Plusnet not making a good first impression.

[#1]

Hello,
I've had a nonsensical email from Plusnet about which I wish to complain. I can't complain online (as stated in the Code of Practice) as I already have three "questions" open and hence can't create any more (but appear to have no means of being able to close them!), I tried replying to the email but received a response saying that emails to support@plus.net aren't monitored and hence I should raise a question (but I can't as described above!) I don't want to deal with this by phone as I've got to the point where I'd like written correspondence to ensure that I have full evidence for my position at all times (useful when dealing with a failing supplier) but I don't want to revert to written complaints as that will slow down the process of getting the issue resolved (which is what we all really want, after all.) Then I discovered this forum...
So Mr. Plusnet, here is the email you sent me and the response that your system wouldn't accept - please could you resolve this issue and respond to me by Friday 4/11/11:
Hello,
I have no idea why I have received this email.

Firstly, no engineer was booked to attend today (2/11/11). When I ordered my line, the original appointment was made for 3/11/11 pm or 4/11/11, but when I rang on 31/1/11 to ask which of these dates it was to be I was told that no appointment had been booked because it was not clear whether my house was divided into flats or not - I had explicitly said that it was no longer so divided, and agreed with your representative that a new entry should be made in the wholesale database to clarify this situation when I placed the order, to avoid this sort of confusion. (I have no idea what would have happened if I had not called to check - would this order simply have hung in abeyance until all of these appointments were missed, rather than asking me to clarify a perfectly simple point?) I was then told that the earliest available appointment was in 17/10/11, but as this date was not convenient for me, we agreed an appointment on 25/11/11 am. Please could you confirm that this appointment has not been cancelled, as I cannot see a rational reason for it to be cancelled. I have no idea what "Please make sure you give us correct details to pass on to the engineer, as this was the reason for the installation not being successful." means as you have already taken all relevant information from me, and I would consider that if there were any other details required, it would be perfectly simple to call me rather than cancelling the appointment and threatening to charge me for rebooking. Please could you let me know of any further details you require.
Secondly, I would like to make it absolutely clear that I will not be paying the rebooking fee stated in your email, as I can see no justification whatsoever for such a charge. Please could you confirm that you are in agreement with this.

Thirdly, given the inconvenience that the delay in providing me with a phone line and broadband is causing and the irritation and time taken in having to complain about nonsensical communications, I propose that you offer to waive the £49.99 installation charge in respect of this order as a gesture of goodwill.

Finally I note that I can't file this as an online complaint (as described in the "Code of Practice" section of your website) as I already have three open questions. I have looked at these questions (really status messages rather than questions) and have no idea how I would close one of them, or even if I should do this without affecting your process flow. For the avoidance of doubt, I would therefore like this email to be treated as a complaint.
I am sorry that we seem to have got off on the wrong foot. I consider that I cut Plusnet some slack when the first misunderstanding occured and my installation date was put back by three weeks; however I feel that now a second confusion has occurred I need to draw a line. I hope that we can resolve these issues and get past this with no further fuss.

regards,
<contact details deleted>

On 1 November 2011 18:38, Plusnet Support <support@plus.net> wrote:

Dear Mr <name deteleted>,
Account username: <deleted>
The engineer wasn't able to install your new telephone service.
Because of this, we'll need to arrange a new appointment to install your service. This must be booked in the next two weeks to avoid the order being cancelled.
We'll call you to arrange this, or you can give us a call on 0800 432 0200 or 0345 140 0200. Please choose the order updates option to speak to a member of our Support Team.
Please make sure you give us correct details to pass on to the engineer, as this was the reason for the installation not being successful.
Please note: there will be a re-booking fee for the appointment.

Kind regards,
Plusnet Customer Support
http://www.plus.net/
Email ref: E0706

[#2]

Hi aghl,
I'm sorry to read about the issues you've had ordering your service with us. The journey so far has obviously been a lot rougher than it ought to be, I'll pick up things from here and do what I can to make sure things go smoothly and with minimal hassle from here.

Quote

When I ordered my line, the original appointment was made for 3/11/11 pm or 4/11/11

Those dates weren't confirmed as the ticket was closed in error. As a result of this the order reverted to another date and no one was flagged to check if you were available for this. Please accept our apologies for that, I'm going to make sure the agent who errored gets some clear feedback about it and also what consequences that has led to for yourself.
With regards to an appointment on the 25th that hasn't been confirmed yet. I am noticing that our suppliers seem to have attempted an install on 31/10/11 which is a concern I'll raise with them as I can't see that we requested that date. As a reaction to finding this out I've booked a new appointment for 25/11/11 so I will let you know by phone when this has been confirmed.

Quote

"Please make sure you give us correct details to pass on to the engineer, as this was the reason for the installation not being successful."

This is from an automated e-mail response which we sent you yesterday, personally I really don't like the wording as it sounds like we're blaming you so I will be discussing this to see if we can make some improvements.

Quote

I would like to make it absolutely clear that I will not be paying the rebooking fee

Given the problems so far we don't expect you to pay that. Also in this instance we will refund the £49.99 install fee as the process has been very far from ideal so far.
With regards to tickets I have closed one of the open ones on your account, however you don't need to raise one if you don't wish to as I've opened a new ticket with is sat personally with me, that means I have to keep you updated on a daily basis.
In summary I'm sorry a couple of processes seem to have failed you so far, we have a couple of things to look into and there are some lessons to learn, but as mentioned I'll keep you firmly in the loop up until installation.

[#3]

Just a quick follow-up as per my call earlier. I've booked an appointment for 29/11/11 (AM). I'll keep the ticket open with me in the meantime in case there's any issues, here's hoping there isn't!

[#4]

Adam,
Thank you very much for taking control of the situation - I appreciate the progress you've makde with this!
cheers,
Andrew

[#5]

No worries

[#6]

FYI, my phone line was installed this morning - all went well! Now I'm looking forward to broadband as well... sitting on a dial-up connection all day has made me realise how far technology's come in the past few years!
cheers,
Andrew

[#7]

Hi Andrew,
Glad to hear that your line got connected as scheduled. I'll update the ticket on your account ASAP.