Connection issue / can't connect

Having gone through the month of August with disconnection issues to the LLU part of the network I have now entered the month of September without a connection at all to Plusnet. I can synch to the exchange but can't connect. I'm able to connect to the dsltest domain as supplied by PN.

After waiting 50 minutes to speak to CS I was unfortunate to confront an arrogant 'Droid' by the name of Jonathan. What an idiot this guy was. From his attitude it seems he would rather get rid of custom than keep it. Three choices were given, 1- Here's your MAC and join another LLU provider (limited choice), 2- Cease service or, 3- Wait 5 days to fault check.

How much of a service issue must a customer have for them to realise that this LLU isn't working properly? Can't they see they will drive customers elsewhere.

What was annoying is that for every sentence I was trying to put across his reply would be the 3 options. No understanding or communication skills. In the end he put me through to a 'supervisor'. This guy was calmer but what i'm annoyed about is that the option of going back on the BTw network will only happen if there has been major issues with the connection and will only happen after the fault check. LLU on Plusnet has just been so problematic since I was transferred without choice back in May.

So here I am, probably having to wait over a week for the problem to be resolved. One thing I must say is that the 0808 free dial up will at least give me some sort of connection to the web.

Edited by pedgepuk (Fri 01-Sep-06 12:34:31)

That is really terrible service and I haven't seen any changes at PN even after repeated promises. Perhaps you could include this in your next ticket:

In reply to:

---

11. Will I be able to move away from the service?
BT are currently running a trial that allows us to transfer customers from LLU to IPStream.

As this is a trial service we can only submit about 6-10 orders a week. That means you will need to meet one of these criteria before we will move you:


If you were migrated before 1st June, prior to the introduction of the LLU opt-out and are experiencing issues with the service.

If you were migrated despite opting out.

If you have an ongoing fault that has been raised to Tiscali but is at risk of not being resolved (this is at the discretion of the Support Team).

You did not receive email notifications before and at the point of migation to LLU.

---

Taken from their own LLU FAQ:

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/network_suppliers.shtml?pn_session=2fe5b0ef13613219192280ea4ab20e4f#11

It is absolutely appalling what PN are doing and saying. When someone posts here or their own forum some of the staff will move you back but this is still not taking place in general terms and clearly demonstrate that PN are not abiding by their own promises.

What is the point of the FAQ if their own CS staff totally ignore it?

Is the FAQ full of lies?
Are the new/improved CS agents totally unaware of its existence?
Is the much touted restructuring in place or is it something that might happen one day?
Is this an example of "true PlusNetters" at work?
Will the person responsible for mis-training this agent be fired?
Will the OP and other customers who are wronged by PlusNet be given compensation?
Can PlusNet customers believe anything their ISP tells them?

For Pete's sake, someone take this wretched ISP outside and shoot it.

Simon

Thanks for this, it will be useful to chuck at them.

I was on the verge of asking for my MAC but I actually need a connection for the next 2 weeks as i'm job hunting. If I did ask for my MAC I don't think they would have bothered looking or raising a fault.

I would much rather go back on IPStream as it will give me a better choice of ISPs to pick from.

Problem here is they will always say 'we need to raise a fault before we can go onto the next option'.

So I could be without service for a month if nothing is resolved.

What amused me during the call is that the 'supervisor' checked my connection log to their radius server where it tells them that I had been connected for a full 3 days, then 13 hours, then 2 hours. My ping logs to various IPs tell me different, my router also says different.

I know it's not the best way to monitor your connection drop outs and there probably is a better method but if you have a router still in sync but tells you that there is no connection and all pings time out then there is something wrong.

At least you'll get your money back - but only if they ever fix your connection. In theory they could keep you as a paying customer forever without a working connection other than an emergency dial-up service and keep taking your money. The offer of refunds only after problems have been fixed is an incentive to them not to fix problems ever. Most customers would migrate away eventually - paying for a cease and reprovide - and say goodbye to their refunds.

I would expect a court to determine that PlusNet cannot keep taking subscriptions in the knowledge that a customer's connection is down.

Simon

"I would expect a court to determine that PlusNet cannot keep taking subscriptions in the knowledge that a customer's connection is down."

A better and easier option is for people to stop paying until PN can prove that the line has been fixed. It would be easy to keep aside this money either in cash or another account and pay them when you receive service and connection but only on a pro rata basis from when the connection was fixed.

If PN decide to go to court because they feel that you owed them money even during the period of providing you with no service then it is easier and less work having to defend a claim and more onus on PN to prove that the customer was obliged to pay even for non-service. Plus all the paperwork will have to be filled in by PN and one only needs to reply to it and allowed 28 days to complete a defence. PN won't do it because of costs but even more importantly because they haven't got a chance in hell of winning. Plus they might get exposed in the media and what would that do to their share prices!

If I was in the shoes of a customer with no connectivity for more than 7 days* I would make a claim against my credit card company dispute department under section.75 of the Consumer Credit Act or direct debit guarantee for that period if I had made payment.

http://www.npt.gov.uk/shoppersrights/sr20020903section75.cfm

http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdebit/generalpublic/yourrights/

I am in fighting spirits today. I had become relaxed about PN because I genuinley believed they were going to fix things but it is now clear as day that they won't.

* The proviso to the 7 day rule is that you must be confident that it is not your equipment at fault or that PN hadn't taken reasonable steps to resolve the problem. Therefore, if you raise a ticket and you don't even get a response from PN you can assume that no action has been taken and that PN are not acting reasonably. However if you think PN are moving with the issue and trying to resolve it then you should not withhold the money but if the fault is not rectified in a reasonable period you should demand a refund or stop paying IMO. An excuse from PN that the fault has been raised to their supplier but takes 5 days to get looked at is not reasonable. Whereas if BT reported that there was a physical line problem or exchange problems then you must give them a reasonable time to fix it.

Edited by rsharma (Fri 01-Sep-06 19:05:58)

What can I say, I now have broadband and can use my phoneline to make voice calls rather than hog it with a dial up connection to Plusnet.

Seems as if my sync speed has increased to double that of a 56k modem. http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedchart.asp?id=11571328562353322584

I'm assuming that this is because they have changed my profile after my connection issue. It would be good to hear if it was a Plusnet / Tiscali issue. I doubt that Tiscali would have fixed this within 8 hours of me raising a fault with Plusnet, I was informed that it would take 5 days.

Lets hope I can get off this dogged service and go to another supplier.

Great news. I wish you luck with your new fast speeds and surfing time. Good luck with your job hunt too.