Frustrated

[#1]

PlusNet customer support has now got to rate as one of the worst I have encountered.  Friday 26/9/14, engineer came to install my fibre after doing his bit at the green box up the street. after inspection he couldn't do it as it required a power outlet next to the master socket, which is in the front hall, and the location of my computer is in a bedroom at the far end of the house. The engineer told me to phone PlusNet and tell them I needed a "home wiring solution".    This is where  the problem started, after 15mins I got through and spoke to an advisor who didn't seem to know what I was talking about, I explained it was to enable an extension to the master socket, He suggested I "nip down to curry's for one", I was finally told he would see what he would do and someone from the support team would be contacting me, this never occurred. My 2nd contact after another 15min wait and explaining the situation to another advisor she  again told me to " go down to curry's, this is what she did".  But she would have to cancel my original order and request a new order with the required extension. and lo and behold, I would be contacted.  I have received an e-mail telling me PlusNet were contacting the supplier. On Friday the 3/10/14 I again tried to discover what was going on, I was informed the new order was in and the responsible team would be contacting me on Sat 4th. This also never happened.  having experience of call centres, I believe the advisors have so long in which to attend to a caller so the best way to avoid responsibility, is to either transfer them or tell them they will be contacted.
I again called today, and was informed by an advisor that they have been in touch with the suppliers and fibre broadband is not yet available in my area, relate back to the beginning, the guy was at my door after being at the green box. I explained this to the advisor, and also the fact that as the box is at the top of my street I see BT vans there everyday obviously attending to other people in the area who are having fibre installed. The advisor could not sway from his path and make a decision of his own and continued with his script that it was not available and would not be until the 29th.  I do not have my fibre all because it only needs an extension from the master socket, I cant get any one to take responsibility, despite the fact that PlusNet are charging me for the service I don't have.

[#2]

Sounds to me like the BT guy couldn't be arsed! My master socket was in the hall with no power sockets near it and my PC is in the back bedroom. I asked if there was anyway he could get it there, he said yeah I can just move the master socket! Which is what he did.

[#3]

Hi Swirlad,
Welcome to the forums and PlusNET, sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations.
The failure of PlusNET to phone you back when promised is inexcusable and I hope will be dealt with by PlusNET staff (CRT) directly.
As for the other issues...
1. There is a clear requirement to provide a power socket near the master socket or request a DATA EXTENSION kit at the time of ordering
2. When discussing this with the call centre did you refer to a phone extension or a data extension?  "Go to Currys" is a reasonable answer for a phone extension, but not for what you need - a DATA extension.  One might though hope that if there was room for ambiguity, the agent would have clarified the distinction.
3. It is possible that due to the inflexibility of BTw ordering systems, the data extension cannot be added to the existing order, so a new one is required.
4. Now that a new order is being placed, it is possible that there is presently no spare capacity.  FTTC cabinets are only partially populated when commissioned - these are BT constraints outside the control of any ISP.
How all is soon sorted for you.

[#4]

Hi swirlad,
This sounds like a bad experience. I'm sorry to hear about this. There's a few things I feel that I should address:
Firstly, it looks like I need to feed back. Particularly on the agent that didn't call you back. I'm really sorry about this.
When we placed your order we said that the extension kit was "authorised if required". Realistically, this means that the engineer should have had it with him. The data extension cabling itself is category 5, and should look like something you'd see here except a little bit longer: http://goo.gl/iKaZyO
You shouldn't have been told to "nip down to Curry's". But in very rare extenuating circumstances I have seen us agree that we pay the charge if a customer goes out and buys their own cable. This is the only way I can imagine why you were advised this. I have their names, so I'll talk it through with them.
Completely irregardless of this, Townman is absolutely spot on once again in that the cabinet is at capacity and BT have stopped accepting orders. I'm not sure that the engineer will have been able to do the work anyway, and the fact that he said he didn't have any data extension kits sounds suspicious (but could still have been true).
We have a capacity relief date, so we will look into placing your order ASAP from this date. This would be our benefit as well as yours.
In the meantime, I'll change your package back and refund the difference.
Once again I'm really sorry to hear of your experience. I really hope capacity gets relieved sooner than the advertised date.
Matty

[#5]

Townman and Matty, The engineer told me to request a "home wiring solution," before contacting PlusNet  I googled it and found that it was previously known as a Data  extension kit, and there are no websites that bring up Curry's or any other retailer selling these.  so after telling the advisors that I needed a home wiring solution I informed them that it was previously known as a data extension kit. Any way thank you for your reply, I just pleased someone has looked at this.

[#6]

Sworlad,
As advised by Matty, a data extension / home wiring kit was authorised if required.  Would you know if this was a real BTOR engineer or a sub-contractor?
There has been a significant number of reports of one particular sub-contractor virtually doing everything they can to avoid installing a data extension and / or doing it very badly.
Hope that the capacity issues are soon addressed.
Kevin.

[#7]

The home wiring solution is just a fancy word for a data extension, which is just a fancy word for CAT5E cable.
We're at a phase where we'll have to replace your order once the opportunity arises, so I will ensure that it gets requested for you.
Matty

[#8]

Townman, the engineer was from bt outreach.
Matty I understand my connection issues were going to be resolved at the end of the month, but I have had an e-mail, BT have now installed the necessary equipment to give us extra capacity and those of us in the area who have been unable to get our orders completed can now contact our providers with a view to getting connected. can you take a look at this for me.

[#9]

Hi sworlad,
Getting the order placed for you and will confirm the installation date on the ticket on the account.