Joint action against plusnet

[#1]

Our contract is with plusnet, no-one else and we fail to see how asking for a refund of services not given and to be allowed to make alternative provision counts as "financial gain". We gain nothing, all we want is to end our relationship with plusnet - because they haven't provided a service - without being financially penalised. But you knew that, didn't you?

[#2]

Quote from: chenks76

if plusnet have any sense they'll cut this doofus free to go annoy some other company.

I hope they do, all I want is to leave. I dont want any money from them, just want to be able to leave this terrible company as i should of been allowed had they not hidden my price increase!

[#3]

At the risk of causing disagreement here, it seems like the intention is to act as a means of policing Plusnet like a governing body. There is already a company in place for this, and it's Ofcom. Ofcom collect complaints from customers and force collective action if necessary.
It is believed that there is a crossed line, and you attribute the blame to us as we are the ones that you have the contract with. That is fully understandable, and I agree with you. Which is why that I'll reiterate that I'd truly prefer getting your phone fault resolved, and getting you online in your property.
@Unhappy - I'll have a look at the other thread you have open shortly.
Matty

[#4]

Matty,
We want to leave.
I called your technical support team a number of times and each time I was left on hold for ages. I was also asked to do various tasks which were completely pointless because the fault was caused by your subcontractors.
I was completely polite and patient throughout, up until the point when after hours and hours your technical support said they suspected it was a crossed line. They said they needed to book a new engineer and began to read out the disclaimer about maybe having to charge us £50.
I said as the fault was caused by poor work done, that we wanted a fixed time to meet the engineer and that I didn't even believe the engineer needed access to our property. The technical support person said they agreed and could see my point of view, but if I didn't agree to the statement he couldn't send someone out.
I said it was up to them, and I thought they should send an engineer.
I then had exactly the same conversation a couple of days later at the end of which I said I would cancel my direct debit if the fault didn't get fixed.
I gave plenty of opportunity for plusnet to think about how they could provide good customer service, as supposedly you keep winning awards for.
So then after a further week having not cancelled by direct debit and you took another payment for the service you've never provided I then cancelled the direct debit, ordered a dongle off my mobile provider and contacted the phone coop who I hope that because of their ownership structure I will be able to engage with more effectively if they do indeed follow the same processes as you.
I'm pretty confident you're in breach of your contract, even if every other company behaves the same way, in which case it probably is an industry wide problem which I'll be exploring through Which and my union Unite.
All you need to think about though is that I've asked to cancel my contract with you and if you refund me any charges from the month or so of failed service then I won't persue the matter further. If you attempt to charge me cancellation fees as your colleague said you would yesterday then I will be making the strongest possible complaint in all relevant forums.
As for your loyal customers here who have chosen to call us names - seriously?

[#5]

It looks like someone called in today to discuss the situation with the phone, but wasn't an authorised user on the account.
Feel free to PM her name over and I'll get her down as an authorised user in future.
Matty

[#6]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just agree to the standard disclaimer about having to pay £50 if the fault was with your equipment, since you know that the fault isn't with your equipment, and therefore you wouldn't be charged?

[#7]

why let common sense get in the way of pig headedness

[#8]

Exactly. It seems to me the sensible thing would be to do whatever is needed to get the line working in as short a time as possible. Then argue the toss about leaving etc.

[#9]

Quote from: chenks76

it was an openreach engineer that cocked up the work at the cabinet, not plusnet

I am curious if Plusnet knows that why can't they just send an engineer to get this sorted before taking it any further and reading out any disclaimers.

[#10]

Exactly,  they should have complained formally to Openretch, but you know damn well they don't   Apart from which the CSC operative was reading his/her script instead of using a brain and speaking to a manager.

[#11]

I really don't get this. OP has a grievance that he/she wants addressed. Fair enough. But why harp on about collective action, Which, ombudsman, etc? I see the Twitter account has zero followers so far, so it isn't exactly taking off!

[#12]

Could be something to do with being a Which subscriber, Unite member. You get into your fifth consumer rights gear straight away without faffing around going through the formal complaints procedure.

[#13]

I do think that the OP's plan is rather OTT but that is because I think it should not be necessary, as Plusnet are in the wrong and should either offer significant compensation to encourage him to stay or give up and let him go without any penalty.
Plusnet are in the wrong because they have failed to provide the service (a working internet connection) on the original timescale - nor correct the problem rapidly when their first attempt failed. Instead, they fail to answer the phone in anything like a sensible timescale (one or two minutes is reasonable, 30 or more is farcical) and having got to a CSA they turn out to be total jobsworths insisting that all the tick boxes are ticked even though it is totally irrelevant as they have said the fault is outside the premises. It also does not sound like the engineer really needs to visit the OP in their house as the problem is presumably in the street cabinet. So why put the OP to the trouble of taking time off to be in when the chances are they are not needed.
Yes, I do know it is Openreach who messed up. But the OP's contract is with Plusnet with Openreach as Plusnet's subcontractor. So suggestions of taking action against Openreach or Ofcom directly  instead of Plusnet are ridiculous, as are so many of the usual suspects joining in with remarks that are unhelpful and in some cases positively unpleasant.
Suggestions such as "you will have the same problem with any ISP" are also nonsense as many other ISP's manage to answer the phone relatively quickly and hopefully show more common sense than Plusnet CS. Changing ISP may well be the fastest way to get the line working in as short a time as possible.
OK, Sorry everybody. I get wound up by threads where a customer has been badly treated by Plusnet yet all they receive is unhelpful pithy comments from fellow customers. I know that in this case there is not much help that can be offered by anyone other than MattyC but that is not an excuse for making unnecessary and unhelpful replies.
The OP has my sympathy, I hope he knows enough about what he is doing to avoid just digging an ever deeper hole.

[#14]

Quote from: alext05

Could be something to do with being a Which subscriber

Millions of us are Which subscribers!

[#15]

I think part of the problem was the result output by the remote test system. It's easy to send out an engineer to the exchange or a cabinet somewhere outside, if that's where the test indicates a fault is. No appointment needed. On the other hand, if the test indicates the fault is probably in or near the property, or the type of fault is often internal, then that's where the engineer gets sent or checks are asked to be done. Perhaps that test result, combined with the warning about the £50 charge, made it sound like Plusnet were saying the fault was internal and going to be chargeable.