House Move - Poor Plusnet Service

[#1]

Hi everyone,
I'm sure many of your have complained about the unacceptable waiting times & service quality of Plusnet support, but I thought I would add my voice to the crowd. I've been a Plusnet customer for 6 years, and remember when they used to have excellent customer service - this is one of the main reasons I haven't moved to a different ISP but that may be about to change.
After putting in a request for a house move, I was told that my new broadband service would be ready for our moving day (yesterday). Unfortunately Plusnet didn't bother to check that the line had been ceased the week before, and so now I have to wait 7 days to get the phone line re-activated - this potentially hits Christmas so I could be waiting even longer. All this despite being assured that the broadband would be up and running when we moved into our new house.
Not only have Plusnet completely dropped the ball over moving my service, but they have also made me wait for over an hour each time I have had to phone them - and the support representative I eventually got through to did not once apologise for the problems I now face.
What have Plusnet got to say for themselves? Is anybody able to expedite this problem so that I get broadband installed before Christmas? As I said before, I'm a long time customer but will now seriously consider moving - especially as other providers have offered to buy out my Plusnet contract.

[#2]

You'll need Plusnet to comment here, but it sounds like the existing provider will have placed a cease order rather than allowed a working line takeover to go through.
It's a not too uncommon occurrence when an existing provider is not informed correctly by their customer of a gaining customer/provider of the line.

[#3]

I understand that other providers may not always notify Plusnet, but it's the fact that we were told that everything would be migrated in time for our moving day which has annoyed me more than anything - we are now looking at potentially a 2 week loss of service over Christmas.
Given that the previous occupants ceased the line well before we moved in, I expected Plusnet to check the line BEFORE moving day in order to anticipate any problems which could delay our service. Waiting until the move day to check the line strikes me as very foolish, because it leaves no time to react to any problems with the line.

[#4]

Hi,
A warm welcome to the forums.  When did the previous occupants leave the property?  Do you know what was the end of service date they gave their suppliers?
As Andy hints, this is an all too frequently occurring issue which can be caused by a 'cascade' of events arising from Ofcom / BTw / BTOR rules.  In the real sensible world...
-Party A getting service from provider X is leaving on a given date
-Party B (you) orders service from provider Z from the given date
Z processes your order to take over A's line from given date
X asks A if they are transferring THEIR service to Z (anti-slamming protection)
A says no, we are moving and terminating service
X (via BTw) cancels Z's order (blocks potential slamming)
X accepts A's notice of termination for given date and places a service cease order on the line
Until the given date comes - the day you move in - Z are prohibited from placing a service provide order on the line
Yes it is all barking mad but it is a consequence of Ofcom's anti-slamming rules and the BTw / BTOR restriction that there cannot be more than one order on a line at a one time, other than the implied dual service SIM provide order.  It is not possible to tell BTw / BTOR "When X's cancelation completes, please immediately process Z's supply order!.

[#5]

Thanks for the excellent explanation, even if it does reveal just what an enormous clusterf0rk the UK telecoms industry has transformed into
I would at least have appreciated some sort of warning when placing the order that there's likely to be a delay if the line gets ceased. Plusnet have failed to manage my expectations, and making me wait for a combined total of 186 minutes on hold hasn't helped.