Passed From Pillar To Post...

[#1]

When did customer service @ plusnet become so poor again?

We recently signed up for Plusnet TV as it provided the channels we needed at a significant saving on our (reliable) Sky subscription. Once the kit arrived I set it up and reconfigured my network to use the Hub One PN sent as recommended.

The primary reason for having the box is so that the parents can record various different Motorcycle sports, on BT + Eurosport. Once the seasons started, Steve tried to record some programmes off BT Sport and they failed. At first we thought it might be a one off glitch so tried again the following weekend to no avail. It was also noticed that when switching channels to BT Sport, we would often get a black screen and / or IPC6023 error despite the broadband working fine and us using the recommended setup - YV Box connected via ethernet to PN Router.

So I tried to call customer support, initially from my mobile at which point I was greeted with:

"Welcome to PlusNet. Welcome To Plusnet. Press one for residential and two for business"

Pressing one leads me to:

"Welcome To Plusnet. Press one for residential and two for business"

So I'm forced to call off the landline. After a little while I get through to an agent and explain the problem. They perform a couple of checks and ask me to try some bits on the box and concur there is an issue and we will need an engineer, however they do not have access to the system that allows them to book an engineer, so they raise a ticket upon our behalf and we are told we will hear within 72 hours. That was Saturday 23rd April.

Wednesday 27th - No update as promised, still unable to get past the IVR using my mobile I chased via live chat and was told that the fault was out of SLA and they would escalate it for me.

Thursday 28th - and we are being asked to perform the whole master-test-socket different filter etc testing shebang for a broadband fault.

Friday 29th - I ring up and explain that whilst I am happy to perform the tests, I don't understand why I need to when the broadband is working fine! I'm then told it's been raised as a broadband fault not a TV fault, we are again read the spiel about charges for an engineer and again the agent is unable to access the booking system.

Monday 2nd An engineer has been booked YAY!

Wednesday 4th - The "Engineer" (who looks nothing like Jonathan Pryce or Jon Jon Briones and is considerably less talented than both) turns up. He confirms our setup is perfect (although gets me to swap the supplied ethernet cable for one he bought with because his is thicker and therefore a higher grade and faster!) and flicks about with the channels and they work. Despite this he suggests if the problems re-occur that we should try a factory reset on the hub one.

The "Engineer" leaves - the we try a reset on the hub one to no avail. But not to worry as our nice "Engineer" is going to escalate the issue as he only had a BT YouView box on the van not a PlusNet one (quite why he didn't come to a PlusNet customer with a PlusNet box goodness only knows.)

Thursday 5th - Apparently the Qube "Engineer" has reported our issue has been resolved. I again contact CS via live chat and an engineer is rebooked for Saturday 7th.

Saturday 7th - Another "Engineer" appears who still bears no resemblance to Mr. Price or Mr. Briones, but appears to know a little more about what he's doing that his colleague from Wednesday, after checking a number of things on the box while playing on his tablet, he decides to swap the box. So the box is swapped, so far so good, one of the BT Sport channels is working fine, recording is working. So the engineer leaves job done?

Nope, I change the channel and get a black screen and IPC6023. So I call up and am advised that it could only be a broadband problem at this point and to pursue it as such, if i do the tests on my side the agent will pass it to BB faults and send Mother (as the account holder and registered mobile) a text message that she can reply to if as is likely the test socket doesn't resolve things, and I'll hear within 72 hours of Monday. So as agreed to get ahead of the game I connect everything to the test socket.

Still Saturday 7th - Mother asks me how long we need to continue testing before replying to the text she has been sent as it's still not working. I tell her if it's not working she needs to reply ASAP, so she replies.

Monday 9th - "I have discussed your fault with the TV engineer, who has confirmed that his visit has fixed your issue, and your services are now working correctly." #communicationfail

Thursday 12th - Having been working split shifts all week and unable to call from my mobile, this is the first opportunity I have had to get back in touch to find out what the hell is going on. I call and Press One for existing faults. I'm then told for the umpteenth that I will be transferred to the TV Team as I've reached broadband faults. I explain to the agent that I simply pressed the relevant menu option and I'm getting rather annoyed with constantly being told I've come through to the wrong dept. and further to this I had been told my TV Fault was now being treated as a Broadband issue. I was advised my connection was working perfectly and therefore it couldn't possibly be a broadband fault causing the TV issues, but as he wasn't TV trained he couldn't assist further. I then get passed through to the "TV Team" to speak to an agent who whilst willing to help doesn't actually know about the TV Service so needs to consult with a colleague. Upon consulting with said colleague I'm told it could possibly be a fault at the street cabinet, so would need to be passed to back to TV Faults who will get the right type of engineer booked to look at the cab, but he couldn't give me a timescale within which this would happen.

Friday 13th (TODAY) - Still no update, so I ring and chase, this time pressing 2 for everything else, then the option for technical problems. Guess where I end up. Yup BROADBAND SUPPORT. I'm beginning to wonder if the TV Team actually exist? I'm told there's still no update but it could be up to 72 hours. So I should hear by Sunday. I'm not holding my breath.

I appreciate that problems occur and can sometimes be complicated to fix, especially when having to deal with third parties. HOWEVER, I do expect some basics from Customer Service:

• I should be able to get through to the right department first time when calling up, not have to wait to speak to someone to be transferred and put in a queue to speak to another dept.
• They should listen to what I'm saying, if I say my broadband is working fine take me at my word, unless you can prove otherwise. If I say the issue is not resolved don't believe the engineer over me.
• Route the ticket to the right department - don't raise a TV Fault as a Broadband one, ESPECIALLY when you are told the broadband is working fine.
• Good housekeeping - There have been two tickets raised on different dates by Customer Support over this issue - one as a TV Fault, one as a BB Fault. Keep the issues in one place and assign to the correct dept as needed or read both tickets and get a full picture before deciding upon the course of action.
• Don't make me chase, keep me updated even if the update is there is not update.
• Keep the supplier to account - Why was the first "Engineer" send without a Plusnet box even though he knew I was a PlusNet customer? Chase them for updates so you can keep me updated.

This issue has been going on since 23rd of April it took over a week to get an Engineer who was unable to do anything, then a further 3 days to get an engineer who simply performed a box swap and speed test - both things I could have done myself. It's then taken another 5 days to get the tickets back with this weeks "correct" dept.

If customer service had followed the points I made above, the issue could have been resolved by now, or at least well on the way to being so.

If this doesn't improve and the TV service start working as it should, I will be taking my entire service elsewhere. I've been a customer for over a decade, at one point a regular participant in this community I've always been happy with the service I've received, but this issue has me seriously considering whether PlusNet is the best ISP for me anymore.