Ofcom Publish 2014 Broadband Complaints Report

Ofcom Publish 2014 Broadband, Phone, Mobile and TV Complaints Report - article from ISPReview

The much loved Plusnet getting some impressive royal blue columns, though I doubt it will effect their usual clutch of awards.

This certainly makes the debate about their customer service more meaningful.

More up to date ratings http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?isp_7...

With what I have seen here for years - Tickets unanswered for days or weeks, plus the latest problems, I can only conclude the usual Plusnet bias to be top column everywhere. Even above known top suppliers.

Are you saying that all the people on here that rate PlusNet are biased to them? The link MrS gave is to the ratings that people on the site give to their ISPs and seem to suggest that PlusNet is fairly decent of the big ISPs. We all know that there have been issues with PlusNet around support and performance but most of the customer base probably never even notice and so have no reason to mark them down.

Plusnet make referrals payments.

Silly of them to spend all that money on TV ads then.

What I AM saying, that a vote for a quality supplier should be about quality, NOT numbers. Percentages would be fair. I stand by my view, that PN coming top as usual on every column is laughable when there are obvious better suppliers out there. Maybe contend on price, or cock-ups , but not superior across the board. No other site, such as ISP favors PN like TBB. Just look around at reviews, whttp://www.broadband.co.uk/broadband/providers/plusnet/reviews/page:all/

Edited by professor973 (Tue 12-May-15 20:17:45)

I think the difference may be partly down to the nmber of complaints versus the number with the tbb reported levels of satisfaction. The two can easily differ, even by the amount shown.

Re this year's ISPA Awards shortlist, IIRC Plusnet only get in on the broadband service itself.

The tbb one is restricted to ISPs with adequate numbers of raters. I think the OfCom one is by customer base isn't it?

I don't know Bob. I just think ratings just honestly don't reflect reality to a newcomer looking in. Nothing to do with bias on my part. PN are a middle of the road ISP, but just not top of the pile in my opinion. I realise nothing is perfect.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Plusnet make referrals payments.

Yes, I believe it is 25p per referral per month. Hardly going to make someone a fortune - I doubt if many people have much in the way of referrals at all.

From the evidence I have seen to date there are a some people that have performance issues. There were definitely problems with support for months when they were setting up their new call centre - haven't seen so many complaints about it just lately.

However, the number of people that have no particular issues (or none that they know of) and therefore score them 10/10 is likely to outweigh the number of people who have noticed issues.

I am with BT. If I rate them then I tend to rate them top as I haven't had any significant issues with the connection. Why would I rate them down if it is working fine for me? Same likely goes for PlusNet customers on here - I don't buy the conspiracy theory that it is bias or referrals - it is just the plain fact that most people have no issue and therefore no reason to score them down.

So if 90% of the customer base are happy with PlusNet does that mean a newcomer is going to have problems like the 10% that might or does it mean they are actually more likely not to have any problems. My uncle has been with PlusNet for years now and has never had any issues with the connection - it does what he wants and the few times he has contacted support it has been fine. If he was rating them on here I dare say he would rate them as 10/10.

We know there are clearly problems with PlusNet but the vast majority of their customer base have no idea they are happening and indeed probably aren't adversely affected by them - so I believe the ratings reflect that.

Most new customers would find PlusNet just as good as the alternatives and cheaper than many. Of the mainstream ISPs they are pretty good. People won't go with ISPs like Pulse8 for the most part because they have never heard of them.

In reply to a post by ian72:

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

Plusnet make referrals payments.

Yes, I believe it is 25p per referral per month.

So there is no incentive to say that Plus net are a rubbish ISP - quite the opposite in fact. They are essentially paying for positive reviews.

I still don't buy it. It would be interesting to know how many people actually get referral fees (I'm sure PlusNet wouldn't tell us).

Also, giving a positive score on a website makes no difference to the amount of referrals you get as you won't get new referrals out of it. Scoring them 10/10 doesn't mean you will get additional referrals and therefore doesn't have a financial incentive.

In reply to a post by ian72:

I still don't buy it.

I bet you're "not affected by advertising" either.

Hmm, I would obviously say "not to any extent". If I see something in an advert then it may allow me to consider it but I would add it in to a number of other factors and look at other alternatives before buying. I am well aware of the PlusNet adverts on TV but strangely enough I am not with PlusNet, partly because when I looked at changing ISPs it was late last year when all the support problems were happening.

That doesn't mean that I don't know people who are happy with PlusNet's service and other people that aren't.

I can tell you my uncle doesn't get referrals but would rate PlusNet highly for the service he receives. He has no reason not to.

Broadband 75ppm, phone 50ppm. Publicly available referrals information.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 13-May-15 11:04:21)

Sorry, my mistake. I was sure I had seen it had gone down to 25p at some point. Might be my failing memory. £9 a year would definitely make me convince all my friends to go with an ISP - even if I thought the ISP was rubbish as £9 is much more important than friends and family

I have five referrals taking both. Some earlier ones who were on broadband-only have left and a couple more joined on both.

It's a pleasant discount, but absolutely does not affect my views on Plusnet or any other ISP. I believe the same is true of (probably) all people who receive referral discounts.

As for people who now and again accuse me and others of being so influenced, it is usually when they've lost the argument. It disgusts me. I don't like being accused of dishonesty when I spend hours on here trying to help people.

At the moment I am recommending Plusnet less often, due to the number of complaints and the possibility that new joiners may become part of the few affected by the problems. I am not at all worried regarding my own connection. If things were anything like as bad as a few would like us to believe they would by now be haemorrhaging those out of contract. They don't seem to be.

Not only that but the two most frequent (Plusnet customer) voices rubbishing them on these forums have no intention of leaving them. A third left many years ago, when it was a completely different setup.

I am one of Bob's referrals. Those who seem to think he and others are making a fortune should realise that PN's new customers must quote his name, it's our decision not his. Over many years I and hundreds of others have greatly benefitted from TBB advice, not least from Bob, so when I moved to Plusnet last July I was pleased to name him for referral. I offered -- he did not ask.

The week before our BB migration my routine outpatient appointment became an emergency admission, a very great shock for myself and my wife. On the morning of our BB move Plusnet cut our BB on which she was depending to clear my affairs which are all online. My wife, who is even less techie than I am, was at her wits' end. She spent long periods on the PN 'help' line but could not get through.

Fortunately there was wifi on my ward and in desperation I used my Kindle to post on TBB. Bob saw my post, answered by PM within minutes and (I understand) immediately raised our problem with PN. PN's Adam Walker had service restored next day, keeping me informed by email. As the problem was down to a PN rep quoting wrong dates, Adam then monitored our phone changeover, as our home mobile signal is very poor so the hospital relied on our landline for contact.

My wife then tried to set up our PN email without success. She found the PN 'consultant' totally unhelpful and uncaring, even when she explained the situation. Some kind person on TBB explained we could keep our BT email for a small monthly fee, and we have done this rather than plead with someone who appears so disinterested. I have the impression that the new call centre has yet to impart the PN ethos to its new employees; I would rather speak to BT's Indian staff in Bangalore.

Thanks to the wonderful people in the NHS who saved my life, I feel a new man. Thanks again to Bob and Adam for their help that week. No compliments for PN who dropped us in deep **** when we were least prepared to cope with it, something I shall bear in mind when our contract comes up again next month.

I have come across several instances of Plusnet support where they appear clueless, arrogant and wrong. I cannot recommend them.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

I have come across several instances of Plusnet support where they appear clueless, arrogant and wrong. I cannot recommend them.

If that's your criteria you must be having difficulty finding any supplier to deal with for anything

No