Having a nightmare with plusnet

Hi all,

Having a terrible time with plusnet, just thought I would post a link to the thread about it on their forum so others can hopefully avoid all the heartache and hassle I have had.....

Its a long thread as it dates back to the 1st of April when I signed up with them to the present day....

It really beggars belief.....

see here...

http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,8471...

Edited by dogwhisperer (Fri 07-May-10 18:00:54)

Yes your attitude does beggar belief. Since you aren't actually paying for broadband I fail to see how you can claim for compensation as you aren't sufferring material loss.

I'm no fan of plusnet but I have to say that Adam has shown a lot of professionalism in his dealings with you. I wouldn't have put up with your rantings for a quarter of the time he has.

I can only assume you haven't read all the thread and only the last bit, I think I have been very patient considering they have had over a month to fix the issues.....which has included 6 x BT visits and numerous other issues of mis-information and incompetence.....

It doesn't cost much to go to the small claims court, i'm not really interested in the money side of things, I have a case file inches thick full of evidence including the 150 hours of my time I have spent on this so far...I have detailed everything....

I have given them every opportunity to resolve the issues and they have failed.

It will be worth it just to get a court judgement against plusnet as they seem to think they can get away with it by blaming BT.

I've just read through the entire thread on Plusnet's forum and I can only say that BT's handling of the fault is awesome.
However, Plusnet's handling of the situation is exemplary. Adam has been nothing but polite and professional at all times. Something which must take a lot of practice having to deal with BT that much.
Please don�t take this personally, but you do seem to be getting overly stressed about this. This is just a fault with a broadband service, and there are more important things in life to worry about, such as your health. Making yourself ill for the sake of £10-£20 a month is just not worth it.
Put in your position, I�d be tempted to buy a broadband dongle and then ask Plusnet to reimburse you. You get a working internet connection whilst your �proper� line is being sorted out.

The incompetence of companies can beggar belief sometimes, but if you can�t do anything about it, then there�s no point getting stressed about it.

Good luck!

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

It doesn't cost much to go to the small claims court, i'm not really interested in the money side of things, I have a case file inches thick full of evidence including the 150 hours of my time I have spent on this so far...I have detailed everything....

Without wishing to add to your stress which you say is affecting your health, I would suggest that you consider asking for a full refund of ALL of your payments to PlusNet and then cut your losses and take your business elsewhere.

It is possible that the court may decide that PlusNet has made "all reasonable efforts" to resolve the problem with your Line and has failed through the inability of its "supplier" to provide the service.

I have given them every opportunity to resolve the issues and they have failed.

You should consider that you have had the attention of a Customer Support agent and a Manager at PlusNet devoting a substantial amount of their time and efforts to try to resolve the issue. The Court will probably find that PlusNet has not been "negligent" in its contractual obligations and will consider this in the award of any claim for damages.

It will be worth it just to get a court judgement against plusnet as they seem to think they can get away with it by blaming BT.

Domestic Broadband is a "Wires only" service provision and the products do not offer Engineer assisted installation. PlusNet are re-selling a BT Product and in this context, BT is their "Supplier". It is irrelevant that PlusNet is owned by the same holding company as BT Wholesale and BT Openreach which respectively sell and service the Product. Also, ironically, Regulation prevents PlusNet getting any favourable treatment from BT Wholesale and BT Openreach in resolving your issue.

I realise that Broadband is a service and that the comparison is not totally valid but if you had bought a product from a srore and after replacing the product 3 times, the store was still not able to provide you with a working product, a fair resolution may be judged to be a refund in full.

I hope your health improves soon .....

My response to gromits post....

You couldn't have read it all or you would have noticed that I am disabled and with my condition it is not easy for me to get out that much.

The internet is very important to me as it gives me access to the outside world....without that I become even more withdrawn and insular from society and the world in general...

I don't share your view about plusnet, in my view they have been extremely poor at resolving the issues....

Its easy for them to talk a good game, but its action I want not clever responses....

Edited by dogwhisperer (Fri 07-May-10 22:19:23)

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

It doesn't cost much to go to the small claims court, i'm not really interested in the money side of things, I have a case file inches thick full of evidence including the 150 hours of my time I have spent on this so far...I have detailed everything....

Without wishing to add to your stress which you say is affecting your health, I would suggest that you consider asking for a full refund of ALL of your payments to PlusNet and then cut your losses and take your business elsewhere.

It is possible that the court may decide that PlusNet has made "all reasonable efforts" to resolve the problem with your Line and has failed through the inability of its "supplier" to provide the service.

I have given them every opportunity to resolve the issues and they have failed.

You should consider that you have had the attention of a Customer Support agent and a Manager at PlusNet devoting a substantial amount of their time and efforts to try to resolve the issue. The Court will probably find that PlusNet has not been "negligent" in its contractual obligations and will consider this in the award of any claim for damages.

It will be worth it just to get a court judgement against plusnet as they seem to think they can get away with it by blaming BT.

Domestic Broadband is a "Wires only" service provision and the products do not offer Engineer assisted installation. PlusNet are re-selling a BT Product and in this context, BT is their "Supplier". It is irrelevant that PlusNet is owned by the same holding company as BT Wholesale and BT Openreach which respectively sell and service the Product. Also, ironically, Regulation prevents PlusNet getting any favourable treatment from BT Wholesale and BT Openreach in resolving your issue.

I realise that Broadband is a service and that the comparison is not totally valid but if you had bought a product from a srore and after replacing the product 3 times, the store was still not able to provide you with a working product, a fair resolution may be judged to be a refund in full.

I hope your health improves soon .....

Thanks,

I will take my chances with the court, I could take my business elsewhere but I have invested far too much time in this to just walk away from it now.

The court won't allow the supplier excuses as you mention.

Its not going to cost me much so I might as well have a go, I have seen reports of successful claims in circumstances not a bad as mine....

My contract is with plusnet, its up to them to resolve the issues....

In reply to a post by gromit69:

I've just read through the entire thread on Plusnet's forum and I can only say that BT's handling of the fault is awesome.

I haven't read the linked thread, but do you really mean awesome?

Or awesomely bad, possibly atrocious?

Or is "awesome" another word where the meaning has reversed recently and I am out of touch?

I'd go for awful father than awesome

As in striking one with awe e.g. gobsmacked

Any update? Nothing further on the PN forum.

Update as requested.....

I got this in a ticket, guess they feeling uncomfortable now putting it on their forum.....

As already agreed you will not pay for broadband until this is resolved, bearing in mind that you do have a usable service at present which is working to a level where you are able to post responses to us frequently and that we have agreed to 3 months free service we are unable to extend an offer beyond this I'm afraid.

No further time frames have been specified as I'm unable to offer one at present. I'm chasing for progress on this issue right now and will update you again soon.

This is my reply......

Just read the info in the ticket,

As a result rang up to get a mac code which plusnet made it as difficult as possible to get, spoke to Edmund who refused to give us a mac code until I gave him my bank details (sort code) and password for the member centre......I refused to give that info and asked to speak to his manager and was told no such manager was available.....in the end he agreed to send the mac code with me giving partial details of my password......he was as unhelpful as possible.....

In this day and age do plusnet really think I am going to give such personal details over the phone when anyone could be listening??

Total and utter joke......

In the ticket you say you have given me 3 months free broadband, you have got this wrong as you have only given us 2 months (april and may), unless there is something I am not aware of???

You also mention that this is because I have a usable broadband, yet you know there is an on going fault......if you bought a car and it only did 20 mph and stopped working intermittently and the garage turned round to you and said, but its usable, would you accept that??

Edited by dogwhisperer (Mon 10-May-10 16:25:39)

The ticket info was posted 11.21am this morning and no updates so far about fixing the on going fault, so hardly seems like they are bothered that much and no priority given even though this has been on going for about 6 weeks.....

To me all I am getting from plusnet is hype with little or no content.....

While to some it may appear I am getting a good deal getting my broadband free at the moment, I would much rather be paying for a reliable service and hence why I requested a mac code, probably my best chance of getting a reliable service is via a different supplier.....

I have had enough of playing piggy in the middle between plusnet and BT......

Edited by dogwhisperer (Mon 10-May-10 16:35:24)

It's a sad state of affairs and that's a fact. I do believe Adam is doing his best but unfortunately BT Wholesale and Openreach don't seem to be talking to each other. I honestly believe he is as frustrated as you are.

Please keep us updated, I'm sure there are a number of people very interested in the outcome. Hope it gets sorted for you sooner rather than later. Can I just ask, did you have any line/connection problems with your previous ISP?

Thanks wingco,

I like Adam and I would have left ages ago if it wasn't for him, but in a way he has made the situation worse by giving me a high expectation on 6 different occasions that this will be fixed, when you give a high expectation and in reality it turns out to be very low this can only cause confusion, mis-trust, lack of confidence ect, etc.....so without his involvement I would have migrated away long ago and saved myself all this heartache and pain....

Having all the experience he has he must know that its pot luck wether anyone can get BT to do anything so would have been better to set an expectation accordingly in my view....

I didn't have line probs with my previous ISP as such, they are a re-seller in the non LLU market and they changed suppliers....as a result my broadband seemed to be constantly throttled and the new supplier apparently had sever problems, probably an over subscribed network with the influx of so many new customers, also for the first time the reseller did their own billing and they made a complete mess of it which caused all sorts of problems.....I had been a customer for several years and their customer support used to be brilliant but that went completely downhill as well and I felt I had no option but to leave.

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

In this day and age do plusnet really think I am going to give such personal details over the phone when anyone could be listening??

Would you rather that anyone could ring up and get your account transferred? I could understand your stance if you had been called by plusnet but since it was you that had called them your argument is redundant.

Did your solicitor laugh as loudly as I did at the suggestion of legal action?

I would have thought it right to address the customers concerns, and put the request in a support ticket. Wouldn't you agree?

Or do you prefer to slag people off just for kicks

In reply to a post by kamelion:

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

In this day and age do plusnet really think I am going to give such personal details over the phone when anyone could be listening??

Would you rather that anyone could ring up and get your account transferred? I could understand your stance if you had been called by plusnet but since it was you that had called them your argument is redundant.

Did your solicitor laugh as loudly as I did at the suggestion of legal action?

As with other ISP's if plusnet allowed you to get a mac code by email or via their ticket system and didnt insist you have to ring them then that would resolve the problem you are talking about......

My solicitor didnt laugh, I was seeing him about another matter and this was a side issue, he didn't think there was much point with the small claims court, but wants to know the outcome when I visit my medical consultant to discuss my latest set of blood test results and wants to know if in his opinion if all this has affected my health as I suffer from a condition that does not respond well to stressful situations which plusnet are fully aware of.

With your attitude I assume you work in 'customer services'..?

In reply to a post by wingco1:

I would have thought it right to address the customers concerns, and put the request in a support ticket. Wouldn't you agree?

I agree totally, clearly you have to phone plusnet to get a mac so they can make it as difficult as possible to leave, communicating via ticket is surely much more secure anyway.....they could always then ring to check if they wanted.....

In reply to a post by wingco1:

I would have thought it right to address the customers concerns, and put the request in a support ticket. Wouldn't you agree?

Or do you prefer to slag people off just for kicks

I haven't slagged anyone off Wingco and I find your moral outrage at my suggestion that the OP is mistaken in his beliefs laughable given your penchant for berating plusnet at every opportunity wether it is deserved or not. The words "pot", "kettle" and "black" spring instantly to mind.

As for addressing the customer's concerns, the plusnet staff have, in my view, gone out of their way to ensure that he was kept up to date with what was going on. Further, he has not been charged for his internet and has been assured that he would not be until the problem is sorted out. He still has internet connectivity albeit at a reduced level so in this case plusnet can't be faulted.

Unless of course you want the staff to go down to the exchange in person .

Edited by deleted (Mon 10-May-10 18:30:51)

As expected you have side stepped the point put to you.

If you read my previous posts I have not berated Plusnet, I have in fact supported the actions of Adam in his dealings with BT. However let's not let fact get in the way of a good rant

Your attempt to belittle the OP is there for all to read.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

As expected you have side stepped the point put to you.

If you read my previous posts I have not berated Plusnet, I have in fact supported the actions of Adam in his dealings with BT. However let's not let fact get in the way of a good rant

Your attempt to belittle the OP is there for all to read.

Point it out then

plusnet want to send a BT engineer round my house for the 7th time in 6 weeks.....

This is my response to that......

I won't accept under any circumstances BT coming to my house until they complete the outstanding work and fix the problem, then they can come and have a chat with me and check everything is ok if they wish.

They can get all the info they need by starting at the cabinet and working back to the exhange from there if they choose that route, no need to visit my house for the 7th time.

As we know they have unfinished work to be completed on the e-side cabling and at the exchange with the twisted pairs, line card and lift and shift, it makes sense they do that first and I cannot see any need to come to my house until they have completed the work they have already agreed needs to be done.

Plus, I simply am not in good enough health to be unnecessarily disturbed by BT yet again...so I would urge you to find a more common-sense approach which causes me the least inconvenience and stress to my medical condition which I have already explained does not respond well to stressful situations...

It seems there is an ISP out there that can get BT to fix faults, I wonder what they do differently compared to other ISP's....?

http://aaisp.net.uk/broadband-trial.html

Their faults team is manned by mothers-in-law, all highly practiced at nagging

I was told this forum allowed reasoned discussion for adults.....can someone let me know if juveniles are allowed to do their best to ruin the content of this or any other thread?

Are you considering AAISP?

If that was meant as a reproof to kamelion, (with whom by the way I frequently disagree so have no axe to grind), did you get out if bed the wrong side today?

Surely adult conversation often includes humourous asides? I thought it was moderately funny, though not something that approaches my own high standards .

AAISP certainly do seem to have highly effective methods. In the absence of any other explanation kamelion may even be right!

Well it was early in the morning I will endeavour to do better next time but it was in the vane of the shreddies adverts

I'm not sure nanas would be as good at nagging BTO as mothers in law tho

Edited by deleted (Tue 11-May-10 12:42:34)

In reply to a post by wingco1:

Are you considering AAISP?

Their usage tariffs dont suit me, but it might be worth it so they fix the faults and then migrate elsewhere....

I read the rules of this forum before I joined and it mentions something about constructive posts, it doesn't appear to be moderated in that respect so I will find another forum which does appreciate letting people know what a nightmare situations like this can be.....

Their usage tariffs dont suit me, but it might be worth it so they fix the faults and then migrate elsewhere....

A good option.
It would be a shame if you moved on from here. Some of us are genuinely interested in the outcome.

Once I find a forum that actually moderates and enforces its own rules and allows people to try and show what dealing with certain companies is like without letting some people just use the thread as a form of their own entertainment with little or nothing to add to the subject, I will send you a link so you can follow the outcome.

Edited by dogwhisperer (Tue 11-May-10 18:28:30)

Don't let the door hit you on the bum on your way out. While you are searching for an new ISP you might as well see if you can get a sense of humour transplant while you're at it.

And migrating out after a company has tried to help you seems to be your M.O. So I have even less sympathy for you than I already did.

Edited by deleted (Tue 11-May-10 19:28:23)

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

Once I find a forum that actually moderates and enforces its own rules and allows people to try and show what dealing with certain companies is like without letting some people just use the thread as a form of their own entertainment with little or nothing to add to the subject, I will send you a link so you can follow the outcome.

You took the opportunity to join this forum and made your point. The vast majority of posts were members expressing their views on the situation. The fact that some were not that sympathetic to you is the risk you take on an open BBS.

You are entitled to your opinion.............but so are they.

Thats fine I totally accept what you say, but my point is one particular poster is clearly just out to cause trouble and stir things up and do their best to attack me, that does not fall in the remit of what you say......can't you see that?

What you can't see is that your behaviour , in my opinion, was that of a spoiled brat who, on not getting the service you believed you should get from an at best £20 a month internet service, decided to try and slander the company for revenge.

I read the entire topic on the plusnet community board and I have to say that not even my three year old would throw such tantrums that you have done on that forum and this.

The fact that you can't accept that other people may have a different point of view to yours just shows how immature you are hopefully one day you will learn that the world does not revolve around you. Your health might improve once you realise that and stop raising your blood pressure because things don't always go your way.

In reply to a post by dogwhisperer:

Once I find a forum that actually moderates and enforces its own rules and allows people to try and show what dealing with certain companies is like without letting some people just use the thread as a form of their own entertainment with little or nothing to add to the subject, I will send you a link so you can follow the outcome.

How about this one?

Like you, I've read thro' all 19 pages of the thread on the Plusnet Community board and one does feel that the member of the Plusnet Support team deserves a medal for services given.

When I had a broadband problem, in mid 2009, I was only too pleased for an Openreach engineer to call 3 times to our house despite being personally convinced that it was (later proven) a line card fault. The chap was most friendly and I gained an NTE5a for free.

Whilst it might be frustrating it's only a broadband connection and it's not worth bursting a blood vessel over it.

No updates have appeared, and I have only just found this thread. I hope that by now your problem is solved one way or another. (I have not read your post on the plusnet forums).

I would say in defence of this forum say that over the last few years I have always received lots of useful and prompt advice here and find it a very interesting resource. The ISP forums are generally very good.