4 months on and still waiting to get connected.

[#1]

I signed up for broadband and homephone with plusnet on 5th Oct 08 and nearly 17 weeks later Im still waiting.  I am currently with Talk Talk and have spent the last 4 months to'ing and fro'ing between Plusnet and Talktalk to try and get to isssue resolved.  I have been given numerous excuses by PN including:
1) talk talk has an open order on my line so it can't be migrated ontil the order is closed off-checked with TalkTalk and this is not the case.
2) My number has now been lost and so can not be ported over and I will have to pay £120 to get re-connected. Bt confirmed to me that this was rubbish-as long as I still had a dial tone on my line then it would be impossible for my number to be lost.
3) I was informed by PN that all I need was my MAC code and hey presto problem would be sorted-again after checking with TalkTalk I was told a MAC is only needed if im transfering my broadband only.
4) I was then informed in Dec by PN that it had been a problem with BT systems and now the problem was resolved my order should go through
5) I have now been told that the company that own my line are refusing to agree to BT taking it over and every time a request has been submitted in the last 4 months they have all been refused.
I am fed up ringing PN as all I get is "we are doing everything we can" quite frankly I just dont believe them!!  To make matters worse I am now dealing with a member of staff from the Cheif Execs Office at TalkTalk-who incedently has kept me informed on a daily basis and he now infroms me that after doing a check on my line they have never received any orders from BT or anyone else for that matter to take over my line.  This makes me wonder just what has been gong on for the last 4 months.  Ive paid my £40 migration fee and yet I have nothing to show for it-I have even requsted that this fee to refunded back to me and when the problem has been resolved and I can have a guarantee my order will go through smoothly I will re-pay the fee.  To date the problem still isnt resolved PN are still hanging on to my money.
As I seem to be getting no-where fast I am now resorting to putting pen to paper and making a written complain to head office.

[#2]

Given the choice between believing anything Talk Talk say and believing Plusnet I'd believe Plusnet every time!

[#3]

If you were just talking about the customer services staff at talk talk then I'd have to agree with you-howerver this is coming from a bloke dealing with high leval complaints in the cheif execs office-personally im getting to the point were I dont know who to believe anymore!!!

[#4]

Sounds awful, but from what you've written it's just about possible to believe them both and blame BT.
The reality is that you don't have any direct effective access to the relevant parts of BT and both PN and TT are depending on them to facilitate this.
So, my money is on a BT cockup, but the only way you're likely to resolve it is to insist that appropriate people in PN and TT talk directly to each other, keeping you informed of course.

[#5]

This does seem a classic case of both parties correctly saying what their computer systems show, but unfortunately the information is incompatible. In which case until this is resolved progress will be impossible.
If you can be patient until Monday I anticipate a member of Plusnet's Comms team will pick this topic up and hopefully progress will be made. It might be necessary for a staff member to telephone you - are you available during the day on the number registered in your Plusnet account or an associated mobile? (It's best not to post numbers in the forums, these are a public place.)

[#6]

There is a 'Tag' team at BT Wholesale that any ISP can contact to see which tags are on your line and what orders have been placed. I'm not sure about plusnet, but with other providers, 1st. level support staff are usually unaware what is available to them. You need to get the next level support involved to get sorted. From what I've seen with plusnet, I wage place a small wager on someone coming to the rescue pdq.
I had a similar issue about a year ago with a cease order that had not been actioned. I managed to talk to BTW myself, to get it resolved, but I don't think they want to speak with the masses any more.
Fingers crossed, good luck
John

[#7]

Quote from: HPsauce

...............................So, my money is on a BT cockup, but the only way you're likely to resolve it is to insist that appropriate people in PN and TT talk directly to each other, keeping you informed of course.

Well that was my thought before I even saw HP's post. But another thing baffles me

Quote

..............5) I have now been told that the company that own my line are refusing to agree to BT taking it over and every time a request has been submitted in the last 4 months they have all been refused.

So who has said what about who owns your line? Unless there is something uncommon going on here it is owned by BT (Openreach). It sounds like a load of bull to me.

[#8]

Owned as in tagged or contracted to, presumably.
The line will be "owned" in that sense by TalkTalk; remember they provide their own equipment for both voice and broadband in the exchange.
It has to be transferred fully back to BT (not sure which part) in order for PlusNet to provide their services, including moving cables in the exchange.

[#9]

I'm not sure that is correct for ALL TalkTalk service. I was with Onetel / TalkTalk - and our local exchange only has BT plant.

[#10]

Unless whichever bit of the Car Phone Warehouse group (whether it would be Opal or TalkTalk themselves or whoever) have actually taken over a bundle of local loops, then "owns" is incorrect and misleading terminology, and in any event they would not be allowed to stop a customer from using whichever provider they chose (anti-competitive). So unless someone is still within the 18 month contract period with them and not paid to get out them cannot block a move.
If cassie73 is on unbundled equipment, the mechanics are simply shifting some jumpers at the exchange, however the beaurocracy IIRC is the line (phone) has to be "ported", I think is the term, to PN. TalkTalk/OneTel do provide phone services on BTw/Openreach kit (including wlr) when there is no phone unbundling, but you pay a not insignificant sum for the BB if that is not unbundled.
Whichever, I'm thinking that maybe someone like Mand Beckett would be the one to untangle this. Perhaps if Jameseh picks this up tomorrow he could point it in the right direction.

[#11]

Hi
Many thanks for all your advice.  Having had a text message from Plusnet today Im an now told that it will not be possible to port my number over to BT from Talktalk, however they can provide me with a new line at a cost of £105!!  When I rang to enquire why it could not be done I was told my number had been blocked and that they could not give me any further info as they would be breaking the law due to the Data Protection Act??  This is dispite the fact I have it in writing from the CEO office at TalkTalk that they are in no way blocking any company from taking over my line and all BT has to do is request an unsolicited cease command. Quite frankly Im at a loss-and feel extreamly let down by plusnet-this has been ongoing since 5th Oct 08 Ive been passed from pillar to post, constantly give incorrectly info, failed promises of returned calls and it would seem no-one was prepared to take ownership of the problem.  Even now after 5 months Ive finally been told the number port cant be dont they still cannont give me a decent explanation as to why.  I was recommended to plusnet by my father who has also recommended many others- after this episode he will no longer be singing plusnets praises.

[#12]

This isn't really my strong area but the problems with the number port might well be due to confusion that sometimes arises between the numbers Talk Talk assign to their customers. Sometimes they belong to Carphone Warehouse whereas other times they belong to Opal (I think that's right). This can make the process a bit of a nightmare and make it much more liable to break down.
I'll ask our resident Home Phone guru to take a look at this tomorrow and see if we can get things straight once and for all...

[#13]

Hi cassie73,
this truly is a nightmare. A simple question, was your current number originally a BT number or was it allocated when you went to TalkTalk? If it wasn't a BT one originally, I can see a possible issue, BUT, I don't think it's PN's fault and still don't see why moving should be such a nightmare. I would certainly write to Ofcom and complain about what TalkTalk seem to have done and the fact that the system should not allow such problems to arise.
If Bob and Mand can't sort this for you, I'm not sure what the quickest and cheapest route would be, see what they say.
In the meantime, I'd talk to the CEO's office at TalkTalk again, and tell them what BT are saying to PN and tell the that you will be writing to Ofcom unless this is resolved within 5 working days. I wouldn't give them longer as it's been going on for so long. Tell them that you would then also seek compensation, for the difference in cost and quality of service as a result of not transfering, also for the stress and incidental costs that you have incurred. (Well if you don't try ........).
Best of luck.

[#14]

Cassie - not much help, I know, but you really have my sympathy. Difficult to tell who is at fault here from your description.
It reminds me of when I tried to connect to TT a few years ago and I too was in communication with the high level complaints bods but I was really getting the runaround and even Opal couldn't tell me why they were not able to connect my line - it seemed totally beyond them. In the end, I already had an account with Force 9 so I upgraded to BB and haven't regretted it.
I can't see any reason why you should pay for a new telephone connection when you already have one.
It really can't be beyond the wit of man to give you a working connection and I do hope that it is sorted out soon. 
Please keep us updated.

[#15]

Hi there,
As discussed with you today the issue is not that anyone was lying to you (though obviously I'm not party to all TalkTalk have said on the issue). I do apologise however that the information given to you was not properly explained and for the confusion and frustration caused at times by lack of information from our provisioning teams.
The issue here is that Opal (part of TalkTalk and the overall supplier of the line) do not have a commercial agreement with Openreach for porting the range in which your number falls. They are in the process called 'Service Establishment' which will set this agreement in place, however this is not a quick turnaround.
As discussed have a think about the options, and give me a call once you've decided and we'll take it from there. I'm happy to handle the provisioning process for you entirely if you do wish to go ahead.