Terrible Metronet

I have been a customer of Metronet for over 3 years and I find it amazing how badly they can treat old customers.

I finally got fed up with them when I received a massive bill which could not be explained by their staff (although of course they tried the usual rubbish about blaming the customer for not knowing something which they themselves did not know). Eventually they agreed there was an issue with the amount I had been charged - their site doesn't contain the charges for the plan I was on - sounds as if they are making it up as they go along (so much for the 'no nonsense broadband' service they talk about!). I got fed up with trying to fight with them so took a cheaper package and asked for my MAC. It was rather amusing to be called and asked why I was wanted a MAC. Even more amusing was their suggestion that I take a 12 month contract with their sister company (duh how stupid do I have to be to fall for that). They are so stingy that they have even charged me extra for leaving a few days after my billing date even though I have been fully charged for the month and am leaving before my billing date. And of course they are now throttling my speed so that after 4pm, I might as well shut up shop. I was even throttled when they claimed that there were no restrictions on my account.

The last time I had an issue with them was when I PAID to be regraded and was without a service for 3 days. Eventually BT found that all that was required was the reinstallation of my modem drivers. Any competent tech support dept of an ISP should have known that. I was faced with a huge bill for using the internet via other means. They had no sympathy and of course did not even care to make any recompense for lost service.

Does anyone know who the responsible director of customer services is?

If you are still with Metronet, I suggest you get in writing exactly what they charge, what happens if you exceed your limits, what the maximum charges are and dont believe all the rubbish they tell you to try and stop you from moving but of course do your homework and check out your proposed alternative. Expect all your complaints to be met with scepticism (and of course no refund even if it is their fault) - I knew I had a case when they started taking longer and longer to reply to my emails. I am still awaiting a reply from a member of their management.

Hi there,

I'd be happy to investigate any issues you have regarding your account, if you would like to post a ticket number or PM me your username.

Thank you. Perhaps you clarify the following:

1. Where the costs of ALL your packages are listed on your website
2.What is the price ceiling and how it relates to the monthly charge.

I'll be happy to give you my details once I am convinced that something will be done.

You mean this page? http://www.metronet.co.uk/broadband/paygo.shtml

Ian

Hi there,

The page linked to above shows all the current products we offer. Products which have not been for sale for some time are not listed on our site, but will be detailed within the Member Centre for that account.

The price ceiling is the maximum you will pay for your account each month. You will have an included allowance as part of your subscription price, any usage after this is charged on top until you reach the price ceiling. At this point you are rate limited until your next billing date, but the cost does not increase any further.

As I said, if you want to PM me your username and details of the issue I would be happy to give you a call to resolve these for you.

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The page linked to above shows all the current products we offer. Products which have not been for sale for some time are not listed on our site, but will be detailed within the Member Centre for that account.

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I cannot find those details within the Member Centre for my account. Are you sure?

Just had a look in the member centre for my account
And it was member centre and then on the left my account and underneath that account details

Hope this helps
Barry King

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Barry King

Finally got rid of Metronet and much happier for it especially as I have a higher speed, unlimited broadband and am paying less. Of course their senior management has not addressed my complaint to date.

Then I get an email stating that peak time usage management has been lifted (too late).

Thought that was the end of my association with this dodgy company, but to my horror out of the blue I have received a final reminder from Plus net for a payment and threatening legal action and an adverse credit rating if it is not paid! All my bills were paid directly using my debit card, nothings outstanding on the account and this is the FIRST time I have heard of this oustanding amount. Now I have to waste my time, money and energy explaining that to them. The letter has no email address and only one of those rip off non-geographic phone numbers

Do Plus net actually think that by treating people in this pathetic manner, customers will come running back to metronet? Maybe it's some new sales technique but I want to assure Plus net that it is flawed and I will not be coming to them anytime soon! I will be more than happy to take this matter up legally so that everyone realises what they are really like.

Hi there,

Would you be willing to PM me your old metronet username so I can look into this for you?

I must admit I'm a little surprised you didn't PM Mand about this, it would have been good to have a chance to solve this issue for you. Nontheless many apologies for the hassle.

Thank you for your reply.

Please do not take this personally but I haven't emailed my username because I have little confidence in your company's desire or ability to resolve the issue - this matter should never have gone so far and despite several promises, I have not heard anything back from your senior customer services management. Surely your customers with problems should have their problems resolved without the inconvenience of having to air them on public forums or do you have so many dissatisfied customers that you cannot resolve all their problems until they bring it up here? If you can give me the confidence that something WILL be done about the horrendous manner in which I have been treated, I will consider sending you my username.

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Surely your customers with problems should have their problems resolved without the inconvenience of having to air them on public forums

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I see your point, yes indeed they should. Unfortunately this is not always the case, which is why Mand, Chris, James, Bob and I are employed to essentially be an active face of PlusNet on forums like this. Sometimes issues aren't resolved in a timely manner and people do wish to post about it, and that's where we come in. As a result I can confirm that your issue will receive immediate attention (as will any issue picked up by any one of us on here).

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or do you have so many dissatisfied customers that you cannot resolve all their problems until they bring it up here?

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If we did, I suspect these forums would be a lot busier and a lot less friendly than they are currently.

If you look at the other posts on this forum you will find very few complaints from customers these days, and those which do appear are dealt with quickly. You will find the same on the PlusNet community forums. I think that you should give the PlusNet staff posting here at least the opportunity to look into the problem, identify the reason for the recent letter and come to a resolution which is satisfactory to both sides.

> Now I have to waste my time, money and energy explaining that to them.

PM the username and let them do the running around.

Without it you cannot expect any useful response.

That will play well for you if it goes to court - not!

They tried to help sort it out and you refused to co-operate!

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They tried to help sort it out and you refused to co-operate!

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The guy has been promised call backs from "senior management" and apparently is still waiting!.

Here we go again, diss the unsatisfied customer, PN can do no wrong

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The guy has been promised call backs from "senior management" and apparently is still waiting!.

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That's one of the things we would like to address, check who promised these and find out why they weren't actioned.

I've no problem with that Chris, what annoys me is the few customers on here who jump on anyone who in the slightest criticise the company. They do you no favours.

There are two types of posts about problems on the noticeboard...

1) User has a problem they want fixed. In this case if the ISP rep asks for additional details then they should be provided in order to get the problem sorted.

2) User venting because they've had poor service and want to let everyone else know. In which case make this clear and they are perfectly entitled not to respond to ISP (but also can't complain later that they weren't willing to help).

Either is fine, everyone just needs to know which is the case to know whether to commiserate or to help.

I had a similar issue with a delivery and gave feedback on the suppliers site (as requested). I then had multiple emails asking how they could fix the problem. As far as I was concerned I didn't want to spend time pursuing a fix and just gave feedback so that they could see there had been a problem in their stats. Had I wanted it fixed then I would have provided the information they requested.

The reason people jump on the OP is they assume that anyone putting a complaint on here falls into category 1. They don't understand that people just fall into category 2 and have got so fed up that they just want to let the world know.

If any customer is promised an escalation and a call back then thats exactly what should happen. If it doesnt then I'd like the opportunity to investigate.

I realise it is probably too late to fix things for this customer and for that I am sorry. However I would appreciate the chance to look into this one and ensure that a similar situation wont arise again. If the OP could pm me with his username I'll take the necessary action.

>I've no problem with that Chris, what annoys me is the few customers on here who

>jump on anyone who in the slightest criticise the company. They do you no favours.

Hardly jumped on wingco unless you can link to a post in this thread that you think is in that category. Most certainly urged to supply a ticket or username, and that IMO is not an unreasonable request.

This was asked for immediately after the first post and now this subsequent post and has not been forthcoming. Difficult to help those who will not help themselves.

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That will play well for you if it goes to court - not!

They tried to help sort it out and you refused to co-operate!

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Seems pretty much a dig at the customer to me. It seems to me reading the OP that he has cooperated at some length, and was waiting for a promised call back. So saying he has refused to cooperate is disingenuous in the least.

Seems to me that the OP has cooperated in the past and if a call was promised it should have been made. Very frustrating for him and I can see why he can't be bother now.
Hopefully PN can learn something from this as well. I certainly feel PN are willing to learn from mistakes compared to a few years ago. A colleague at work has been caught up in the RedTen problem, he was telling me about this really responsive ISP he is trying to switch to once he can get a valid MAC, its PN, he didn't know I was using them. I asked he why he chose PN, came down to a clear info on the packages and the generally good feedback around the net.

I agree, sometimes lines of communication do break down. What I find amusing is those PN customers who "jump" on anyone, customer or not, who criticise PN. The OP has obviously had a bad experience, yet Jelv makes out it's his problem because he won't post a ticket number or PM his username.

Actually Jelv is saying that the OP is putting himself at a disadvantage by *not* taking up a pretty simple action which could help him at least close the book on this once and for all.

I think you're over-reacting somewhat.

" In reply to:

or do you have so many dissatisfied customers that you cannot resolve all their problems until they bring it up here?



If we did, I suspect these forums would be a lot busier and a lot less friendly than they are currently. "

Obviously the OP is a newbie to this forum go back 18months to 2 years and you will see what vitriol was poured here because of the way PN treated customers. I say that not to drag up the past but to endorse that PN don't have hundreds of unhappies, well not at present

Thank you Wingco1.

For the record, there is a clear email trail in all the messages left on my Metronet account including confirmation from Metronet's staff that my problem was being escalated. I decided to abandon ship because of the manner in which they handled my complaint when I received a bill that was nearly 3 times my usual bill. Of course they denied that I could ever be overcharged. Incidentally I did receive confirmation that I was overcharged except I dispute the amount that they claim I was overcharged by (academic because they have taken their money anyway). My repeated requests for name of their senior person in charge has met with no response but I have been assured that my complaint would be escalated (several weeks ago and then nothing). The message I left with Metronet today has not received the courtesy of a response even though they apparently respond within 2-3 hours (their stats on their website not mine)

I was even prepared to write off the overcharge down to my stupidity and lack of time but hit the roof when I received this Final Demand. As they say, rob me once shame on you, rob me twice shame on me. My account has always been with Metronet (who as you may know is very prompt in threatening you with disconnection, bad credit etc. if you don't pay up) and yet the demand has come out of the blue from Plus net. Anyway, I could not have any unpaid amounts because the have my credit card details. I'm sorry but this displays incompetence of the highest order. Metronet have never compensated me for their incompetence and my inconvenience including the time that I was without internet access for 3 days (they did not even give me a pro rata credit of my subscription not to mention the costs I incurred on my phone bill for using dial up). I find the fact that they are so prompt in collecting money from their customers but denying them fair treatment rather distasteful.

I would like to know if anyone on the forum has had a satisfactory resolution to their dispute of a similar magnitude by sending their userid to one of the Plus net staff. I am especially sceptical because I am no longer a customer of theirs. I would have thought that Metronet would speed up their resolution of their outstanding call logs of similar grave issues once a grievance like this was brought to their attention. Incidentally, I started with Metronet because of feedback on this board some 3 years ago.

Whether other customers / ex-customers have had their problems resolved through providing their PlusNet / Metronet identity here is not relevant. However, if you look at the Business Account - Prem Option 3 thread you will see, amongst all of the other discussion, that the OPs problem was satisfactorily resolved.

The problem here is that despite the fact that "there is a clear email trail in all the messages left on my Metronet account" the PlusNet staff here (and 4 have responded so far) do not know which of the 200,000 accounts that they have belongs to you and therefore they cannot look into and resolve the 2 issues involved. Do yourself a favour, provide the account name as requested and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you do not get a resolution then it will have taken you less time than writing the last post here and you will have lost nothing.

Why not give PlusNet/Metronet your former username and see what happens?

It seems that they want it for two reasons :-

1) To try and resolve any outstanding issues you might have

2) To see how their system allowed this to happen and correct any possible problems for the benefit of other users.

At least there are ISP staff here who are willing to help you which is a lot more than happens with my previous ISP.

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I would like to know if anyone on the forum has had a satisfactory resolution to their dispute of a similar magnitude by sending their userid to one of the Plus net staff.

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Quite frankly I think that is irrelevant, it is your situation that matters. Without information from you it is a certainty that the PN staff on here can do nothing, so your cooperation is required.

You have had a number of public assurances that the matter will be looked into and if the company fail to resolve things in a manner not to your satisfaction you can then report back.

>That will play well for you if it goes to court - not!

>They tried to help sort it out and you refused to co-operate!

In the context of this thread it is not unreasonable to ask the OP to cooperate.

Nobody has "jumped" on the OP for making there allegations but it is frustrating I would have thought you would agree that the submission of the username could move things forward.

I have pointed out to the OP that these boards are then open for a report back positive or negative. Obviously there is no obligation for the OP to submit a username but then it is more ISP unhappiness issue and any ones comments are speculation.

The OP has seemed keen to seek a resolution reading the posts so I would have thought a public forum is ideal as a company is in the public gaze.

Agreed, but that is nothing new.

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I would have thought you would agree that the submission of the username could move things forward.

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I can understand why the OP is reluctant to do so, which is something others apparently can't see. Whatever he decides is down to him. However the usual suspects will bad mouth him for not jumping when PN decide they want to look at the issue, simply because it's been aired here.

Accept the fact, Plusnet CSC do still make mistakes. Accept the fact some customers do receive less than adequate service. I accept PN have come a long long way in the last couple of years for which they should be congratulated. I accept there is possibly less dissatisfied customers now than there used to be.

It's about time the usual suspects accepted mistakes and poor customer service can and does happen, even at Plusnet.

Obviously it's the OPs choice as to whether he provides his username.

I'm not questioning the validity of his claims but refusing help from 4 different PlusNet staff members does make one wonder whether there are two sides to this story.

Effectively he's denying PlusNet the right of reply so.................

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Effectively he's denying PlusNet the right of reply so.................

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He was promised a call back when PN would have had it's right of reply

>�I can understand why the OP is reluctant to do so, which is something others >apparently can't see.�

Well I must admit that one foxes me. I cannot see a downside as such, but that is the choice of the OP. It is just an undeniable fact however that this BBS cannot be of any further help to the OP without it.

>�It's about time the usual suspects accepted mistakes and poor customer service can >and does happen, even at Plusnet�.

I think you are confusing the comments of posters somewhat. As I see it no one has denied the fact as expressed by the poster. One of the allegations is a lack of communication via the normal system among other things, and yet seems reluctant to use our BBS to bypass the normal system.

This BBS should never be used to circumvent normal channels but more an avenue where normal channels have not worked. This seems to be one of those occasions and the reason posters have urged its use it seems to me and I cannot understand why you think that is unreasonable or in any way an attack on the OP claims.

Hi,

Everyone makes mistakes, we as a company do not deny that and we all know we've made a few in the past.

Our CSC does make mistakes, I know this because I deal with a lot of them in terms of training and educating the agents involved.

What I do know is that if a CSC complaint is raised to any member of our team via these or any other forums which we participate in this does get addressed, and the customer contacted by us personally. We also work very closely with shift managers in the CSC to ensure these mistakes do not occur again.

Recently we have seen the head count in the CSC reach it's highest levels to date, which equates to a lot of agents who have been here for a very short time. It's a challenge to ensure that this does not result in a higher number of customer complaints, which is why we've spent a lot of time and effort on extra training measures and more quality assessments on newer agents (obviously along with the necessary support for them where needed).

"Accept the fact, Plusnet CSC do still make mistakes. Accept the fact some customers do receive less than adequate service. "

Yes indeed they do... thankfully far less than most other suppliers.

The usual suspects tend to get annoyed by your constant popping up with sarcastic na na ner ner ner posts, and given that you have no experience of the services plusnet have to offer the motivation seems strange. You have the right to make the posts you do but won't accept comment contrary to yours - well thats forums for you.

Surely the point is that he's made a claim in an open forum which PlusNet can't possibly rebut or investigate because he won't say who he is.

If the original complaint had been properly dealt with he wouldn't have had to post here would he. The fact that a customer of over three years became so disillusioned with matters that he felt he wanted to bring it to the attention of a wider audience, says a lot.

Apparently he's moved on, so possibly sees no point in further dialogue. That however doesn't stop the usual suspects from criticising him.

I'll leave it there as we're unlikely to agree.

One of these days you might make a post which doesn't contain any personal comments. I look forward to that day.

I think that you might be correct about the original problem. However, it appears that PlusNet have passed a debt to debt collectors. This is a new problem that will not go away without some investigation by PlusNet. They cannot do that without knowing who the OP is and which account the problem relates to.

I would assume that is being dealt with directly.

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I would assume that is being dealt with directly.

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That is a big assumption because orbrey asked for the OPs account ID so that he could look into the problem, but he appears so far to have declined that option.

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That is a big assumption because orbrey asked for the OPs account ID so that he could look into the problem, but he appears so far to have declined that option.

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From what the OP has posted there is a ticket trail involved so it's fair to say someone at PN knows who he is.

But yes, I agree he should supply details which would help to obtain a quick resolution. But it's his call.

Edited by wingco1 (Sat 15-Mar-08 15:55:22)

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I agree, sometimes lines of communication do break down. What I find amusing is those PN customers who "jump" on anyone, customer or not, who criticise PN. The OP has obviously had a bad experience, yet Jelv makes out it's his problem because he won't post a ticket number or PM his username.

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The OP said:

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Now I have to waste my time, money and energy explaining that to them.

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Just how much time, money and energy does it take to PM someone your username?

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Just how much time, money and energy does it take to PM someone your username?

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That helps your argument doesn't it - not!.

So it's all his fault is it. Two PN reps in this thread have acknowledged that mistakes have been made. Neither of them have tried to side step that issue. Both have offered to help if the OP pms his username. Yet Jelv attempts to make the OP appear in the wrong because he decided not to.

Why can't you accept someones decision without trying to make them out to be in the wrong?.

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In the context of this thread it is not unreasonable to ask the OP to cooperate.

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I think we will learn a lot more about the new PN if the OP doesn't hand over his username. PR100 has always said that PN deal with forum users differently. My own experience is that PN do deal differently. I recently installed a PN connection for a friend. They delivered it three weeks late and they were somewhat apologetic for it, but never gave the free months subscription I asked for. I feel that if I had complained here I would have gotten a free month.

TT

God you are a prat!

I'm not saying the original problem is his fault. Plusnet have cocked up and admitted it.

A good measure of a company is not just how often they make a mistake but how they respond when mistakes have been made.

Plusnet have demonstrated many times recently that they will sort things out to a complainants satisfaction if given the opportunity to do so. The OP is refusing to spend 15 seconds PMing his user name and instead spends far longer making posts on here.

Anyone has the right to post on here when they have had poor service. We have the right to point out that he has refused to co-operate by responding to a very, very simple request. Plusnet have made it abundantly clear that they want to investigate what's gone wrong.

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God you are a prat!

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I rather expected that. It's par for the course from you.

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Plusnet have cocked up and admitted it.

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A step in the right direction.

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A good measure of a company is not just how often they make a mistake but how they respond when mistakes have been made.

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Read the OP's posts.

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Anyone has the right to post on here when they have had poor service.

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At last you acknowledge that.

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Plusnet have demonstrated many times recently that they will sort things out to a complainants satisfaction if given the opportunity to do so. The OP is refusing to spend 15 seconds PMing his user name and instead spends far longer making posts on here.

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From reading this thread it seems that Plusnet/metronet have had plenty of chances to put things right USING PROPER COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES. It appears that they have not done so and are therefore trying a damage limitation exercise by asking for his username so that the PR branch of plusnet can show potential customers on here how happy they are to deal with problems.

The fact is no one should have to resort to such measures and the fact that people only get satisfactory resolution when it is mentioned on this board speaks volumes about their "support"

Edited by deleted (Sat 15-Mar-08 19:19:21)

Throughout my life I've tried to work on the basis that there are two sides to most arguments.

Having "heard" the OP's side of things it would be nice to "hear" the Metronet side but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

A couple of PN staff have admitted that mistakes happen but that admission can't be taken to relate to this specific case - they have in excess of 250,000 customers so it's not unreasonable to ask the OP to identify himself.

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Having "heard" the OP's side of things it would be nice to "hear" the Metronet side but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

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I doubt the outcome would be posted on here by PN do you?. It's normally only done by the complainant if they wish to,

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they have in excess of 250,000 customers so it's not unreasonable to ask the OP to identify himself.

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http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=plusnet&Number=3266323 suggests the CSC know who he is I doubt it would take much investigation for PN to find out.

Plusnet have offered to help and that offer of help has been rejected. The OP is free to express his opinion as is anyone on this forum. Continual sarcastic and provocative comments don't endear posters to other people on these forums.

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Continual sarcastic and provocative comments don't endear posters to other people on these forums.

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As I remember it, you were doing so in another thread. As a member of the "usual suspects" I expected you earlier.

http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=plusnet&Number=3295319

I was making a general point. There was no need for a sarcastic / provocative reply.

What was it you said?. Why do you keep evading the question???
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=plusnet&Number=3295319

Goodnight.

>God you are a prat!


An insult totally uncalled for.

You have been warned, take care.

I am closing this because it seems it is getting rather petty and people are building assumption on top of assumption and that is what that tends to happen without any additional facts.

This matter could have been easily escalated to those that have the power to help resolve the issue if the OP had wanted, but it seems not, and without that input this thread could go round for ever.

Closed.