should have been known about in the fault reporting system.
Too many people seek to place the blame on the CP/ISP because they are the party the end user pays for the service. There needs to be an awakening that the guilty parties are BTOR and BTw who are totally unaccountable for their failure to deliver acceptable service levels. The issue for BT Retail, EE and Plusnet is that squealing to the industry regulator (Ofcom) about the poor performance of your parent-supplier can only lead to a foreshortened career!
The right approach here is to bring about a major change in the BT Group - prohibit it being both network owner and services retailer. Separate BT Retail, EE and Plusnet retail divisions from the infrastructure and wholesale supply divisions in to completely distinct independent companies, so that they can have uninhibited access to Ofcoms' regulatory powers. Above all else, Plusnet needs to be returned to independence with control of its own destiny, but such is never likely to happen!
Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.
