Broadband down for 7 days, is this acceptable?

[#1]

Broadband went down 02/03/2011, back up today 09/03/2011, 7 days paying for? nothing!
Time waiting on phone to report fault, far too long, if Plusnet are to continue to have the high level of calls there Yorkshire call centre needs more staff, I'll by Eck them!
Here's the question thread I've had with them;
[mremoved] - CSC Analyst
6:08pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
**INTERNAL
Fault Type Identified: NSC
Confirm you’ve advised the customer to complete the following:
- Connect to the test socket: Y
- Unplug all other devices from the line: Y
- Test with another microfilter: Y
- Leave equipment turned on: Y
Confirm:
- Is the customer able to test with another router? N
Confirm you’ve advised the customer:
- Possible SFI charges: Y
Obtain:
- Mobile Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Contact Times: 09:00 – 21:00
- Router Model: Belkin
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
[mremoved] - CSC Analyst
6:09pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Please do ALL these checks to progress the broadband issue or you may incur engineer charges: Plug your router into the test socket
Remove all other devices from your phone line
Try a new microfilter & (if you can) router
If problems persist please reply to this message. Ensure the router is in the test socket & turned on
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
Your Response
6:23pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
(Received via text message) Still no connection
[mremoved] - BOT - DSL Logged Faults
6:28pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Dear Mr Bond,
We are now testing your broadband line and will contact you within 48 hours with the results.
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
[mremoved] - BOT - DSL Logged Faults
6:27pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Broadband Troubleshooter started
Now you've confirmed your contact details and telephone number your broadband is supplied on, we need to ask you some questions about your problem.
We'll save your answers for 48 hours, so you can come back if you don't have time to answer everything now.
Your Response
6:28pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Your support request has been escalated to the correct team for review.
Your Response
6:28pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Thanks for answering our questions
Over the next 24 hours, we'll test your line to investigate the problem you've reported. We'll contact you as soon as we have more information and let you know what happens next.
Your Response
6:30pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Your support request has been escalated to the correct team for review.
Your Response
6:30pm, Wednesday 2 Mar 2011
Our tests haven't found any problems so far
A Ticket has been raised to our Faults Team who'll check the problem and run more tests.
We'll contact you when we have more information.
[mremoved] - CSC Analyst
5:34pm, Friday 4 Mar 2011
[internal]
Test Results


Test Outcome
: Fail
Test Description
: Failure occurred at layer : PPP

Layer Details
Layer Status
Modem pass
DSL pass
ATM pass
PPP fail
Copper Line Check Test Outcome :


Test Outcome
: Pass
Proposed Repair Actions
: Not Applicable
Additional Text
: Line Test OK.Line loss within appropriate limits.
Copper Line Check Test Results :
Description Diagnosis Code MFL
Line Test OK.Line loss within appropriate limits.
DS10 OK
Copper Line Check Test Outcome Summary :


Test Outcome
: Pass
Description
: Copper Line Test Successful
xDSL STATUS CHECK TEST DETAILS
Results


Additional Text
: Line status not in sync

Unable to run KBD
Error shows, circuit is still being provisioned.
1-7168220832
[mremoved] - CSC Analyst
5:36pm, Friday 4 Mar 2011
Dear Mr Bond,
We have looked into your fault and We've raised your fault to our suppliers for further tests.
Once we receive an update, We'll let you know as soon as possible.
Please do not hesitate to get back in touch online at http://contactus.plus.net or by phone on 0845 140 0200 if we can be of further assistance.
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
Your Response
5:42pm, Friday 4 Mar 2011
Add a comment for the support team here....Does this mean you accept there is a problem with the broadband service you are supplying ? I've just gone out and bought a new router, that doesn't work either !

Dear Mr Bond,
We do accept that there could be a problem with the service, this has been passed to our supplier to investigate further to see if the cause can be found.
Your fault is still being investigated. We'll continue to keep you updated, informing you of any
progress.
Please do not hesitate to get back in touch online at http://contactus.plus.net or by phone on 0845 140 0200 if we can be of further assistance.
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
Your Response
4:24pm, Tuesday 8 Mar 2011
Please do you have an estimate of when my service will be restored ? I have not had the service since last Wednesday, I have since spent £60 on a new router, but veryittle appears to be happening by yourselves to restore the service, the waiting times on the telephone are so unacceptable !
[mremoved]- BOT - DSL Logged Faults
12:37pm, Wednesday 9 Mar 2011
[internal]
No connection attempts seen in radius since 02/03
KBD shows line is in course of provision.
Standalone TAM test fails on PPP layer
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
[mremoved] - BOT - DSL Logged Faults
12:38pm, Wednesday 9 Mar 2011
Dear Mr Bond,
Your fault has been passed to our specialist team who will investigate this matter further. We will review your case and contact you within 72 hours.
Kind regards,
[mremoved]
[Sms Message: Plusnet:
Your fault has been passed to our specialist team who will investigate this matter further. We will review your case and contact you within 72 hours.]
Its now been back up since 1725 today, Plusnet still haven't told me, they haven't recorded the fact that I phoned them this morning asking how long it takes to fix a PPP fail!  anyone want to buy a new router? I've got a spare one. Both my routers told me it was a PPP fail but plusnet rumble on for a week, think I'll be moving on soon, only joined Plusnet because my old ISP joined SKY, maybe I should of joined too.
Unhappy, By Eck I Am!
The log
jim:csa

[#2]

Hi andybonduk,
I'm sorry if things have moved along slowly so far, however your fault ticket is with a priority team so I'll make sure it gets picked up and processed today. I'll make sure you're kept up to date.

[#3]

HI Andy,
just read about your  recent  bb issue. are things working now or do you still have ppp errors. What Belkin router are you using? I have similar ppp issues too.
Regards,
Podman

[#4]

7 days is more than acceptable to plusnet.  My fault took 6 WEEKS to sort out and they didn't seem to understand why I was getting so piised off at hearing, 'wait anouther 24/48/72 hours'.  If I had just rolled over and followed their advice and just waited, I would still not have internet, so my advice, phone them everyday until you get a satisfactory response, do not accept phrases like we are looking into it and we will get back to you, as they never get back to you, and when you phone back, nobody has looked into it.

[#5]

I agree, phone constantly. My latest update from them was that they couldn't contact their suppliers........  i mean, that's one of the worst excuses i have ever been given.

[#6]

Quote

7 days is more than acceptable to plusnet.  My fault took 6 WEEKS to sort out

1 day is unacceptable to us. Whilst managing the resolution of faults falls largely under our responsibility (unless its related to the misuse of customer equipment) we rarely in control of how long these issues take to resolve.
tony8436, I am sorry if you feel that we dragged our heels here, even if the cause of a fault lies with our suppliers for example we still continue to put pressure on them appropriately, appeal for urgency and push back where needed. I will go through the notes relating to your issue to see if we've failed in doing any of those things.

Quote

agree, phone constantly. My latest update from them was that they couldn't contact their suppliers

sixthprawn, that only happens with good reason, firstly it depends on the time of day you contacted us and asked us to do this, the contact centres that we call aren't open 24/7. Secondly it may be that our suppliers were experiencing system issues and may have been unable to take calls from us. Issues like the latter are thankfully few and far between but do happen.
andybonduk,
We should always be crediting our customers for downtime when a fault is experienced, have you been offered this?
Adam

[#7]

I had a similar problem with PPP not working starting on 4 April - I finally had service restored on the evening of 13 April after it took four days before the problem was escalated. No mention of crediting me for the downtime. The "reason" why it took so long was their new SMS ticketing system! 
To make matters worse - the problem reappeared yesterday afternoon (disappeared for a couple of hours later) and is now back good line sync but PPP LCP failing.  Provided router logs and wireshark traces as evidence but I am not sure whether customer services actually look at them at all.
I suspect that the problem is with BTW but I just can't understand why Metronet can't escalate these OBVIOUS problems quicker (from the forum it appears that these problems are quite common). I hope that this time the problem is fixed in a reasonable timeframe.
 

[#8]

Quote

Quote agree, phone constantly. My latest update from them was that they couldn't contact their suppliers sixthprawn, that only happens with good reason, firstly it depends on the time of day you contacted us and asked us to do this, the contact centres that we call aren't open 24/7. Secondly it may be that our suppliers were experiencing system issues and may have been unable to take calls from us. Issues like the latter are thankfully few and far between but do happen. andybonduk, We should always be crediting our customers for downtime when a fault is experienced, have you been offered this? Adam

How did i miss this. Nope, quick to chase for money though....
jim:green quote fixed mod:end

[#9]

sixthprawn,
We are still looking at your fault so there's no point in us doing that just yet. Rest assured I will make sure that happens though.
Adam.

[#10]

Adam from PN said

Quote

1 day is unacceptable to us.

Today I phoned Metronet (part of PN) about a ticket that I raised 24 hours ago (no internet connection) and they told me that it can take 3 days max. for them to look into a ticket and every time I comment on a ticket through the web support system it will get pushed further back in the queue.  When I suggested that I may leave Metronet, I was told that then they would not investigate the ticket at all.
Maybe Metronet customers can't expect the same level of service as Plusnet provides?

[#11]

I seems that my phone call to Customer Services has got the ball rolling, just received the following SMS:
[Sms Message: Plusnet:
We are now testing your broadband connection. Please ensure your router stays connected and our faults team will contact you within 48-72 hours with the results.]
If they are testing NOW, then why will it take up to 48-72 hours to let me know the results (let alone, fix the problem)?

[#12]

Hi there,
The fault is now in a queue to be tested and the ticket should be updated within the 48-72 hour time period stated. Apologies if this is misleading, but it's written as such to ensure that the router stays set up as per the advice you received from the agent you talked to.