Observations, criticisms, stating the obvious....

I have been reading this thread with interest earlier today and I can't help but cringe.

http://portal.plus.net/central/forums/viewtopic.php?p=347688&sid=085684f4b430fcb7ed7e4a33117d0bc3#347688

Forgive me if I get too personal, critical or even obvious but it is Friday night and I can't help but laugh and cry at the same time. The post brings up some interesting points but Ian Wild could perhaps have spell checked his post as well as proof read it before posting.

My conclusions about PN are as follows:

They know what they are offering ( cheap products with second rate service)
They are not honest (LLU and refunds come to mind)
They want to compete with the big players but can't accept they are out of their depth
PN is nothing like Google
PN wanted the novice user and got them in droves but they failed to realise the same people would need more support, not less and failed to plan for it
PN "might" have honest intentions but everything they do proves otherwise

What they need to do to fix the service and experience:

Cut the spin
Be honest
Get some resiliency into the network
Take a step back and look at the business model
Stop telling people how great it will be in future, they have been using that line for over 8 months, because it is the most infuriating thing to say to someone experiencing problems today
Set deadlines for resolutions
Increase prices if needed
Stop their people touching a working machine (I say this in jest )

What do you folks think?

Reading into that post Ian just can't help but see him inject all of the very things you listed in your "what they need to do to fix the service and experience"

What is obvious is plusnet has some very bright customers who are willing to put their own time and some effort trying to get plusnet to move forwards in the right direction, but plusnet is now a victim of its own making and refuses to listen or accept what is best for it as a company.

You know, i recently got a PM from Mr Saffron moaning about my "inane posts" and said almost the same thing as you in my reply...." If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry"

He speaks of "3 months" down the road! Is plusnet going to be around in 3 months I wonder?

How much rope does plusnet expects from its customers? Enough to hang itself with? Its like the lights are on but no one is home.......I wonder what going to break / fail next week, or what PR disaster awaits us in the next exciting installment of "general hospital"?

I'll just get my box of tissues within reaching distance........

Edited by buggerlugz (Sat 19-Aug-06 01:01:16)

I'd agree with what you said. It's a little hard to comment on Ian Wild's post though, as it seems to follow his usual formula of empathy before he bestows us with his tales of what wonders PN have in the pipeline for their next exciting escapade into the world of communications. I'm more inclined to just see what happens, as actions speak louder than words. I'm a firm believer that a company is only as good as its staff, now unless people from PN's middle management and upwards have either a) miraculously started learning from experience, b) found Jesus or c) have all been simultaneously hit around the head, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to happen.

And so the morbid outside fascination from the ADSLg forum will continue, as combined with PN's transparency, it's a bit like an insight into watching a train crash in slow motion. It really is fascinating stuff as a spectator.

*hugs the internet*

Ian Wild's spin has been transparently desperate for months and I don't see much new in his latest post to warrant pulling it apart again.

However, I do believe him when he says that there are major changes ahead (even though they weren't even hinted at in PlusNet's recent interim report). Quite simply, the platform of their business model is about to be taken away from them by Ofcom, so they will no longer be able to lock customers into an unsatisfactory service.

The notion that unhappy customers can simply walk away from PlusNet must be terrifying for the company (and a few other ISPs too, no doubt). In the near future only value for money and good CS will matter. So PlusNet must shape up or ship out. And that means radical changes -- or an even more alarming customer drain than they are experiencing now.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to me that the present senior management can change its spots to deliver the new plan when so much of their past success has been built on disinformation and mass exploitation. But if the new plan includes at least a new CEO, it might have a chance.

Since this week's Ofcom proposal, I am much more sanguine about PlusNet's shoddy service. No doubt more customers will suffer in the months before the new regulations come into force but PlusNet now know how closely Ofcom is watching them and how assiduously it is logging the complaints. If PlusNet have any sense, they will not give customers more ammunition to add to Ofcom's armoury.

In short, PlusNet are now being squeezed by Ofcom and by an apparently increasing willingness of wronged customers to resort to the Small Claims Court. Their business model (regardless of which type of customer they have been targeting) is holed below the water line and they have no choice but to change it radically.

Ian Wild's post and any other PlusNet spin are now irrelevant. The cracks are too wide to paper over and I suspect that IW knows this. Actions not words are needed. Reports, not promises.

Simon

You and rsharma really should set up an ISP together, with your combined expertise and superior business knowledge you would make millions, it would be THE best ISP in the world!

edited. I made the mistake of replying to that poster.


Please try to keep this thread on topic all.

Edited by rsharma (Sat 19-Aug-06 09:53:09)

I would have to agree with the sentiment because PN seem to do the same thing over and over again as though they are stuck in an infinite loop. Problem, solved (sometimes) back to problem again. The support issues have be ongoing for at least 7 or 8 months so what went wrong, not refunding people who are legally entitled to it hasn't even been on the agenda, mass migrating people to Max was always going to be problematic and especially when they should have known about all the problems if they had read the various fora for other ISPs and finally the LLU problems.

In fact this last one is most interesting. If PN had done it in an open way and on a voluntary basis I have no doubt people would have jumped at the chance. What people found indefensible was the forceful and without notice migration of their connection. They were also unhappy about the fact that they weren't told about the migration problem and an overall sense of losing control. If, on the other hand, PN had genuinely been honest and kept to the promises they wouldn't suffer as much as they are now or have to pay for migrations back because the people moved would have consented to it.

Immediate steps needed:

Stop all developments on new and funky services, or let a team keep tinkering with those but don't announce them and specially don't say "watch this space" "exciting stuff is going to be launched" "we are confident of the what the changes mean"

Deal with the critical issues now i.e. clear backlog of tickets, reduce turnaround and response times for tickets, reduce call waiting times and make the phone system easy to navigate

Make the portal easier to use for self help

Be clear that telephone support is a last resort and PN see the telephone support as this rather than advertising 24/7 support on the front page

Move people back to IPStream if they weren't sent the email with an opt-out or are having problems with the connection and without argument

If PN would spend as much time on management by objective, and stop their obfuscation and management by crisis, we could all relax and enjoy our Broadband. Any half decent CEO would, by this time, have heads on poles outside PlusNet House.

There is a reason PM's are called Private Messages, they are private, next time I'll post publically if there is a need to mention anything to you

Andrew

"There is a reason PM's are called Private Messages, they are private, next time I'll post publically if there is a need to mention anything to you"

Feel free to. You know I "call a spade a spade" where any of my views are concerned on ADSLguide.