@Townman wrote:
@shutter wrote:
So... how can it be, that shutting down one service , will improve the other ? ?
@shutter - I'll answer this one for you - frankly there are too many access channels,
I disagree.....
there are too many longstanding problems with Plusnet management/leadership
too many recurring problems with the infrastructure, that customers WILL need to contact PN about... line problems, provisioning problems... billing problems,.. failed appointment problems and many more..
If Plusnet management had dealt with these problems, and eliminated them, then there would be less reason for customers to be on the phone waiting for answers from staff who have little they can actually do about it, apart from pass it along the line to a team leader, who will pass it on to another department et al..
The othe major problem is again, with the management..
constantly advertising " Award winning service" and "we`ll do you proud" to attract new customers.......
OK... there`s nothing wrong with that ............ in theory.........
IF and it is a BIG IF.. you can deliver what you are advertising... Check on the rest of PlusNet Feedback... and you can see there is a failure in this .
WIth increased customer base... and the same old.... same old... problems being complained about... I refer to my thread of 9 years ago.... Get more staff to answer tickets and phones. the reply to that...was always the same..... " Give us time.... and we`ll get there "...
another dismal performance by management/leadership to properly train, and keep, those trained staff, who have left for whatever reason....
The new Plusnet towers in Leeds, ( i think ) was supposed to address the problem of phone waiting times...but it, too, seems to have failed miserably.
frankly there are too many access channels,
for someone who has been using Live Chat almost since it was started... there is only ONE access channel... I am sure that anyone else who is hard of hearing will agree...
so shutting it down is almost a criminal offence,...
with a worrying 'bent' on being fashionable over how Plusnet thinks users want to interact, rather than how the need to interact. There is a very robust discussion taking place in the SU space on this subject.
not quite sure how a sevice for the disabled, i.e. Live Chat can be described as "fashionable"...
where on earth is the SU space. ?
One of the marked disadvantages of having multiple channels of contact is that in order to attempt to get any advantageous edge possible, users are seeking to address the same issue through multiple channels CONCURRENTLY. Also all of the "official" channels being synchronous communication means that all issues dealt with "officially" need immediately available support resources. There is significant evidence that users have been sat waiting on a CHAT queue and on a phone queue concurrently thereby causing a melt down.
Closing one route of access avoids duplicate queue loads and that more resource can be put on to the phones. The consequences is that across the board the problem back log has been reduced.
Whenever I have had occasion to use Live Chat... the wait has been less than 20 minutes, during the daytime... also... I am able to use my computer, make a cup of tea, a sandwich, do the washing up, clean my shoes, water the garden.. or whatever, because I can keep returning to the screen and see that my turn number is decreasing, and can estimate when I am likely to be answered.. it also gives me time to formulate my problem by typing it first, and then when a customer service person is ready.. I just send it all as one message.. and it progresses well from there..
You can`t do that on the phone to plusnet.... you have to sit there with it pressed to your ear, listening to crepe music, and crepe advertising to use the "on line services" ( OOOOooops! ! ! BIG MISTAKE... we have suspended that service..... another management failure )...
In my thread started 9 years ago... i suggested that there should be a "your turn is number xxx " be applied to the queuing system on the phones,...but apparently, this was not possible.... strangely, just about every other major phone accessiblity to big companies seem to be able to use this, and it is a boon to those waiting on the Live Chat service...
So... why did Plusnet decide to close the access route for the disabled? when they could have closed the phone lines and everyone would have used Live Chat...
( giving ALL those people [waiting on the phone] the advantages of what I have just described above )
They closed Live Chat, because it was easier to offend the disabled minority, and treat them as second class customers, who don`t really matter.
I doubt if they agree with that,... so I shall use their own language.... "Im sorry if you don`t like that .... but that`s the way it is"... as has been often said to me on these threads...
It is recognised that this could have been done differently. There has been discussions this morning with one of the senior managers within the SU space and I'm hoping for more news on this matter directly.
You see, here is the obvious example of "closing the stable door" by "senior management"... this scenario would not have arisen, IF they had kept their word... 9 years ( and all the years in between ) about staff levels and training., etc.
Also, these "discussions.... with senior managers"... should have taken place BEFORE closing Live Chat... to ensure that, IF repeat IF it were considered necessary to shut off a service that disabled customers use... then sufficient advance warning notices, and explanatory notices, with an estimated time for re-opening the service.... ( which could easily have been "updated" as necessary )... should have been discussed, and put in place ON THE POINT OF SERVICE... not hidden away in some response on the forum....
THIS is still not in place... despite it being brought to the fore about a week ago.. Another Management/leadership failure.
Be assured that the suspension of chat is a temporary measure.
Thank you for your assurance... but how can I believe that, after being told,... over the past 9 years...... Give us time... and we`ll get there.....
An estimated re-opening of the service is not available,... (at this time, presumably)...... so your assurance is not exactly encouraging news... I have seen "temporary road surface" signs on some roads, stil there after a couple of years... and the road surface has not been re-surfaced during that time...........
FWI I fully understand the difficulty here for the hearing impaired and the all too frequent lack of consideration for such people. My step son is profoundly deaf (has been since birth - and mute) and I'm dismayed over the number of occasions where me or his mother have been trying to deal with a matter for him ... and the other party has said "DPA ... I need his permission for you to act for him ... can you please put him on the phone to say its OK for you to speak for him!!!!!!!!!!!". For the avoidance of any doubt that was not Plusnet.
Regarding your personal information in the last paragraph... My wife also has the same problem... (when she is talking to some department on my behalf )... particularly with the DWP... however, it can be understood, as they do need to have some kind of safeguard, that they are talking to the "right person".. (or his/her representative ) as they are dealing with public funds.
In the case of communicating with PlusNet through a third party...(wife) who does not understand anything about how the internet works, or how the service is delivered, would be impossible..
and the use of the Text to Voice and Voice to Text services are not an alternative service that I would consider using. ...
If my problems were that bad... I would write a letter, and close the account...
and find another ISP who could provide the service they advertise... and who could deal with me....... (and others like me) ....... a disabled person, with more dignity and respect than PlusNet have...
( remember I have been a customer for almost 10 years )..
Give us time we will get there ?? where are they going ? are they lost ? well they certainly lost the direction they we going in when i first joined near 8 years ago 