Here is a few more :

>> Blaming a 3rd party (BTOR) for the problemms when that third party has no right of reply
>> Not having any other options when that 3rd party is not to blame.
>> Basing your customer satisfaction survey on a number of people that would better befit a hair products company and claiming it is statistically proven you are better than the competition.

Imagine this situation davidinnotts... Your ISP (any) has been asked by you to solve a problem with your connection.
They instantly blame BTOR and arrange to have an engineer sent out.
The engineer fixes a few things but the problem persists.
The ISP blame BTOR again and have another engineer sent out.
The engineer can;t find anything, but replaces a span of line that is just within parameters, but the problem persistes.
The ISP blame BTOR again and have another engineer sent out.
The engineer checks the entire line and can't find any fault, the problem persists.
Repeat the above steps 7 more times.
The final Engineer comes out, rebuilts the line from the exchange to the house, checking the line quality at every junction till the line is well inside the required parameters. The problem persists.
The ISP blame BTOR and want another engineer sent out.
BTOR tell the ISP to sling their hook, as everything has been done on the line, the problem is not with them.
The ISP scratches their head since they have no 3rd party to blame anymore. The problem persists.

So basically, Plusnet's support strategy as I have experienced it, is to blame BT OpenReach as the source of all evil.

Now I'm glad for you Davidinnotts, that you have had good service from them, but stop being such a fanboi and assuming that when people do not get a decent level of support or service that the customer is in the wrong.

As for the "proper grievance channels" , yes you are right. I will be putting an officiial complaint in now. The reason I have not done so as yet is that every time I am forced to bring their lack of interest or ability to a public forum, it suddenly kicks them into a flurry of sctivity for a week or so, lulling you into a false sense of security that they are actually going to do something this time. For example, whilst typing this response to you I have received notification that something has been added to my ticket. I suspect this is in response to the comments I left on their public forums this morning. This time I shall not be so gullible as to believe they are really bothering to look at it.

The problem with what you've said is that Openreach are normally the only ones to blame (or possibly BTW) if you have a connection issue.

The connection is nothing to do with PlusNet - they have no equipment (except for the supplied router) until you get to their handover equipment in London, but that would not or shouldn't affect a connection.

If you are getting errors on your line - how are PlusNet at fault? They are reliant on their suppliers (BTW) to get Openreach to fix the problem. Unfortunately, sometimes it is just not cost effective for Openreach to completely replace lengths of copper cabling if there is no issue on the voice side of the line. Openreach can and do say there is nothing more they can do to fix some problems, despite still acknowledging a problem exists.

Ok folks, everyone has their own experience with Plusnet or any other companies - good or bad. However things need to be put into perspective. Everyone with a problem could have had a perfect connection and enjoyed unlimited internet at very low prices, and anyone with nothing but a praise could have had a problematic one that was difficult to troubleshoot - still at a very low price.

Most would probably have a generally positive/OK experience with a few minor things thrown in (I have had some issues with Plusnet too and I've only been with them for a couple of months, but they have been dealt with and I've moved on).

It is very important not only how the ISP in question deals with the customer service issues, but how you, as a customer, deal with it as well.

It seems that some people spend more energies and time into moaning and ranting rather than dealing with their own individual cases.

My advice to those people would be, log your cases, be helpful in providing necessary info and do the tests. If the problem persists, ask what options are available to you. If nothing can be done, ask if you can move somewhere else at no charge as you believe Plusnet is not delivering what you have expected. I am sure they will either offer you a deal that you can reject or happily allow you to move to a better greener place.

If not, log a formal complaint and deal with it (why not, since you are still under contract and your connection is playing up). Get a deadlock letter and complain to OFCOM, your local MP, ect. In my humble experience of taking formal complaint route (with some other organisations, not Plusnet, I shall add) always resulted in a satisfactory outcome.

Most likely by this time they will want you to move on regardless.

Get a MAC and move on. Brace yourself for another ISP's 100% positive experience.

This would be a constructive and respectful way of dealing with issues.

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Jan-14 12:09:54)

I once had a issue like yours.
This must have been at least 8 years ago. I at that time was with PlusNet.

In the end after many too & throws of BToR saying nothing wrong with the line. It turned out to be a software issue @ BToR.

The 1st port of call has to be BToR as they are the ones who supply and look after the line. Not sure if they would tackle any LLU issues with the kit in that side of the exchange.

In reply to a post by s_yates:

Blaming a 3rd party (BTOR) for the problems when that third party has no right of reply

I'm sure many people with issues would love to blame Openreach directly to their many faces and hear their replies if only they were accessible to the end user.
A particular issue I'm thinking of is when an appointment is booked and confirmed and the Openreach engineer fails to turn up.

Edited by deleted (Tue 07-Jan-14 12:25:51)

In reply to a post by weldick:

A particular issue I'm thinking of is when an appointment is booked and confirmed and the Openreach engineer fails to turn up.

Which for many people means half a day's holiday or pay lost. But if for whatever reason you aren't there when an engineer turns up there's a missed appointment charge by Openreach.

The poster saying Openreach have no right of reply is so far on the wrong side of understanding the relationship between Openreach and its customers (the ISPs) it beggars belief.

Then you should be well aware of the underlying problems with Plusnet. Days to answer a ticket. Staff without a clue only saved by those that have that drop by here. Incorrect information that is still not updated after years which adds to the poor information given out by customer services. Just broken promises, with the continued upload cap a prime example. Biggest problem for me, was days getting an answer to a ticket, stupid email address format, utterly silly bill breakdown description of line rental and hours on hold on the phone. I will pass on the silly adverts promising top service for peanuts. Nothing has changed to tempt me from the service I now have.

Diverting from the slagging off of PlusNet, if it really is the case that you are getting no where with fixing your broadband fault (even though it is still not clear to me precisely what you believe the fault to be), I suggest you move to an ISP who can and will take on the fault. This is what I would have done in your case, rather than continuously complain about it.

Not my intention to brag about AAISP on a PlusNet forum, but I suggest you give them a shot and migrate to them. First off, it will be a clean connection with no traffic management (if that is indeed one of the things causing your gaming issues). Be clear and explain to them the nature of your line fault before starting with a migration, so they know a fault exists. If they are unable to fix the fault within 1 month of you moving to them, you can migrate to an alternative ISP at no cost. This is how confident they are of fixing any fault you may have.

Unless you know what you are doing, make sure you avoid their unit based tariffs and opt for a Home::1 package so you do not get any nasty surprises in terms of charges for using your connection heavily during peak-times (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm).

AAISP monitor your connection every second for as long as it remains connected, and maintain an entire history of this. I know of no other ISP that does this. If a fault occurs, they will have recorded it and are able to gauge from looking at your line monitoring graphs what the problem might be. Worth a shot, in my honest opinion. I experienced a complete line failure a few months ago when laminate flooring was being laid in the living room. I logged a fault with AA and an Openreach engineer was onsite in under 4 hours, and line restored that same evening. This is the only time I have been gobsmacked in the response time in dealing with a line fault - I was half expecting an engineer to take at least a day or two days to come out, not within 4 hours.

I have already done everything (bar the official complaint to OFCOM) that you have mentioned as the way forward.

I have no obligation to stay with Plusnet, but do not see why I should be forced to move rather than giving me what I pay for.. after all they are the best aren't they?

So, why should I stay quiet? I've done everything I can to assist Plusnet in their investigations and in return I get moved from one advisor to another, each one wanting a "few days" to read through the problem ticket.

If you are not getting the service you are paying for.. you are quite entitled to moan and to warn others that things may not be as good as they first appear to be, after all they may be signing up to a very long contract based on what they are told.