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Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

Hi,
I'm bringing this to the forum out of sheer exasperation. I have issues at every point of contact with Plusnet - more recently after speaking with a Manager we reached an agreement about how an ongoing speed issue would be dealt with which involved me also having a discussion with COT. All was fine until my recent billing email showed the offer had not been applied correctly. I called to find out what was going on and was told the offer was being applied and a part refund for the difference, he then went through the terms and conditions and I questioned a couple of these as the Manager agreement was that contractual obligations would be nullified in resolution of the complaint I had raised. This is now being questioned and a ticket from the COT member of staff implies I'm trying change the agreement which I am not, I am simply trying to accept the verbal agreement between myself and the manager. James Bailey had assisted me several times prior to leaving Plusnet, one of the resolutions he put in place was the supply of FTTC 80/20 which was stable for over 6 months at near those speeds, after a village wide power cut the speeds dropped and never returned despite intervention by BT Engineers who all said the line can and should support the higher speeds. Plusnet are now saying the maximum my line can handle is 38mb and go on to say that I cannot raise a fault unless it drops below 31. I am synching at around 50 and getting downloads of about 46/7 uploads were around 15, now dropped to 9. BT Wholesale speedtest indicates line can support between 38 and 50 which infers that anything lower than 38 would be classed as a fault by Wholesale, but not Plusnet. I also have a Huawei Modem, but am connected to an ECI cabinet and there has been some discussion around this being the cause of the sustained speed drop.
Plusnet have refused to ask Wholesale to match the modem to cabinet (ECI to ECI) but have offered to send one of the new VDSL combined routers once they are available, whilst awaiting this the agreement was that I would be price matched onto a lower product but the connection would remain uncapped to allow me to possibly see a rise in speeds once the new combined VDSL router is received. This has now been called into question by a Manager in COT saying that a Manager in Faults cannot make those promises and used the example of a mechanic in a garage can't agree to sell you a car at 5K less than the salesman! Come on Plusnet, make up your mind! You cannot pull out of a previously agreed resolution just because you feel like it, especially when that agreement is recorded on a telelphone call and the tickets indicate that this is to happen. To be honest if Plusnet think it is the mismatch modem/cabinet issue then get an engineer out to swap out the modem for an ECI one. Here is a few other belters I discovered along the way
Plusnet Complaints Code of practice advises to raise issue vis chat or phone - the chat agents can't handle complaints!
Staff are unaware of policy on Manager callbacks, some say 2hrs, some 4hrs, some 6hr and some by close of business! e.g. COT close at 8pm yet Plusnet advertise 24hr support.
Help Assistant, once you can actually find it, and get into the tickets you cannot raise a HLE complaint ticket if there are already 4 tickets open, to close a ticket I need to phone in and wait 40+ minutes in a queue!
Tickets are closed stating 14 days inactivity but I am not advised that there is a response and it is not always clear when I can eventually get into the ticket system as some staff are closing active tickets with info I have not yet seen
I am currently dealing with a Manager in COT who has said he has looked through all the tickets and cannot find the information he needs to verify the deal yet I found them within 15 minutes of looking! I have been dealing with this now for over 4 hours, and frankly getting absolutely nowhere. Plusnet need to decide what route they want their customers to take, ensure that staff leave accurate notes, and ensure that callbacks and tickets are not routinely closed or ignored. Please take a look at part of a chat I had earlier, the staff member says he will need to take it up with someone as the quoted complaints policy taken from the website is news to him! Plusnet are claiming that have too many customers now which is causing errors and delays and are also blaming a new policy on Ofcom saying they have to adopt a new policy now that they have reached a certain number of customers. The heavy advertising Plusnet has been doing = new customers, its not rocket science. If you are struggling with the numbers you currently have, stop advertising for more until you can effectively deal with your current ones. Right now Plusnet is a complete mess and I for one am sick of the hassle.

Will: I can deal certain issues but not everything
EUt: so why does it say on the complaints policy to raise it via chat or phone
Will: We can resolve some issues through chat, everything else can be done over the phone. As I said if I can take a few details we can pass security and I can see what I can do to help?
EUt: "Raising a complaint The fastest way to let us know if you're not happy with your service is by using our chat service (click the banner on the left) or by contacting us by telephone (0800 432 0200 from a landline or 0345 140 0200 from a mobile). You can raise a complaint via either of these methods and these are the best ways to get a quick resolution to any issue."
EU: ....so is that info wrong then?
Will: I'll need to get that taken up with someone as thats news to myself
8 REPLIES 8
MattyC
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 3,201
Fixes: 46
Registered: ‎10-04-2014

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

Hi dsluk,
Sorry to hear of the problems you're having. Just to clarify; is the root cause of this issue over what deal was offered in this phone call, and whether we honor it? If so, then I'd like to try and find this call and listen to it. I would also like to know if this has been resolved since you wrote this, as I see that there has been further contact since last night.
Regards,
Matty
ex-Plusnet staffer. Any posts after 28/07/2017 aren't on behalf of Plusnet
dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

Hi MattyC,
Thanks for the reply, no the root cause is the companies inability to fix an ongoing speed drop issue and the lack of clarity surrounding the VDSL modem I currently have. I have asked repeatedly if having a Huawei modern on a ECI cabinet can cause slowdowns but have yet to receive a response. There are also issues surrounding the fault thresholds which I mentioned in my original post. Contacting Plusnet is like Russian roulette, the queues on the phone are horrendous, the chat system is not fit for purpose and now has huge queues as well! Don't even get me started on the "Help Assistant" I spoke with a Manager several times yesterday with regard to the agreement reached previously and the subsequent failure to honour this. I was treated abominably by the initial staff I spoke to and then had to spend quite some time persuading the Manager that what I was saying was true. If the archived tickets were more easily available then I would have been able to obtain these quicker to prove my case. As it stood yesterday the offer and therefore previous agreement was being denied to me as it was claimed at the time there were no tickets or call records to back it up. I have witnessed time and again the lack of appropriate records being left by CS staff, and in some cases downright fabrications of reality. Case and point yesterday from the notes left by the initial person I spoke to practically accused me of attempting to defraud the company! I eventually found the tickets which backed up my argument and called in again, sat in another lengthy queue and passed the details to Plusnet, I then had to await another callback. All in all, it took over 5 hours of my time yesterday to sort out the contractual side of things, and the processes I was forced to use were frankly outrageous. Trying to communicate with Plusnet is a constant swim through treacle, made even worse by half baked staff that have no clue about Plusnets own published policies and procedures. I am absolutely appalled at what went on yesterday and have raised a ticket for this to be investigated by HLE.
MattyC
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 3,201
Fixes: 46
Registered: ‎10-04-2014

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

Hi dsluk,
There is a lot mentioned here - thanks for the feedback. Please be assured, that it's getting fed to through the correct channels.
At the moment, I was hoping for a way in which I could improve the experience, or at least resolve your issue.
Quote from: dsluk
I have asked repeatedly if having a Huawei modern on a ECI cabinet can cause slowdowns but have yet to receive a response.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that this was a point of discussion in the G.INP thread. Fixes have been rolled out for this now, so your answer should be "no".
In terms of the rest of your issues, it may be better if we addressed through the HLE channel as previously mentioned.
Either way, apologies for the inconvenience.
Matty
ex-Plusnet staffer. Any posts after 28/07/2017 aren't on behalf of Plusnet
dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

MattyC,
The point is I asked my ISP for the answer, as they were the ones that initially advised I should have had an ECI modem on an ECI cabinet and could not understand why I have been given the Huawei. I did take a look at the G.INP thread, however I am not really up for unlocking modems etc is just not something I want to start having to do, any decent ISP should be able to answer the question or is all of the valuable knowledge restricted only to the forum?
Seeing as you are "in the know" perhaps it would have been helpful for you to link into the specific post in the 65 page G.INP thread that answered the question my ISP was so evasive about! Thanks for the comments regarding the feedback, I'm pretty sure they will go into the Plusnet feedback revolving door, and straight back out again as nothing really ever changes, the company just make it harder and more frustrating to actually get anything resolved. Removal of all links to help assistant and online (depends what you want) chat system being 2 of the more recent howlers.....
I agree, this will be better dealt with at HLE, I'm not really into airing dirty washing in public unless I absolutely have to.
dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

Can someone take a look at Question #105975802 please? I am told High Level Complaints would respond within 5 working days, today is the 5th working day, this has actually been open 7 days in total and as yet no response. You big yourselves up with statements like "Award winning customer service" and "we'll do you proud" but the reality is so far removed from that its laughable. I'm guessing that the complaints team are as awash with complaints as some of these forums! Its been an even worse race to the bottom since BT got involved with you.
dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

I called in to Plusnet who acknowledged the timescales have been breached and advise that they are unable at this time to provide me with a timescale as to when this complaint will be picked up by HLE, this contradicts the published code of practice which states -

"If you prefer to contact us in writing, we will respond within 5 working days to any complaint raised through the Help Assistant, or within 10 working days to a letter of complaint. We will always try to resolve your complaint immediately, but whatever happens, we'll keep you regularly updated."
I am advised that the complaints department are "swamped". I have contacted Ofcom who have logged a formal complaint with regards to the breach of the code of practice, and am in the process of contacting CICAS. I am also contacting my MP to highlight the disregard Plusnet clearly has for its customers, and the blatant disregard to its own published policies and procedures in direct contravention of agreed processes with OFCOM.
dsluk
Grafter
Posts: 40
Thanks: 8
Registered: ‎30-05-2012

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

This is ridiculous, I have had a response on my complaint ticket advising a manger was asked to look into it except that this refers to an old ticket, and I have already spoken with the manager and the escalation to complaints was as a result of that. No one has attempted to call me to discuss the complaint. I am thoroughly disgusted, what kind of tin pot organisation are you lot running? Furthermore, I thought you were moving away from using tickets? I waited 7 days for this complaint to be actioned and all i get is a couple of lines response on a ticket, based on information that is wrong. What a joke.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,926
Thanks: 863
Fixes: 223
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Shocking Plusnet Customer Care

I'm glad to see my colleague Matt is on the phone with you right now.
I hope everything gets tied up for you, I'll be here to support Matt if there's anything further we need to do for you.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team