Two and a half hours online chat wait time

[#1]

(Actually my Aunt who I was helping, who is too deaf to use the phone)

Worse after two and a half hours to go from number sixteen to number one they then said their billing and contracts server was down so they could not do anything? Try again tomorrow.

So how could it take over two hours if all they are telling people is they can't do anything?

(My aunt is out of contract and so paying a premium price and we wanted to see if they would give a better price or if she should leave. If we can never get though leave may be the only option anyway, at least that doesn't require you to contact them).

[#2]

How very convenient when all their prices are increasing tomorrow.  I need to call them too in order to renew my contract but I may as well move to a different ISP.

[#3]

Thanks for getting in touch @zxcvbnm 

I'm sorry to see the issues you've had trying to get through to us to discuss a new deal for your Aunt.

From what you've said that our call queue is 2 and 1/2 hours, that doesn't sound right or good at all, was this to get through to one adviser or the overall hold time including any transfer the adviser may have had to make?

Ideally I'd recommend calling our customer options team directly on 0800 013 2632 as no transfer will be necessary, because they're the team who deal with contract renewals and there's usually a very little wait time for them.

Having said that, I'm assuming that your Aunt is the account holder of her account, so unless you've got a power of attorney over here, we wouldn't be able to make a financial change to her account without your Aunt contacting us.

The best way to deal with this is to ask your Aunt to contact us over live chat at http://www.plus.net/help/chat however our customer options team closed as of 8pm now though, but they're in the office again from 8am tomorrow morning.

There's also an option for your Aunt to use a text relay service to phone us, there's more information about this Here.

I hope this helps. Let us know if there's anything further you'd need help with.

Thanks for getting in touch @TooManyPies 

If you prefer us to call you back instead of phoning us, feel free to PM me the best contact number to get you on and a rough time when you'd be free for a call and I'll be happy to arrange this.

[#4]

Thank you for the reply gandalf. Don't worry my aunt is fully in command, I am just the secretary. I will have to research text relay systems, thank you for the idea.

Presumably calling would not actually work either if your systems are down.

Yes it was 2 1/2 hours actual queuing to get one person, no transferring. The actual chat took less than a minute as they just said nothing could be done. Leading to the question why did it take two and half hours if all they are telling people is they can't do anything?

We tried to chat at the weekend but it just said too busy and unavailable. I tried again this morning but again the chat is unavailable.

General Info
Chat start time	Mon, 2 Dec 2019 12:14:25 GMT
Chat end time	Mon, 2 Dec 2019 14:39:37 GMT
Duration (actual chatting time)	02:25:11
Operator	A

Chat Transcript

Info: Thank you for choosing to chat with us. Please do not navigate away from this page or connection may be lost. Chat sessions may be recorded for training and business improvement purposes. For full details on how we use your personal information see our Privacy Policy Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 18.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 16.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 16.  Thank you for your patience. ,,,,,,,,,,,Edited for brevity,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 2.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 1.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 1.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 1.  Thank you for your patience. Info: All agents are currently assisting others.  Your place in the queue is 1.  Thank you for your patience. Info: You are now chatting with Adam. eb: hello A: Hi, I am really sorry but our billing system is down, we are unable to view any information in regards to billing or contracts A: I am only able to give you general information eb: I have been queuing for 2 and a half hours. eb: When is your system likely to be working again? A: there is no end date but judging by previous outages, I would say tomorrow eb: OK. eb: I will try again tommorow then. A: Thank you for your patience.

[#5]

@Gandalf I got a call back just now, as promised from when I eventually got through yesterday.  I'm pleasantly surprised!.

[#6]

Great to hear @TooManyPies.

Give us a shout if you need further assistance.

Thanks.

[#7]

Glad it worked out for you toomanypies

After several hours of chat unavailable it suddenly went right through, no queuing or anything.

But then they denied flat out that they could help with John Lewis broadband accounts. I pointed out that John Lewis Broadband had specifically sent us to the online chat so we could do it by typing. I pointed out that we had been helped with the account over online chat before last week. But he was adamant that he could not now  help and we would have to use the telephone.... So we had to close the chat and now off course it never connects again...

Grrr.

(and yes I know these forums are for plus.net not the john lewis broadband run by plus.net, but its the same people messing us around).

[#8]

Hello @zxcvbnm,

I am sincerely sorry for the confusion over support channels available for John lewis customers. Unfortunately the forums and online chat on our website are to support Plusnet customers and I am sorry for the difficulty you have with calling.

I would recommend taking a look at the John Lewis support here.

[#9]

Hmmm, thankyou sammyM though I can't help but point out that the online chat was happy and able to help my aunt on Friday (only a 45m wait), looked up her account details and everything. So it is odd that three days later it suddenly can't....

It was John Lewis Broadband support that told her to use plus.net chat...

[#10]

I understand the information you have provided and this should not have happened or advised @zxcvbnm, I am sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing which is why I have linked you to the John Lewis support page for assistance.