Slow Installation, Missed Appointments (by Plusnet), So Frustrated!!

[#1]

I recently ordered Plusnet Phone and Broadband as I will be working remotely for 6 months and didn't want a long contract. I placed the initial order on 04/08/11. They arranged for an engineer to come to my house on 31/08/11. The BT engineer came and fiddled with some wire before disappearing saying something (didn't specify) had to be changed at the exchange and that someone would be back to finish it in the afternoon. Nobody came back so I phoned Plusnet who confirmed a 2nd visit was required - next available appointment being 22/09/11 - 2 months after the initial order. We explained that we needed it sooner as I need to be working from home and managed to get an appointment for today (05/09/2011). This was confirmed on the phone and via email. However, we are now being told that the appointment was never made and have no idea what is going on.
It is very difficult for me to cancel as I have already payed the £80 for connection and the router. Has anyone had a similar experience and do they have any idea what further work needs to be carried out?
Thanks

[#2]

The only part of your experience where I've had a similar situation was with a BT engineer who came, couldn't complete my installation and left, saying that he'd be back with a colleague the following morning to try again. He was relatively new to BT and might even have intended to do as he said, but that's not the way BT Openreach works. Every visit needs a new booking and it needs to be booked by Plusnet. In my case Plusnet were very helpful and managed to call out another engineer on the day after the first visit.
If you have an e-mail confirming the date of the second visit, then you need to make sure that it gets back to Plusnet support so that they can work out where the communication mix-up occurred. If you've got a ticket (= support question) on your account you can copy it into your reply. Otherwise, read it out on the phone.
I suspect someone from Plusnet will take a look at your query in working hours tomorrow. It will get sorted out in the end, but it's really frustrating until that happens.
I don't know exactly what needed to be done at the exchange. It could depend on what broadband product you ordered and what facilities your exchange has. It's probably something routine, though.
Graham

[#3]

@simonbannister,
I'm shocked to see that you've had so many problems in a row here. I'm going to work through this case with a senior member of our provisioning team to make sure we get you the soonest available appointment.
We'll also make sure you're given a good will gesture for your patience...

[#4]

FYI, an agent already has ownership of dealing with this issue. He's not on shift until this afternoon so I'll make sure I speak to him ASAP before getting back to you.

[#5]

Hi Graham, thanks for the info. I have set up a support ticket with their confirmation email so hopefully they will be able to sort it sooner rather than later.
@Adam, thanks for looking into it, I hope I can be online soon
Simon

[#6]

No problem, some appointment times have been submitted and we're just waiting for confirmation so we've already made some progress this morning.

[#7]

FYI we've had a message from our suppliers to advise that the request to book an appointment has been passed on to a specific person at BT so I should have a reply back from them pretty soon.

[#8]

As per when I called, we've got the install brought forward to this Friday morning. Please give me a shout if there's any further issues.

[#9]

Hi Adam.
Just had an email saying "An engineer is due to activate your Home Phone service on 30/8/2011, 8am-1pm." - assume this is a mistake and it should say 09/09/2011?
Simon

[#10]

Yes, please ignore that. That seems to have been set incorrectly on the account. Sorry for any confusion.

[#11]

Hi Simon,
I'm still waiting for confirmation about the order from our supplier's side, how did things go on Friday?