Reet fed up with PN's recent performance.. should I find summat better?

[#1]

Joined PN back in 2006 ... top-quality service back then. Things have gone downhill so fast over the past 6 months  that I'm seriously looking for a better quality ISP.
Recent probs include:
(1) Slow running
(2) Disconnections
(3) Dreadful customer service, viz
(a) no response to urgent questions raised via the website
(b) failure to address problem of email updates not arriving
(c) frequently being kept on hold for over 30 mins when trying to raise these problems.
This is well below the standard expected of PN.  I realise that your recent TV advertising will have brought in lots more customers. But this is at the expense of quality. if I wanted poor quality BB and poor quality service, I would have gone to any of the other bog-standards ISPs.
Am I alone in thinking PN must shape up or its customers will ship out?

[#2]

hollytree,
I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've had recently.
I'll try and address the concerns you've raised here as best as I can:

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(1) Slow running

I can't see that you've raised this matter with us. Please go to http://faults.plus.net to report any slow speeds you may be experiencing then reply back here, I'll make sure the issue gets looked at with the appropriate urgency.

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(2) Disconnections

As above, raise this, it could be related to the slow speeds too.

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(3) Dreadful customer service, viz

Are there any specific dealings that you've had that you want me to look into? Ticket IDs or the time and date of any calls made would be ideal please.

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(a) no response to urgent questions raised via the website

Tickets isn't a channel for urgent responses I'm afraid, whilst bearing in mind that we are aware of wait times being high at busy periods I'd have to advise calling to raise any urgent matters, otherwise I'll pick up any issues you may have from here.

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(b) failure to address problem of email updates not arriving

Where not trying to deflect from this issue, if I'm correct I believe your referring to ticket 38521758 and a single message that did not arrive. There's not much we can do about a single e-mail (from our automated systems) that was due but did not arrive, however we'll remain vigilant for other reports of similar issues.

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(c) frequently being kept on hold for over 30 mins when trying to raise these problems.

Let me know the times and dates of these calls, I should be able to find recordings of them to help me investigate this.

[#3]

Adam
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate that you, as an employee of PN, need to provide a strong defensive line as regards PN's quality of service.
On slow running and frequent disconnections, I'm happy to follow your advice in reporting any and all further concerns.
On poor quality customer service,you need to understand the situation from the customer's POV! As you'll see from recent correspondence following tickets being raised, issues raised via those tickets can be misunderstood by PN staff who are extremely busy following PN's recent  TV advertising initiative. Your comment that I can always telephone PN doesn't really help because I have succeeded only once in the past year in contacting someone in PN by phone. The rest of the time I have been put on hold with no idea of the length of the queue.After 30 mins I have given up in disgust!  Why not pick up the good practice of other companies who tell you how long the queue is and where you are in it? 

[#4]

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On poor quality customer service,you need to understand the situation from the customer's POV!

That's what I'm paid to do, I am working as actively as I can to make a difference to the customer's experience of getting (or trying to get) support from us. Also as mentioned I can't really comment on issues you've had with support unless I'm looking into specific instances of you contacting us.

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Why not pick up the good practice of other companies who tell you how long the queue is and where you are in it?

Personally I think this is essential when call queues are high as it allows the customer to make an informed decision as whether they want to wait on the line for a response, call back later or not call at all. We don't have any direct plans in the pipeline but I will the taking the relevant people here to task about that.

[#5]

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Also as mentioned I can't really comment on issues you've had with support unless I'm looking into specific instances of you contacting us.

  Doesn't PN log and analyse response times for customers attempting to call (ie time taken to actually get through to someone rather than a recorded message)?  Your proposal requires us as customers to log every unsuccessful attempt.

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We don't have any direct plans in the pipeline but I will the taking the relevant people here to task about that.

I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed that PN doesn't have plans to provide customers with this basic courtesy. But I am disappointed. Let's hope your powers of persuasion will change PN's mind.

[#6]

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Doesn't PN log and analyse response times for customers attempting to call (ie time taken to actually get through to someone rather than a recorded message)?  Your proposal requires us as customers to log every unsuccessful attempt.

I fear you've misunderstood me, I was referring to investigating any issues you've had on any specific instances of contacting us for help. If there are any particular instances you want me to look into let me know the time you made the call

[#7]

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I fear you've misunderstood me, I was referring to investigating any issues you've had on any specific instances of contacting us for help. If there are any particular instances you want me to look into let me know the time you made the call Smiley

Or maybe we're both misunderstanding each other, Adam! I tried to get through this evening at 19:45 hours only to be told the wait time was 45 mins.