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The cracks are showing

briston
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 285
Thanks: 61
Registered: ‎21-06-2007

The cracks are showing

I have been a Plusnet customer for many years but finally the cracks and limitations of the no frills service are showing as demands that modem mobile and internet devices make on the service.
More and more business use short text numbers which Plusnet does not support. I have just found out the hard way that Plusnet does not have access to the 800MHz mobile band, which EE does, so in an area which I regularly visit coverage is poor or zilch even though the EE signal is strong. Haveing just got some echo devices the problems with the hub1 router has been highlighted. My billing has been wrong and I have just looked at how my bill has been created and just do not understand it. There are charges and credits all over the place.
Sad really as I was an excellent provider but no frills service is becoming a second rate service.
14 REPLIES 14
jamesanstee
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Re: The cracks are showing

Plusnet used to be a decent isp but have slowly gone down hill over the years .I know there a budget isp but i do think they are rolling out too many new things at once the billing system for example thats not exactly worked properly since it got rolled out. Ive been with them for 8 years and customer service aint the same as it used to be which is why end of this month im migrating elsewhere .

shutter
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: The cracks are showing

Yeah,.... Me Too !.... The "once great" ever so customer friendly, PlusNet, seems to have died a death,... Cry

I pity the guys on the phone... and the other staff, who have to put up with moaners like me, .. who ,  having paid a substantial amount of money into the PlusNet bank accout. to find that my preferred method of contacting, that "once great" ever so friendly customer service, aka LIVE CHAT,  has been AXED..in a shambolic way... and the "replacement" service is not supported by PlusNet for LINUX users, so we cannot use it..In other words... PlusNet just don`t care about customer service anymore...

 

Disgusting. Angry

jamesanstee
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎20-04-2012

Re: The cracks are showing

I have noticed over the past year or so that whenever you call customer services they sound like they have totally lost interest in it all , and the amount of billing issues ive had with them due to the new billing system and bills not being generated like last christmas my december bill was a month late so they rolled into janaurys bill i just had enough with them , The live chat they made the biggest mistake by axing that and even when it comes to failed billing you no longer get the splash screen to acknowlege the message to continue they just go straight for the restrict switch . Just glad i stayed on a rolling contract.

briston
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 285
Thanks: 61
Registered: ‎21-06-2007

Re: The cracks are showing

Looking at the comments about customer service. If everything was ok, billing, no router problems, etc., In other words if everything was working then the load on customer service would be reduced.
My problems are all because the system is crawling, does not work or what is offered is not a reflection on the requirements of their customers and I don't thing the customer is demanding anything other than a system which reflects today's internet and mobile expectations. That is a router that works, mobile signal which is as advertised and not taking advantage of the nuances of channel allocation and being able to text people, that's all people, not excluding those that use short text numbers.
Oh, and an invoice which is understandable.
smiffy1
Pro
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Registered: ‎23-09-2018

Re: The cracks are showing

In this modern world , of super 5gWIFI , Super FTTP smart phones ETC i cannot honestly believe that PN cannot fix , or replace a Broken billing system 🙄

Some 17 months whithout correct income must be crippleing them , i know its not easy to sort a billing system but this beggers belief 😤

@shutter  ever thought the reason they removed chat was because staff are leaveing in droves and have no one to manage it ?

Or Are BT intent on running it down before a take over of customers ?

jamesanstee
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎20-04-2012

Re: The cracks are showing

@smiffy1 its funny you should mention bt as doing a google search this came up 

In 2018, Plusnet was brought into BT Group's BT Consumer division, the CEO of which is Marc Allera.[2]

In November 2019, Andy Baker stepped down as CEO of Plusnet and in 2020 Plusnet staff will be transferred to BT Consumer contracts .

shutter
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: The cracks are showing

@smiffy1    Hmm..... yeah... I thought there was some "behind the scenes dirty work going on"... the way that it all happened.... not telling anyone....lying,... and then just closing it down.. 

( they even managed to close down my thread about it..

 

https://community.plus.net/t5/Plusnet-Feedback/LIVE-CHAT-is-NOT-busy-it-isn-t-working-was-How-long-i...

 

 

..but it is still the most read thread on the Plusnet Feedback board... and increasingly so, day by day....)

 

@jamesanstee   Now that IS an interesting observation of yours... and ... kind of explains the disgusting way that all this has come about...

I`ll stick around for a while....but if BT starts playing silly beggars, increasing charges etc... then I  will be jumping ship ... already making preparations... ( gmail email address... and notifying as many of my sites of the change of contact... ) .

 

jamesanstee
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎20-04-2012

Re: The cracks are showing

It kind of reminds me of the old ISP i used to be with many years ago Be* broadband where they went down the pan and everyone got transfered to sky , i dont know but i just have the gut feeling this is following that same pattern. But what makes me laugh is all the claims of this awards they have for customer service i dont buy it .

shutter
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: The cracks are showing


@jamesanstee wrote:

. But what makes me laugh is all the claims of this awards they have for customer service i dont buy it .


 

 

Makes me cry.....

especially, now I know that PN will be transferring to BT...

and so. any new customers who are taken in by the present adverts ,

and especially those moving FROM BT

will eventually be slyly moved back there... when the "takeover" is completed.. 

 

Will Plusnet send out warning emails, before this takeover happens?     hmmm.... doubt it...

Just spent the last couple of hours transferring all my contact email addresses  .plus.com  to @gmail.com  

May have missed a few, but I have a little time to rectify that... before my plusnet contract runs out..

 

198kHz
Seasoned Hero
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Re: The cracks are showing

An increasing number of queries are going on for months with no sign of a definitive answer, even after several reminders - eg

https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/phone-call-to-number-starting-with-073-charged-as-outside-plan/...

which started on 29/10/19.

Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)
smiffy1
Pro
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Registered: ‎23-09-2018

Re: The cracks are showing

Just read this , Ref Compensation scheme from Ofcom , Vodaphone , EE , and Plusnet have still not joined ?? 

The odd one out above is Plusnet, which as part of the BT group (alongside EE) is one provider that we would have expected to be ready by now and yet they still seem to offer no clear indication of when they’ll join.,, Sounds about right NO CLEAR INDICATION GIVEN BY Plusnet 🤔

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/02/plusnet-vodafone-and-ee-stalled-over-automatic-compens...

Townman
Superuser
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Re: The cracks are showing

"Or Are BT intent on running it down before a take over of customers ?

 

Does not seem to be beyond the realms of possibility.  What is for sure is that BT management influence on what Plusnet does is not likely to be in the best interests of Plusnet customers.  After all, if they make Plusnet look 'pants' then BT Retail becomes a potential alternative supplier for a disgruntled Plusnet user.

The Mergers & Monopolies ought never to have allowed BT to swallow up Plusnet and EE - what is the best way to deal with smaller challenging competitors?  Buy them up and run them down.

 

As for automatic compensation … that is likely to require changes to the billing system … one can well imagine that is not a place Plusnet wish to visit anytime soon!

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.

briston
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 285
Thanks: 61
Registered: ‎21-06-2007

Re: The cracks are showing

People are now jumping on the compensation band wagon when things go wrong. I just had a sight altercation with Plusnet and was offered compensation. I refused this as it was not money I wanted, I wanted the problem corrected. We came to a an agreeable course of action and hopefully solution.
Money is not the be all and end all. Solutions are.
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
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Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: The cracks are showing

@Townman  


@Townman wrote:

"Or Are BT intent on running it down before a take over of customers ?

 

Does not seem to be beyond the realms of possibility.  What is for sure is that BT management influence on what Plusnet does is not likely to be in the best interests of Plusnet customers. 

 

 

 

After all, if they make Plusnet look 'pants' then BT Retail becomes a potential alternative supplier for a disgruntled Plusnet user.

 

 



After 10 years or more... I am seriously considering leaving Plusnet.... it will be a hard decision, as , generally, I have had good service... and when Live Chat was, indeed, ALIVE,  could not fault it for a means of contacting customer services when I did have a minor problem,

However,   since PlusNet, has ignored the obvious DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DISABLED CUSTOMERS,... there is no way that I can foresee that I shall be here for the next 10 years.

 

There is no point in lodging an official complaint with OFCOM, regrading that, because, by the time it "comes to being discussed"  BT will claim that it happened before they took over Plusnet management.

 

BT would be my very very very  LAST CHOICE as an alternative...