Don't switch to Plusnet

[#1]

This isn't so much as a topic, as I just hope someone may read it and learn by my mistake.  I switched to Plusnet at the beginning of Feb, as it was cheaper than BT and offered a UK based call centre with the emphasis on customer service.  I should have taken more notice of the "cheaper" as it appears that you get what you pay for.  Ever since being with PN my internet connections drops in and out, sometimes staying up for hours, other times minutes.  I did raise the problem and an engineer did finally call last Thur - he was meant to come back Fri but was a no show.  I wondered if it was a faulty router, he said no, and it's not the line, and so I have no idea where he has disappeared off to in order to test now!  I will be moving back to BT, it might be more expensive, with call centres in India, but I am hopeful that I will have an internet connection that I can rely on - and not be losing out on job applications etc because I can't complete their "one time" open tests - and I will be able to buy something without wondering if it has been ordered or not!  By the way the call centre in the UK - it takes approx 17 mins to get an answer, and then they suggest you put everything online anyway, there's no customer service dept apparently.  Plusnet is a great idea but lacking in practice.

[#2]

Pity you didn't come to this forum sooner.
The techies here are well known for taking ownership of problems and sticking with them until the customer is satisfied.

[#3]

After really bad weather, my BB started playing up, plus noise on the landline.
PN showed me a graph of my line dropping very frequently, an Openreach Engineer was booked by them, he arrived on time, spent around 3 hours with his electronics kit chasing the fault, went up the BT pole, bypassed some old BT junction box in the property, concluded it was a faulty line between the BT Pole & the Exchange, swapped to another line, did loads more testing, I have not had a problem since.
(He just happened to be the BB Trainer for the area !)

[#4]

Welcome to the forums everhopeful.
The way you have phrased your comments, I assume you moved from BT. What sort of package were you on with BT, was it ADSL or Fibre, and what package are you now on with Plusnet?
If there is a fault on your connection, ie a line fault, then that fault will follow you who ever your ISP. Your wires to the Cab & Exchange do not change just because you change ISP. It sounds like your fault is intermittent and intermittent faults are often a pain in the **** to locate and if they aren't present when an engineer tests, it is easy to come to the wrong conclusion that it isn't a line fault.
It's unfortunate that often Openreach engineers don't get back to the End User to let them know the latest. Again Openreach are responsible for the maintenance of your line, whoever the ISP.
Plusnet may have had a report back from the Engineer now, which will be updated on your fault ticket, you may be able to see this by logging into the Member Centre https://www.plus.net/my.html?action=questions&?helpheader=questions and looking for your Fault Ticket.
Plusnet's Customer Service Centre is open 24/7 so I'm not sure where you get the impression there isn't one. You can get an idea of how busy there are by looking at the Customer Support Stats, yes waits can be that sort of time at busy periods, but the trick is to phone at a quieter time.
As mentioned by NedLudd,  the Digital Care Team on here give fantastic support (even though it not an official support channel) and I'm sure your issue will get looked at by them on Monday (they only work Mon-Fri) unlike the 24/7 CSC.
By the way, if you signed up with a 12 month contract there would be cancellation fees if you moved before the end of the contract.
Edit: Forgot to ask, do you hear any audible noise on the line when making phone calls, or have any problems with incoming or outgoing calls?

[#5]

Thanks for responding.  There isn't any noise on the line when we use the phone - and we didn't get the connection dropping in and out when we were with BT.  I did ask Plusnet if they thought it could be the router, but the engineer said no.  Is it easy to try another router, just to see if that is the problem?  I have our old BT Home Hub 2 if that would work.  I am not too tech savy but am happy to have a go if anyone thought it would work.  by the way, the idea I got about customer service is because that is what I was told when I phoned today, that they were the technical help guys on 24/7 and customer service was by written letter or online only.  I really would like PN to work, it's just not doing that!!

[#6]

Hi
I think you will find the bt router will work okay
if you phone plus nett and speak to them they will talk you through how to change the settings
they did that for me with my old router when i had a fault
Kuga

[#7]

Hi everhopeful.
Yes your BT Homehub ought to work if you change your login details, but I suggest you do that offline. Perhaps I'll come back to that.
First can you say whether you are on Fibre or ADSL now and which you were on with BT?

[#8]

Thank you for your time on the phone this morning. I am really sorry that the previous engineer does not appear to have retained the job and re-visited. I've got that re-booked for you and we should hopefully have all that sorted out for you shortly.

[#9]

Thanks Chris.  I am hoping the engineer on Saturday can perform some sort of miracle as my son is in a terrible state this evening as he has not been able to get on the internet at all, and he is desperate to get some work done for his A levels.  the connection has been down for 1.5 hours.  I think I will give the guy on Sat one last go, but if he can't fix it, or tells us that nothing is wrong(!), then I have no choice but to cancel with Plusnet and go back to BT.  I hope that won't be necessary though.

[#10]

I take it your are on ADSL (not Fibre) from the way you are describing your problem, and it sounds like a line problem. It's the same wires to the exchange whether you are with Plusnet or BT so you would take the problem with you.
Can you hear any audible noise on the line when using the phone at all?

[#11]

Funny that - I said exactly the same thing to the help line people at Plusnet when I first started having the problem - the day after we switched over to Plusnet, and he gave me some speech about how it's not the same line at all!  I fail to see how it can't be the same line, otherwise the UK would be like a wirenetting of phone lines!  The thing that makes me think it is Plusnet - and I am still not convinced it isnt the router, despite the engineer saying it isn't - is that when we were with BT we had no such problems at all.  (and yes, we are ADSL and there's no noise on the phone line)

[#12]

I may have missed it , but did you try the HH2?

[#13]

Which modem/router are you using at the moment? Are you using Wireless or wired?
And I'm afraid whoever told you it wasn't the same line, didn't know what they were talking about! You didn't have any break in your phone service did you? Did your Broadband switch from BT to Plusnet on the same day or was there a gap?

[#14]

Hi, we are now trying the BT homehub - but it's just as bad with this as with the PN router. We have 2 PCs wired and a wireless laptop - all are as bad as each other.  Why does Plus Net not care about the rubbish service it's giving?  We were offered another engineer (after the one that didn't turn up, and then the one that got mysteriously cancelled) but I can't keep having time off work.

[#15]

I literally now am at the end of my tether!  The home hub did work, but the connection drops out just as much as with the PN router, so that's not the problem.  I spent the weekend trying to get various members of my family back on line - when this ends in divorce, which it will do if this carries on - I will cite PN as the respondent I think!!  Seriously though, this can't go on.  I am waiting for PN to arrange for another engineer to come, how long will I have to wait I have no idea.  PN - if you are out there - help!!