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Dear All,
I'm a newbie at posting but have been reading the forums for a while and wondered if anyone can give me any advice... I'm sorry it's a bit of a saga... but essentially PlusNet reps promised me I'd be refunded and compensated for being without service for 5 weeks after a catalogue of errors at their end, when the problem turned out to be quite a simple one, and are now saying they don't do refunds and offering me quite poor compensation 'as a very generous goodwill offer'. We used to recommend them to friends and family but won't any more as at least two of the customer services reps I spoke to told me incorrect information (I would be refunded and compensated, and that at one point, they would phone me every 24hrs on my mobile number to give me a verbal update on the problem - which didn't happen).
I've been with PlusNet since 2005, initially chosen after reading the reviews on ADSL Guide and elsewhere and I was very pleased with their service/price, until we tried to move house... a supposedly easy process according to their website. In 2007 we moved house and it took several weeks longer than the '10 days' they specify to get connected up, mainly because PlusNet/BT said yes we did have a BT line at the new property (which had assorted sockets and wires), then no we didn't, then yes we did, then finally no we definitely didn't, so we had to have the BT man round to install a new line. Once we were connected, the very helpful, concerned customer services reps over the phone gave us 2 months free service to compensate us for the lack of service we'd had, plus �5 off per month for the following 6 months, and a free wireless router, to encourage us to stay with them - which we thought was very generous and hence we stayed with them.
We moved house again on Fri 24 - Sun 26th Oct, and wanted to stay with PlusNet. Our move in date moved around a bit and it was only on Wed 15th Oct that we knew for certain when we'd be moving, so I straight away contacted PlusNet to arrange the move (they state 10 days for the broadband switch to take place). Our phone was connected on Thurs 30th Oct, a week later than we'd hoped (they told us they do a simultaneously switch so it should have been working the weekend before but it wasn't the end of the world and I wouldn't have complained about it, as some delays can happen - to a degree!
We were assured that it would take 5 days from the date our phone was connected to get our broadband connection activated. I phoned PlusNet on Sat 8th Nov to ask if everything was okay, and was told there was a problem and we would be connected during the next week to be connected. Annoying but not the end of the world. I asked what had happened and was told that PlusNet had made a mistake and had accidentally cancelled the order and he'd re-placed the order for broadband on our line there and then (the chap said it was their fault and we would be compensated for this). I said out that we were still being billed for the service, and was assured that the time we were without service would be refunded once we were connected.
The following week, Sat 15th, I phoned again to ask what was happening and was told that the order had been cancelled again and that this was BT's fault and there nothing they could do about it except re-place the order again. Again, I was assured we would be connected within the next week. I was actually in tears as the guy argued that it wasn't their fault (turned out I was coming down with a bad cold and was exhausted, but I was also so frustrated by the quite rude attitude of the man). He assured me it would be connected within the week, and that this was a very unusual problem he'd never come across and kept insisting that virtually everyone else's moves went fine and so this one didn't warrant special attention!!
30 mins later I received a text saying essentially 'good news - you'll be connected on the 28th Nov', not within the week. I received a couple of other texts throughout this saga, some of which contained quite technical info which I didn't understand so were virtually pointless...
The following week I was unwell and couldn't go to work so was completely without internet connection/email access which was a real bind. I phoned again on Fri 21st to find out what was happening. I was told the order had been cancelled again and they would re-place it. I pointed out that surely this was going to keep happening if they didn't know why it was being cancelled each time, and asked them to contact BT directly to find out the problem. I asked them to contact me every day to update me on the problem as it seemed that phoning once a week seemed to be the only time they checked my order and each time they'd find it had been cancelled again... I explained that some of the text message 'updates' I'd received were quite cryptic and I didn't understand some of them and asked that they phone me (on my mobile, as I'd prob be at work) to let me know what was happening. The rep I spoke to agreed to this readily and made a note on my account that I should be phoned every 24 hrs with an update, on my mobile number.
I did not receive 24 hr updates on my mobile at all. In one week we had one answerphone message on our home phone, a couple of texts to my mobile, and one voicemail on my mobile near the end of the following week to say that BT had 'cleared the tags off the line' and the order was progressing fine.
Finally we were connected on 29th November, and things seem to be working fine. However, it's left such a bad taste in my mouth, I'm really disappointed. Once connected and able to spend time searching the PlusNet website for information (I couldn't easily at work as my internet access is quite limited), I found a page where it said that sometimes there are tags left on the line by BT, which results in broadband orders being cancelled, and you just need to phone BT to ask that these are removed to get it working!! So the problem is known, can't be that unusual, and yet it took PlusNet a month to do it?? If only I'd found that page earlier I could have tried it myself. It doesn't inspire much faith, does it?
Secondly, the lack of information/confusing information throughout, going round in circles, left me really upset and disillusioned. They promised they were doing everything they could (turned out to be a relatively simple problem, so they can't have been!), they assured me they'd phone my mobile every 24 hrs - they didn't, they promised that we would be refunded and compensated - we weren't. Now they have closed my ticket relating to this and I think they might have deleted it as I can't get it back to refer to (I can't find it under closed tickets, changing the date ranges or anything). It was only when I raised a new ticket this week to request the refund and compensation as I was considering leaving PlusNet due to the way they'd treated us, that they've now said they don't offer refunds, and after initially offering one month free, they've upped it to two months free 'as a very generous goodwill offer' and are now quoting T&Cs that they can't guarantee faultless service all the time!
Is it not unreasonable to charge people for services not received when it wasn't a 'fault with the service', we never had service here in the first place!?
What can I do, other than warn people off them?? Craftily, because they made me wait until finally connected, we presumably would have to pay the deferred �40 HouseMove fee. During the problem, when I asked to cancel the move and find another ISP, they told me as the problem wasn't them, any other ISP would have the same problem. I stupidly believed them. Another ISP would prob have realised the problem earlier as they wouldn't be able to bill me until connected...
Thanks all - and well done for reading so much waffle and ranting...
Vanda
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Dear Mark,
Thank you so much for posting such a positive and helpful reply so promptly - I really appreciate it! Our latest ticket number is ID: 27178466.
I probably sound a bit ranty in my tickets, my apologies, I've just been getting to the end of my tether and some of the responses to my tickets and on the telephone have been so rude/unhelpful... I've worked in customer services too so I try to be patient and fair when speaking to people, but it can get very frustrating, as I'm sure you realise.
My main problem, as you identify, is the customer service issue. Problems with services happen, and one accepts occasional problems occur, although I was worried to find that the tag issue wasn't that unusual and hadn't been spotted earlier. It was the poor communication, sometimes rude staff, and promises which weren't kept which have made me seriously reconsider staying with PlusNet.
Many, many thanks for looking into this.
VandaLG (oops - Vanda-LG, not Vandal - see how often I post on forums? Chose a silly username - didn't realise it would look like Vandal)
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