PlusNet Dead Useless

Like an earlier poster, I have been having problems with my PlusNet connection for weeks. I have tried to telephone them a number of times and have been told that waits are "in excess of an hour". I managed to speak to a guy on Saturday morning. I was talking to him for about 15 minutes trying to get him to "escalate" my problem. He told me that he could not do anything until I had reported the problem as intermittent (originally my connection passed their automatic checker). I was able to show him that I had reported it as intermittent on Wednesday and he said "well you can't expect an automated system to read what you say". I asked him why a human had not read it and he said that they were "too busy". Upshot: do not expect a PlusNet problem to be solved. I closed the report and ran the checker again. This time the line failed and they escalated the problem. They wrote to me yesterday with a load of techical guff then they told me all was well with my connection and if I wanted the report to be made to BT I would be charged

I told them I am not paying for their service when it is not provided and I was told ("you do not have a choice - you have to pay - and we do not guarantee to give you a service")
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Classic quote. Did they put it in writing perchance? Some sigs around here are a bit short currently...

Simon

As bad as it is,perhaps choose a ISP with a SLA,In theory most home use isp`s could say that.

Unfortunately for PN most UK banks would disagree with their statement and will gladly issue chargebacks that hurt PN even more in terms of additional fees.

Out of interest,Would they do this even if in the T&C`s stated they had no SLA in place ?

Yes, when I left F2S they billed me twice for two months of no service. I requested my bank invoke the direct debit guarentee and claimed back both months.

In reply to:

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Out of interest,Would they do this even if in the T&C`s stated they had no SLA in place ?

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Consumer law takes precedence over T & C`s. Consumer law says, "The supplier must supply what was contracted for".

Indeed. PlusNet haven't got a leg to stand on if they try to claim that they can take your money without proviiding you with a usable service. They have now admitted as much in the LLU debacle by offering refunds -- but it applies to all their products, whatever network they run on.

Whatever they may try to get away with, a short sharp letter threatening a Small Claims action within 7 days unless the problem is rectified will invariably produce a fix for those who are bothered to do it. Unfortunately, the majority are still taking it lying down.

Simon

Handy to know

>> and if I wanted the report to be made to BT I would be charged

I rang BT last year because I had a voice fault.. BT warned me that if the engineer found out the fault was with my telephone or internal wiring then they would charge me.
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However, if BT had installed the internal sockets and wiring, there would be no charge for an inspection which uncovered an internal wiring fault. Or, they may try to charge but will quickly back down.

Simon

>>>>>>However, if BT had installed the internal sockets and wiring, there would be no charge for an inspection which uncovered an internal wiring fault. Or, they may try to charge but will quickly back down.<<<<<<

Yep no doubt, but the point at issue is "own equipment" and the necessity of having to eliminate an in house fault before calling out BT, a requirement from all ISPs.

Let us not get confused with the few customers who have had BT install internal wiring.

On the no guarantee - that is correct hardly any ISP guarantees a service, T&C's will hold phrases like 'take all reasonable practical efforts to ensure service, but it cannot be guaranteed'

So becomes interesting if they say its OK and you say it is not. If you've shown without doubt its not your end, then no worries letting BT engineer attend, Plusnet do have a long sequence of things to do before you can get to that stage.

Andrew

Hi,

When I spoke with their CS guy on Saturday I asked him to escalate the problem and specifically if they had reported it to BT. He said no because I had not reported it as intermittent (I had - but their automated service cannot read reports and their humans were too busy to read the report!). As far as I am aware they have still not elevated the report to any level where they actually deal with it. They keep saying the problem is at my end and I must try different configurations etc. I have stressed to them that I have the same problem with two (both "stand-alone") adsl modems, both of which have previously worked and both of which continue to work intermittently/occasionally on their network. I have sent them diagnostic pages from one of the modems, and adsl status pages that show that there is no sync. These modems have been the only equipment that is attached to the master socket. There are no extensions attached to this line. I have not made any changes to my set up. Presumably they would know if there were upgrade problems as that is intigated from their end. They do not detect any faults.

This is all information that I have given them and they just are not interested. Even though they threaten a