Report a Broadband Fault.

[#1]

Getting seriously peed at the process of trying to report a broadband fault.    Ive been going round in circles on and off for the past few hours trying to raise a broadband fault.
I was going to report the fault last night, but couldnt because it was under maintenance.

First of all it is extremely hard to find where to raise a broadband fault.. its only because I know its there somewhere that I persevered.
I ran through the Broadband troubleshooter. which supposedly opens a ticket..  the I stupidly answered the question "Is your broadband Working?" with yes, I then got

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Because you've said that your broadband is working, we're closing this ticket. If you have a problem with your broadband in the future, please use the Broadband Troubleshooter to report it.

Okay so start again.. theres no way of answering that question honestly ..  of course my broadband is working..  but I have a fault and no allowance is made for that.
So I go round in circles again trying to find some where to report this.  I spend 30 mins typing out a detailed but concise outline of the problem...  hit send....  only for the dam thing to error

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Error Sorry, An error occurred whilst processing your request. The error has been recorded and our website team will investigate. Please try again later.

I try again later...  and still get the same error. 

[#2]

Tried 4 times now, but it still errors. 
Deep joy now on the phone trying to report it..  but absolutely no idea how long the call time wait is. 

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Longest call waiting now : Currently unavailable

[#3]

Oops - not good !
I had a similar issue trying to get service from HP - going round in circles then told they wouldn't help me.
Fortunately they then sent a survey to see how they had done ........

[#4]

I eventually got through...  I didnt notice exactly how long the wait was but likely about 20/25mins.
Apparently she could see that the fault had been reported - 4 times!!!! But it showed nothing at all on this side for me.   
Sorry about the duplicated tickets... but something is definitely borked on the fault process system, because from the EU side it just keeps saying an error has occurred and to try again later.

[#5]

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Fortunately they then sent a survey to see how they had done ...

and this is when you find out just how good a company is..  in that if they did something to resolve the problem.  

[#6]

For the sake of sanity the question should really be worded "Is your broadband working correctly?"
That's how people should treat the question as meaning when going through the troubleshooter.
Also, a fault report is generated each time there is an error shown. Not sure why it says to "try again later" if it does file a fault anyway.
I think PN need to do some tidying with the wording of these, it's been like this for a while. 

[#7]

The Major problem with most of these sorts of failing Back Office functions is that they have been known about and in the development list for so long that many of the new generation of Front Line staff are unaware that they even exist.  Some of these issues date back to 2007 / 8 when Plusnet was in rapid customer growth from a base of around 200,000 -  The base grew,  the system still creaks but now with increasing fallibility.
There are a number of Commercial packages in the market which address ALL of the services that Plusnet need and assistance to deliver them, so perhaps it is time to curtail the current activity to "Hand knit" a solution and  get on with delivery.
Here are a couple of links to highlight the scope and work of The TMForum to deliver inter-workable systems in the Telecomms market.
NOTE:  Not complete and also not infallible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_Forum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TM_Forum
http://www.tmforum.org/

[#8]

Hi Kitz
Very sorry to hear of the problems that you have encountered in regards to raising a fault
I accept that our faults tool through the members centre is a little dated, and the wording of it could also do with a little amendment.
I have just reviewed your account however and can see that our faults team now have this in hand and are currently waiting on resolving the issue
We will aim to keep you updated as often as possible, but please don't hesitate to get back in touch.
Regards
Matt

[#9]

Hi Kitz,
Just to follow on from the post from Matt, I had a quick check up on your fault ticket to make sure all was progressing and noticed the additional support ticket you had raised so have picked this up and rectified the issue for you.

[#10]

Thanks Adam appreciated
Sorry wasnt able to respond earlier..  been the proverbial blue ass fly today trying to clear things so that I can be around and have a day clear on Wed as I believe I may need an engineer.
DLM kicked in again this morning increased INP & Interleave Depth and rate limited to 15Mbps.
No ones picked up the fault ticket  #93311123 yet...  so I darent add anything.  If an engineer visit is required then it will have to be Wed 22nd.  Thurs is definitely out, not sure about Fri yet. 
Ive just phoned in to ask if they can append a note without shoving my ticket to the back of the queue.

[#11]

Good morning Kitz 
I have spoken to our faults specialist Tony and he will run the diagnostics at this side and arrange for the engineer but will let you know exactly when this will be and if it's required.  He will look at it later this morning and will be in touch!
Warm regards
Sharon

[#12]

Hi Kitz,
Seems that our faults team are already on this for you.
Give us a shout if you don't hear anything back, but I hope they can get the engineer booked for you for tomorrow.
Tony

[#13]

Quote from: plusnettony

Hi Kitz, Seems that our faults team are already on this for you. Give us a shout if you don't hear anything back, but I hope they can get the engineer booked for you for tomorrow. Tony

Thank you

Just some constructive feedback from the EU's perspective.  If I hadnt posted this on the forum then I'd have no idea or not if my fault was being looked at or even just sat in a queue
The only feedback that the customer really gets are the automated responses when they raise the fault...  then there's nothing after that.

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1:42pm, Sunday 19 Oct 2014 Thanks for reporting your broadband problem. You've given us all the information we need to look into your problem. Our Faults Team will investigate this further and aim to respond to you within 24 hours.

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1:54pm, Sunday 19 Oct 2014 Your support request has been escalated to the correct team for review.

Whilst youve told me that it is already being looked at... any other customer could just think Plusnet hasnt even looked at my ticket yet.  Im not fussed because at least I have a connection but someone with a service affecting fault will feel completely in the dark with no idea whats going on, perhaps thinking they reported a fault 2 days ago and no one has done anything yet. 
Perhaps a suggestion would be to update the ticket when someone at faults team actually picks it up, just so they at least know their fault is being dealt with and its not been blackholed

[#14]

Thanks for the feedback Kitz,
I don't think your ticket is typical of what we usually see. Generally, a comment will be placed on it by the faults agent that picks it up, along with test results. We'd then either SMS or call with an update, as well as putting the customer friendly comment on ticket (for accountability and for customers who have access to the ticket). We should already be doing what you basically what you suggest. I will ensure I feedback when I see this isn't happening.
Tony

[#15]

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Generally, a comment will be placed on it by the faults agent that picks it up, along with test results. We'd then either SMS or call with an update,

Not had any of that.  No test results.  No phone call.  No SMS,  No update.
For all I know its still stuck in the queue and not even been looked at  by a human being.
Theres nothing on the ticket anywhere to indicate that its even been picked up by anyone.
Theres been nothing except the automated response after I raised it.  I guess that means you deem an engineer visit not necessary?: