No Phone Line, No Broadband and a Disabled Daughter.
Where to start?
I’ll try to remain objective and level-headed, but it is difficult when I’m feeling as frustrated, disappointed and let down by PlusNet as I am. Please bear with me with this post, as I’m going to try and include as much detail as possible so you can fully understand, appreciate (and hopefully empathise with) my situation.
A month ago, I placed an order for Fibre Unlimited Extra (39Mbs as that’s all we could get according to the checker) for our new property, which we moved into on the 1st of this month. I was informed we would have an engineer come install everything on the 9th. We received the router and an e-mail stating everything was planned and all was well. Wonderful. Or so I thought….
A bit of background on my family. My partner and I have 3 children; one of whom is severely disabled and suffers from epilepsy (myoclonic jerks, absence seizures, grand-mal attacks, tonic-clonic seizures etc.), has had a gastric tube fitted recently in the hospital for feeding (because of reoccurring pneumonia/chest infections where food/drink lays on her lungs). The other is 8 years and the other is a new-born; so we’re absolutely inundated in every possible way. The Internet is our PRIMARY means of contact with a lot of our daughter’s social networks i.e. health visitors, dieticians (she’s on a ketogenic diet), neurologists, gp’s, nurses etc. etc. They all use online-based tools/utilities for real-time updates on her health and status. We’re also in liaison with Great Ormond Street via Twitter and a few Health Professionals via WhatsApp on our phone.
Second to this, and equally as important, our daughter has regular ambulance call-outs because of the severity of her fits and seizures. It’s not uncommon to be woken up at 4am where she’s struggling to breathe because she’s choking or knocked her head in her sleep (she has to wear a helmet 24-hours a day and a backpack to keep her food pump/regulator in). As you can see, a phone line and Internet for us is not a luxury, it’s not a “nice to have”; it’s absolutely essential and the ONLY means of communication we have with Emergency Services, Support Networks, friends and family (who all assist).
So, our order was scheduled for the 9th between 1pm and 6pm. I took a day off work realising I’d have to wait in. I should add that 4 appointments were booked in for our daughter that day, which consequently were put on hold because we couldn’t leave the house as we had to wait for the engineer. We couldn’t re-arrange the time slot(s) once they were allocated.
So, 6pm came and went. The engineer was a no-show. I phoned up to complain and inquire as to why I wasn’t given adequate updates or notice of a potential delay. I was on hold for 30 minutes. I should add at this point I was calling from my mobile phone, which was charging me for the call, from the end of my street because there’s absolutely 0 signal in our new house (we have tried EE, O2 and Vodaphone “pay as you go” – same thing) so this added to an already frustrating scenario.
I was informed (no apology provided) that an “update will be provided on the 14th” and that there’s nothing that can be done because the provisioning department was shut (I called at 4.30pm) and the persons line manager had gone home so I couldn’t elevate the call. This is just bad. Not only was no apology provided, some reassurance given, but there was no empathy or remorse for our case (even after explaining) and I should add the person I spoke to was quite disgruntled and cold. They couldn’t of cared one bit and it was obvious they didn’t want to help.
So, I posted a “question” online via your portal, asking patiently for an update on the 14th and also if there was any possibility of compensation for a days lost wages from work or any kind of token gesture that could be offered to us because of the no-show. I was informed no, and that best case scenario would be “one month’s free broadband”. Not only is this weak; but how can I get one month’s free broadband…..if I don’t even have a phone line…..
Anyway, I digress.
So, the 14th came yesterday and I decided to post an update to the question by seeking an update (because it was close to 5pm and the “update” I was supposed to have received about our order never came). I never got a response to this (or any of the other questions I might add) so I called you again directly. Another 30 minutes on the mobile phone. This is costing me a fortune and I’m going nowhere fast. I spoke to a much more receptive chap who told me that “External work needs to be carried out on the cabinet in my area because it’s full”. Right….ok I thought, but what ‘kind’ of work, when, and how long will it take? He said that BT Openreach were responsible for touching all the cables and for doing all the physical wiring so I asked him to get in touch with them directly for an update as to when we can expect these works to be carried out.
Sure enough, I get a call back 30 minutes later (was nice to receive a timely update finally) informing me that “external cabling and joining” need to be completed from the cabinet to the exchange and that the next update for the PLANNING of this work is the 28th of May………… WHAAAAT??? Are you serious???
So, let me get this right. I’ve been without a phone line/broadband since the beginning of the month. The order was placed well over a month ago. The engineer was a no show. No updates of any kind were provided on the day of the supposed install, after the install or on the 14th when the “next update is available”. No compensation is offered as a token gesture and nothing is going to be done about it because we’re “at the mercy of BT to get the work done”. Oh, and to add insult to injury, the houses to left, right and across the street from me ALL HAVE THE SERVICES I WANT!! Also, our house ALREADY HAS A BT OPENREACH MASTER SOCKET sat there doing nothing from the previous occupier! So what’s so special about MY house that requires such extensive and prolonged work?
I have some questions for you PlusNet, and I’m really hoping you can provide some suitable answers, because, if nothing is done about this (as I refuse to jeopardise my daughters health because some “external work needs to be done”) I will be raising this with Ofcom, Ombudsman and my local MP. I will take this all the way, even to court if necessary, because I have entered into a legal contract with you; you’ve taken my money and are not providing me with the critical services I require. So, my questions are:
1) Why do I require all this work to be carried out, just for my house, when ALL the other houses in my area have a phone line and fibre broadband AND the previous occupier of the SAME HOUSE had a phone line/fibre without ANY issues;
2) What do you propose I do if my daughter has a fall, an attack or stops breathing in the middle of the night? How do I call emergency services with no phone line and no signal for mobile phones? Yes, I could run down the end of the street, but I’d have to ask my daughter nicely not to have her state worsened during that time while I make a call…. (P.S. I’ve inquired about signal repeaters, boosters from EE but they don’t sell them anymore; and “signal-over-wfif” won’t work for obvious reasons…)
3) What compensation are you prepared to offer me for the money/time/effort lost, calls made, stress encountered, lack of updates, no provision of service and complete lack of empathy for my case?
4) Can I at least have a working phone line WITHOUT fibre for the time being?
5) Will you please PLEASE provide me with adequate updates in a timely fashion?
6) When is this likely to get resolved in its entirety and can you do anything to force this through quicker given our circumstances?
Kind Regards
Malachor.
I’ll try to remain objective and level-headed, but it is difficult when I’m feeling as frustrated, disappointed and let down by PlusNet as I am. Please bear with me with this post, as I’m going to try and include as much detail as possible so you can fully understand, appreciate (and hopefully empathise with) my situation.
A month ago, I placed an order for Fibre Unlimited Extra (39Mbs as that’s all we could get according to the checker) for our new property, which we moved into on the 1st of this month. I was informed we would have an engineer come install everything on the 9th. We received the router and an e-mail stating everything was planned and all was well. Wonderful. Or so I thought….
A bit of background on my family. My partner and I have 3 children; one of whom is severely disabled and suffers from epilepsy (myoclonic jerks, absence seizures, grand-mal attacks, tonic-clonic seizures etc.), has had a gastric tube fitted recently in the hospital for feeding (because of reoccurring pneumonia/chest infections where food/drink lays on her lungs). The other is 8 years and the other is a new-born; so we’re absolutely inundated in every possible way. The Internet is our PRIMARY means of contact with a lot of our daughter’s social networks i.e. health visitors, dieticians (she’s on a ketogenic diet), neurologists, gp’s, nurses etc. etc. They all use online-based tools/utilities for real-time updates on her health and status. We’re also in liaison with Great Ormond Street via Twitter and a few Health Professionals via WhatsApp on our phone.
Second to this, and equally as important, our daughter has regular ambulance call-outs because of the severity of her fits and seizures. It’s not uncommon to be woken up at 4am where she’s struggling to breathe because she’s choking or knocked her head in her sleep (she has to wear a helmet 24-hours a day and a backpack to keep her food pump/regulator in). As you can see, a phone line and Internet for us is not a luxury, it’s not a “nice to have”; it’s absolutely essential and the ONLY means of communication we have with Emergency Services, Support Networks, friends and family (who all assist).
So, our order was scheduled for the 9th between 1pm and 6pm. I took a day off work realising I’d have to wait in. I should add that 4 appointments were booked in for our daughter that day, which consequently were put on hold because we couldn’t leave the house as we had to wait for the engineer. We couldn’t re-arrange the time slot(s) once they were allocated.
So, 6pm came and went. The engineer was a no-show. I phoned up to complain and inquire as to why I wasn’t given adequate updates or notice of a potential delay. I was on hold for 30 minutes. I should add at this point I was calling from my mobile phone, which was charging me for the call, from the end of my street because there’s absolutely 0 signal in our new house (we have tried EE, O2 and Vodaphone “pay as you go” – same thing) so this added to an already frustrating scenario.
I was informed (no apology provided) that an “update will be provided on the 14th” and that there’s nothing that can be done because the provisioning department was shut (I called at 4.30pm) and the persons line manager had gone home so I couldn’t elevate the call. This is just bad. Not only was no apology provided, some reassurance given, but there was no empathy or remorse for our case (even after explaining) and I should add the person I spoke to was quite disgruntled and cold. They couldn’t of cared one bit and it was obvious they didn’t want to help.
So, I posted a “question” online via your portal, asking patiently for an update on the 14th and also if there was any possibility of compensation for a days lost wages from work or any kind of token gesture that could be offered to us because of the no-show. I was informed no, and that best case scenario would be “one month’s free broadband”. Not only is this weak; but how can I get one month’s free broadband…..if I don’t even have a phone line…..
Anyway, I digress.
So, the 14th came yesterday and I decided to post an update to the question by seeking an update (because it was close to 5pm and the “update” I was supposed to have received about our order never came). I never got a response to this (or any of the other questions I might add) so I called you again directly. Another 30 minutes on the mobile phone. This is costing me a fortune and I’m going nowhere fast. I spoke to a much more receptive chap who told me that “External work needs to be carried out on the cabinet in my area because it’s full”. Right….ok I thought, but what ‘kind’ of work, when, and how long will it take? He said that BT Openreach were responsible for touching all the cables and for doing all the physical wiring so I asked him to get in touch with them directly for an update as to when we can expect these works to be carried out.
Sure enough, I get a call back 30 minutes later (was nice to receive a timely update finally) informing me that “external cabling and joining” need to be completed from the cabinet to the exchange and that the next update for the PLANNING of this work is the 28th of May………… WHAAAAT??? Are you serious???
So, let me get this right. I’ve been without a phone line/broadband since the beginning of the month. The order was placed well over a month ago. The engineer was a no show. No updates of any kind were provided on the day of the supposed install, after the install or on the 14th when the “next update is available”. No compensation is offered as a token gesture and nothing is going to be done about it because we’re “at the mercy of BT to get the work done”. Oh, and to add insult to injury, the houses to left, right and across the street from me ALL HAVE THE SERVICES I WANT!! Also, our house ALREADY HAS A BT OPENREACH MASTER SOCKET sat there doing nothing from the previous occupier! So what’s so special about MY house that requires such extensive and prolonged work?
I have some questions for you PlusNet, and I’m really hoping you can provide some suitable answers, because, if nothing is done about this (as I refuse to jeopardise my daughters health because some “external work needs to be done”) I will be raising this with Ofcom, Ombudsman and my local MP. I will take this all the way, even to court if necessary, because I have entered into a legal contract with you; you’ve taken my money and are not providing me with the critical services I require. So, my questions are:
1) Why do I require all this work to be carried out, just for my house, when ALL the other houses in my area have a phone line and fibre broadband AND the previous occupier of the SAME HOUSE had a phone line/fibre without ANY issues;
2) What do you propose I do if my daughter has a fall, an attack or stops breathing in the middle of the night? How do I call emergency services with no phone line and no signal for mobile phones? Yes, I could run down the end of the street, but I’d have to ask my daughter nicely not to have her state worsened during that time while I make a call…. (P.S. I’ve inquired about signal repeaters, boosters from EE but they don’t sell them anymore; and “signal-over-wfif” won’t work for obvious reasons…)
3) What compensation are you prepared to offer me for the money/time/effort lost, calls made, stress encountered, lack of updates, no provision of service and complete lack of empathy for my case?
4) Can I at least have a working phone line WITHOUT fibre for the time being?
5) Will you please PLEASE provide me with adequate updates in a timely fashion?
6) When is this likely to get resolved in its entirety and can you do anything to force this through quicker given our circumstances?
Kind Regards
Malachor.
A: Are you in Gloucester Kingsway ?
B: Did you copy my thread ?!!!! I just been through the same, external work rubbish, full cabinet, delays, delays, etc !
All I can say is, I feel your pain
B: Did you copy my thread ?!!!! I just been through the same, external work rubbish, full cabinet, delays, delays, etc !
All I can say is, I feel your pain
I'm sorry to hear about the issues your having.
Let me chase this up with our Provisioning team to see what we can do.
Let me chase this up with our Provisioning team to see what we can do.
If you were with BT you'd be able to pre-register your phone line for priority treatment in the event of a fault occurring in the future. Plusnet have no such system in place.
Reading your situation I'd seriously consider cancelling and going with BT.
Reading your situation I'd seriously consider cancelling and going with BT.
Correct. Plusnet have no scheme for users to pre-register. If a fault occurs it is an ad-hoc system and totally pot-luck if the agent taking the fault actually knows what to do.
If my child's life depended on always being able to make a phone call I would prefer to use a supplier that has a proper scheme.
If my child's life depended on always being able to make a phone call I would prefer to use a supplier that has a proper scheme.