The PlusNet saga - A disappointing tale

[#1]

Hi all,

I signed up to PlusNets fibre broadband on Monday 28th November and I've still not got it - latest estimates are the 9th January... 

Here's my story:

• 28/11/16 - Sign up
  I signed up for PlusNets £22.99 fibre broadband (including line rental) on 28th November as part of the Black Friday special. I was told that i'd be online in five days as fortunately the line was still active on my home (I was moving house).
• 05/12/16 - Still waiting
  No box had arrived so I contacted PlusNet (after waiting on hold) who told me that they'd not got my line ready so couldn't get me online. Later that day I received a text to tell me the phone was now up and running.
• 08/12/16 - The box is here 
  The router had arrived but I had to wait for the 'go-live email'. I phoned up the next day to ask when that would happen and was given a date of 12/12/16.
• 12/12/16 - Still waiting
  The 12th came and went and it wasn't until the 13th that I decided to test the internet - frustratingly, unlike other PlusNet emails, the go-live email went into my junk box on the 12th so in fairness I had missed it. 
  However, my journey doesn't end here.
  I got on-line and noticed disappointing speeds. One speed test was as low as 2mb! I went onto my PlusNet account and to my horror, I'd been put on ADSL broadband which was at a higher tariff than the £22.99 fibre that I'd signed up to.
  I rang up that evening and after 40mins on hold was told that there was no one available at 8pm that could correct PlusNets mistake - 'Please call again tomorrow'.
• 13/12/16 - The fix (kinda)
  I rang up first thing the next day and after another 40mins on hold, I was promised that the error would be fixed with haste. The representative promised me that my new fibre package would be live as of the 14/12/16 and my new router would arrive no later than the 15/12/16.
• 15/12/16 - No router
  Low and behold, no router.
• 16/12/16 - 18/12/16 - No router
  Low and behold, no router.
• 19/12/16 - More disappointment
  I phoned up PlusNet and was told that they'd no idea why I was promised that my fibre broadband would be ready on the 15th and that I was booked in as a go live as of 09/01/17 but that I would be charged for the service from 14/12/16! 
  I was told that it would be escalated but that they could make no promises despite the fact that I signed up on the 28/11/16.
  I used to have AOL internet back in the day.
  AOL looks great in comparison to PlusNet.
  This truly is a tale of disappointment.

Should I bin PlusNet and ask for all funds back given that they've not been able to get anything right to date?

They've made no goodwill gestures or made any inclination that I'd get any money back.

Really am disappointed.

James

[#2]

I dont recomend plusnet anymore.. i used to but now i tell friends to stay clear of them because its a sinking ship. 

[#3]

Hello @jrippe

I'm really sorry to hear of problems you are going through and the poor impression we've made upon you. 

Whilst it's unlikely I'll be able to change the mistakes that have been made, or speed up the activation of the fibre service (as that's due to engineer availability), I'll make sure that you're refunded your fibre subscription charges until it's actually provided. I'll also look into offering you a gesture of goodwill. 

I've set a reminder for myself to look into your account and see what I can do for you tomorrow morning once I am back in the office.

[#4]

@Anoush But you should not have to say sorry !!

This sort of story should never have happend ,, No Matter of what excuse PN make

[#5]

Sadly @Anoush this sort of ineptitude within the Plusnet provisioning and billing cycle seem to be occurring much more frequently.  When will the management team wake up smell the coffee and put some investment into improving CS before the ongoing problems finally sink the ship!

Maurice

[#6]

Hi @Anoush

Thanks for your response.

I appreciate you looking into this for me - my dealings with the customer service representatives has felt a bit hollow. I've felt that they've just said what I wanted to hear to get me off the phone, knowing that they'll probably not be the ones having to speak to me when their promises are broken.

I hope I won't be feeling the same about yourself.

When can I expect to hear back from you on this?

There's another deal that I'm thinking of taking with BT who've promised a 4th January fibre installation if I get back to them by COB 21/12/16 so your response before then would be ideal if I'm to stay with PlusNet.

Thanks

James

[#7]

There's another deal that I'm thinking of taking with BT who've promised a 4th January fibre installation

Since it's the same engineers who would be doing the installation, then either BT are lying OR they're getting priority on engineer appointments (which shouldn't be happening!)

[#8]

No problem, I'll provide you with an update by the end of today.

[#9]

@MisterW I did think that - I happen to be mates with a BT engineer that covers my area. I was tempted to ask if he can see the queue and if I'm even in it.

Based on current experience I wouldn't be surprised if PlusNet have got it wrong again and are putting me on dial up hehe.

[#10]

@Anoush Superb, thank you. 

[#11]

Just a quick update @jrippe

Please can you private message me with your phone number you used to call our sales team when you signed up to us?

I would like to listen to the call, as from the automated email we sent you after the call the package was agreed, this appeared to only be for standard broadband.

-Edit-

I think I've found the call and I'm in the process of listening to it now.

[#12]

Hi @Anoush

Look up question #139013893

The CSC Analyst says on 28/11/16...

Error 500

Please order Fibre and send fibre router

[CSA Removed]

Whilst on the call, [CSA Removed] told me that he'd goofed up and had lost the entire order details but that he'd made a note and all would be well.

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat) CSA name removed as per Forum rules

[#13]

Thanks for your patience @jrippe

I've been investigating this and listening to calls.

@jrippe wrote:

• 28/11/16 - Sign up
  I signed up for PlusNets £22.99 fibre broadband (including line rental) on 28th November as part of the Black Friday special. I was told that i'd be online in five days as fortunately the line was still active on my home (I was moving house)

• 05/12/16 - Still waiting
  No box had arrived so I contacted PlusNet (after waiting on hold) who told me that they'd not got my line ready so couldn't get me online. Later that day I received a text to tell me the phone was now up and running.

To clarify, the phone order completed then and we needed to place broadband order separately.

• 08/12/16 - The box is here 
  The router had arrived but I had to wait for the 'go-live email'. I phoned up the next day to ask when that would happen and was given a date of 12/12/16.

Looking into the order it appears that it was delayed by suppliers by 1 working day, and I'm really sorry that this wasn't communicated out to you as the adviser closed the ticket after the order was placed instead of placing it on hold waiting for the order to reach a committed state.

• 12/12/16 - Still waiting
  The 12th came and went and it wasn't until the 13th that I decided to test the internet - frustratingly, unlike other PlusNet emails, the go-live email went into my junk box on the 12th so in fairness I had missed it. 
  However, my journey doesn't end here.
  I got on-line and noticed disappointing speeds. One speed test was as low as 2mb! I went onto my PlusNet account and to my horror, I'd been put on ADSL broadband which was at a higher tariff than the £22.99 fibre that I'd signed up to.
  I rang up that evening and after 40mins on hold was told that there was no one available at 8pm that could correct PlusNets mistake - 'Please call again tomorrow'.

Massive apologies on this one. Your account was provisioned at signup as ADSL because there appeared to be an error during the fibre signup process, so the sales adviser left a note on the account to manually place a fibre order. Which appeared to have been ignored by the provisioning adviser that placed the order. I will pass on feed back regarding this.

• 13/12/16 - The fix (kinda)
  I rang up first thing the next day and after another 40mins on hold, I was promised that the error would be fixed with haste. The representative promised me that my new fibre package would be live as of the 14/12/16 and my new router would arrive no later than the 15/12/16.

I've listened to this sales call and I would like to sincerely apologise that you were informed that no engineer would be required and you'll be on fibre once you setup your new router. It's partially correct. No engineer appointment, but work needs to be carried out. I will pass on feed back to this adviser.

• 15/12/16 - No router
  Low and behold, no router.
• 16/12/16 - 18/12/16 - No router
  Low and behold, no router.

Whilst listening to that call, I heard that the adviser confirmed he ordered the router; looks like it was only added and configured to your account and not actually ordered with our suppliers.

Once more, please accept my apologies and I will add this to the feed back I pass on. (I've ordered your router now myself which you should receive email notification of shortly.)

• 19/12/16 - More disappointment
  I phoned up PlusNet and was told that they'd no idea why I was promised that my fibre broadband would be ready on the 15th and that I was booked in as a go live as of 09/01/17 but that I would be charged for the service from 14/12/16! 
  I was told that it would be escalated but that they could make no promises despite the fact that I signed up on the 28/11/16.
  I used to have AOL internet back in the day.
  AOL looks great in comparison to PlusNet.
  This truly is a tale of disappointment.

The fibre order went from a required by date of 21st December (as the minimum lead time we have to give our suppliers is 7 days) to an actual committed state of 09/01/2017 because of engineer availability in your area.

I'm really sorry for the poor first impression we've given you thus far.

Whilst I can't speed up the fibre activation, if you are happy to stay with us, I can personally oversee your account until your fibre is provisioned (although from this point on I don't foresee any problems).

And, as a gesture of goodwill I am happy to refund your initial charge (that includes the monthly line rental and broadband) in full.

[#14]

Hi @Anoush

Really appreciate your openness and honesty on here as well as the level to which you've addressed my issues below.

If you're happy to babysit my order through the process then I'm happy to accept the goodwill gesture and remain a customer.

Thanks a lot for your help with this. I couldn't bear to phone up and go through all of this repeatedly to multiple advisers so its made a big difference.

Cheers

James

[#15]

No problem, I completely understand your frustration after reading your post/reviewing your account.

I've issued you the refund now which I should expect you to see on your card within the next 3-5 working days.

I've bookmarked your thread and kept a tab on your account so I'll monitor the order closely to help make sure things run smoothly.

I've just fired off an email to my manager to feed this back.