Telephone support hours changing at Plusnet

[#1]

Checking every day or so it would appear that the best time to call is at about 3.00pm but it isn't obvious why

[#2]

Interesting that the graph suggests that at 22:00 it takes 90 minutes to clear the caller backlog.  That rather goes to show that there are either not enough agents available or not enough support hours to cope with demand.
Should one avoid saying "no surprise here"?

[#3]

No, one shouldn't avoid saying it

[#4]

How come I didn't even find out about this until I'd logged onto the website following a BB outage?
One of the main reasons I signed up with Plusnet was that they offered 24/7 support for technical faults of which I seem to have more than my fair share and mostly in the early hours of the morning when I am using my computer.
Sadly, this is where I wave goodbye to Plusnet. Shame, I had liked the way things had been going, I really appreciated not being stressed out when I needed to talk to someone with any  technical support issues (as oppose to Talktalk whose call handlers spoke too fast and never seemed to understand what the problem really was let alone resolving it). I'll be looking elsewhere for a company which does supply support after 10:30pm and wont think twice before leaving- already this evening I've had one major outage lasting a while, had Plusnet been around as usual I'd have felt like I was getting somewhere, instead I'm now very worried the same could happen again and I just don't have the time or capacity for a broken ISP who can''t even be bothered to employ staff to resolve problems.

[#5]

You may get it from PlusNet if you go through the more expensive John Lewis or Waitrose ISP's, who they manage; their customers always enjoyed shorter phone delays, and I assume are still getting 24/7 service; extract from their www below.
"John Lewis Broadband
It's simply brilliant
· Three great value packages: starting from £11 + line rental and calls from £13.50
· Freephone UK customer support, available all day every day"
dick:quote

[#6]

Apparently BT also provide limited support.
A BT Customer was put on hold for 14 hours.
http://www.bitterwallet.com/bt-put-customer-on-hold-for-14-hours/87216
I wonder how much it would cost Plusnet for an all night 0800 call?

[#7]

Quote

BT themselves reckon that Paul should’ve been told that the department was closed: “That main customer services number is open Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am – 6pm. Customers calling outside of those hours receive a recorded message advising them that the office is closed.”

On the up-side PlusNET's reduced support hours are still better than BT Retail's.

[#8]

BT technical support is 24/7 though

[#9]

But is it any good?

[#10]

My requirement is a technical support department who are willing to discuss issues via email or ticketing system and also accept images and troubleshooting data to assist in fixing any issues with Broadband... unfortunately most providers won't accept images or other forms of evidence, and there a very few providers left who have a ticketing system or email technical support..

[#11]

yeah and you know why.
its to dumb down the tech support process.  Isp's that want support staff to follow scripts, dont want their staff confused with pictures, logs etc.  Its easier for a tech support bod to blame wiring, pc etc. when they havent had evidence pushed in front of them.
Sadly it seems if you want that kind of tech support it means you must go with a small isp who are willing to put more time into support requests, e.g. pulse8, xilo or aaisp.

[#12]

Quote from: chrcoluk

Sadly it seems if you want that kind of tech support it means you must go with a small isp who are willing to put more time into support requests, e.g. pulse8, xilo or aaisp.

and that is exactly what I plan to do as soon as I've moved

[#13]

Quote from: chrcoluk

Sadly it seems if you want that kind of tech support it means you must go with a small isp who are willing to put more time into support requests, e.g. pulse8, xilo or aaisp.

AAISP support:-

Quote

Opening hours 8am to 6pm Mon-Fri Except English bank and public holidays and some days around Christmas. Out of hours support Informal Staff are often available on irc during evenings and weekends. Staff are also on-call for any major outages or emergencies affecting all customers.

[#14]

you can email aaisp.

[#15]

Very true. It may not be dealt with until the standard times though.
Better than the Plusnet system in that respect of course.