Waiting for Plusnet to connect me, have I made a mistake joining Plusnet?

[#1]

I placed my order for broadband (premium) and phone line 5 days ago (Tues 2nd Jan) and other than my initial welcome e-mail and confirmation of direct debit I have had no contact or updates whatsoever from Plusnet.
My ticket questions haven't been answered (on Thurs - 2 days ago)
If this is the level of service you offer I will cancel and stay with my current ISP!

[#2]

I think if you sign up with direct debit - they have to wait for the bank to confirm that first before thay can place an order of adsl/phone with BT wholesale.
I seem to recall this derit debit processing can add up to a week to the order process.
If you can register a debit/credit card they can get payment for that straight away and then start the adsl/phone changeover.
I hope it happens soon.

[#3]

Thanks Mal
They have my debit card details aswel to pay for router p&p.
it's the total lack of info or update that's annoying me. I haven't been given any sort of timescale.
Customer service seems to be stretched too far to cope, not a good sign if they can't answer online questions within 2 days or have 10 minute+ telephone waiting times.
Looks like Tiscali all over again!

[#4]

@Gafadadevil. YES YOU HAVE!

[#5]

Well looking at the forums and seeing so many paying customers screaming about the lack of customer support and poor technical support it looks bad.
Perhaps Plusnet just can't handle to amount of customers it already has, let alone the new ones jumping from tiscali since the talktalk buy-out.

[#6]

The think to bear in mid with any forums is that by it's very nature you will get many more people reporting problems than praising good performance.
Human nature is to only complain and rarely praise good service / performance.
Quite a number of the regulars here have very good broadband, and if needed good response from PN customer service etc.
Of course PN like any service provider has problems like anyone else - but in these forums you will read many, many people say they had far, far worse service from many of the other ISP's.

[#7]

Hi gafadadevil,
Sorry about the delay on that, I've given our prov team a nudge and you should be getting an update shortly.

[#8]

PLEASE CANCEL MY MIGRATION!!!!
I do not wish to give my hard earned cash to a company with such poor customer service that takes them forever to actually do anything.

- Ordered broadband and phone on 2nd Feb.
- 8th feb ticket finally answered (took 3 days) re: what's happening with my migration, answer "We have now sent a request to our suppliers, to have your telephone number ported from Tiscali to Plusnet. Once we receive a response we will place your order which will take 10-15 days to complete." . So what have you been doing for the 6 days since  the order? How long for a "response" from your suppliers?
- 4 days to answer ticket re broadband, reply given "Once we have a confirmed line working on the BT network and it has been active for 24 hours then we will be able to place an order for broadband. Based on the information above I gather your line and broadband are currently on the Tiscali network. With this in mind it would take around 11 working days to get the phone service across to us and then another 5 to 7 working days to provide the service so around 18 days in total."
This is not the timescale given in my confirmation email "Your broadband move is being processed and will be ready around 5-7 working days from the date you receive this email. (2nd Feb).
Details about your Home Phone order will be confirmed in a separate email. It takes around 10 working days for Home Phone to be enabled after your broadband move completes"
I am not prepared to wait forever or be bombarded with excuses, if you want my money then earn it! If you cannot connect my broadband and telephone in the 17 days stated in your email then cancel my migration (what little of it that you've done!) and I'll give my money to a company that can do the job.

[#9]

Hi there,
I'm really sorry about the problems you've had so far.
The email content you've quoted is for a standard migration from a line which is already on the BT network, so it was never going to be correct for your circumstances, I'm sorry that you were misinformed there.
At the moment we're waiting for your current supplier to approve the transfer, as soon as this is done we can get on with things (we should have this by tomorrow, if not I can escalate it to get things moving).
The timescales you were quoted most recently are accurate if we place both orders separately, however once the port request comes back I can place a simultaneous order, meaning you'll get phone and broadband in 10 working days.
It's worth mentioning you'd be looking at the same timescale if not longer with another provider.
I'd be happy to manage this personally for you to minimise delays and miscommunication going forwards if you still wish to go ahead?
I've replied to your ticket also.

[#10]

Hi Mand
thanks for replying, can you please advise as to how long I am likely to have my internet connection disconnected while the migration happens. It looks like it will be 18 days according to the ticket replies, which is totally unacceptable.
My main concern is the amount of time I will be without internet access, not bothered about any delay with the phone service as I hardly use my landline anyway.
I would be happy if you can transfer my services in 10 days with a minimal internet downtime.
thanks

[#11]

Mand, I've just been told had the following via ticket / email  "We've now placed a simultaneous order on your new telephone line. This is due for completion on: 05/03/10" that's 16 days, not 10?
10 days yes, 16 days no, please let me know which it is.

[#12]

Quote

This is due for completion on: 05/03/10" that's 16 days, not 10?

It's actually only 11 WORKING days, but I guess that's still not 10...

[#13]

Hi,
Simultaneous orders do take 10 working days, which takes us to the 4th March (if my calculations are correct). I'll ask Mand if she can cast her expert eye over this for you when she's back in the office (tomorrow).

[#14]

Oooopsy, forgot about the "working" days bit, so still 16 days, wish Plusnet would employ a few more staff to actually do the work, they seem good but not enough of them.
Why couldn't it have been done with in 10 days of the order (2nd Feb), seems like things are only being done from now.
If I'd have know that the customer service is so over stretched and takes forever to do anything unless you get Mand etc on the case I would've gone elsewhere....still might.

[#15]

Hi there,
There was a delay in picking this up (from the 2nd to the 8th when we sent the port request). This is a specialist process and not all of agents are fully trained on this yet, so the team working this flow is fairly small. That said, we should be turning these round a lot quicker and I've raised this to the team manager concerned.
The time between the 8th and today was for our supplier to get permission from the losing provider (your current ISP) to do the port. Now it's done it's a relatively smooth process from here on in. Once the order is built and confirmed with our supplier I'll see if I can get it brought forward.
Worth noting that you'll have services with your current provider until the transfer is complete barring an hour or two on the actual transfer date.