good honest broadband

[#1]

I just wanted to share my experience of plusnet. 
When we moved house we received dreadful support once we got through to support team each time going back over basics, after numerous calls each time on hold 20 minutes plus only to be told to check the microfilter again, check the connections again, leave it of for an hour then call back...nothing it was nearly impossible to get them to accept these where not the problems, they seemed incredibily reluctant to send this to bt as there connection tests showed everything ok just not plugged in our end, silly me trying to convince them to refere to BT. Then they try and scare you off implying you've not checked connections properly and if you send to BT you'll be charged by them. After convincing them to refer the fault a BT an engineer came out and fixed the problem at the local exchange, one month paying to be on hold to plusnet  and  not being connected.
This month our bill for unlimited broadband went up to over £20, called them and guess what current call volumes mean a 45 minute wait. Checked back and in the small text of what appears to be a marketing email (move to plusnet extra graphic in the middle) is an indication of the vat rise and the £5 price increase. Move to this cheaper broad band package and it seems they want your line rental as well, didn't follow it through but probably anothers years contract.
Good honest folk from Yorkshire, not likely.

[#2]

Welcome to the Forum
go a bit further back in your e-mails to 3rd Dec and you will find one givivg 30 days notice of the change
and for a long time PNs contacts have been 1 month with only 10 days notice
the only thing which is a year is the payment for deferred items like a free router, house move and a couple of other which become free after a year
I am not a PN employee, but what is dishonest about that?

[#3]

Quote from: captainjameson

When we moved house we received dreadful support once we got through to support team each time going back over basics, after numerous calls each time on hold 20 minutes plus only to be told to check the microfilter again, check the connections again, leave it of for an hour then call back...nothing it was nearly impossible to get them to accept these where not the problems, they seemed incredibily reluctant to send this to bt as there connection tests showed everything ok just not plugged in our end, silly me trying to convince them to refere to BT. Then they try and scare you off implying you've not checked connections properly and if you send to BT you'll be charged by them. After convincing them to refer the fault a BT an engineer came out and fixed the problem at the local exchange, one month paying to be on hold to plusnet  and  not being connected.

Welcome to the forum.
I don't think they tried to scare you off with a BT charge, BT will charge If the fault Is at YOUR end and I see this as Plusnet trying to ensure you don't receive any charge as long as your sure Its not at your end.
Seeing as the fault was In the exchange I don't understand how you come to the conclusion that Its Plusnets fault?

[#4]

Part two
your fault - PN are obliged to tell you about the charge you might get if you havn't done the required checks, did you do them all?

[#5]

I'm sorry to hear about the disappointing experience you seem to have had with our support team. As usual I will be giving feedback to those concerned here.

Quote

silly me trying to convince them to refer to BT. Then they try and scare you off implying you've not checked connections properly and if you send to BT you'll be charged by them

It's not to scare you, its a simple fact an we need to make sure people are aware of this. The fees aren't in place for that reason, we do mention this as a way of incentive customers to perform as thorough checks as possible before we raise faults to BT and is also because the majority of faults do not need to be raised with our suppliers either.
I'm sorry you're not happy with the pricing changes either here, changes unfortunately had to be made to meet changes to VAT and to the market place.
Can you tell us how you are getting on with this issue? if its still a problem I don't mind stepping in to deal with it.
Adam

[#6]

"your fault - PN are obliged to tell you about the charge you might get if you havn't done the required checks, did you do them all?"
yes we did them all, I know the helpdesk guys have to work through from the basics, however it is like they don't know any fault history.  I understand we need to be told about the charge but then to imply everything is ok, so we will be charged. It took several calls over a period of a few weeks to get to the point where they would refer it to BT not only this have you ever phoned them? then you will know what the on hold times are like. I don't blame them for the fault at the exchange, but being able to recognise there maybe fault with the exhcange seems reasonable.
go a bit further back in your e-mails to 3rd Dec and you will find one givivg 30 days notice of the change
yes found it....that is pretty well hidden in the small font size, when you are expecting an email about vat increases. Should read more carefully but surely that could be communicated better, howabout an email in a clear font that says your service will increase by £5 the kind of clarity in those we will take your direct debit on date.
and for a long time PNs contacts have been 1 month with only 10 days notice
the only thing which is a year is the payment for deferred items like a free router, house move
We did move house, but i didn't know the monthly contract.

[#7]

The frustration with the house move was back in April so its all resolved now, it was pretty annoying and I just wanted to vent that alongside the price increases.
BT Fee: I understand we risked being charged a fee, but this was to the point of telling us everything was ok and it must be our connections and no recognition this could be a problem, we had to insist this was referred. Initially we couldn't even log a fault as there was a flood/fire in london that they wouldn;t rule out.
Calling support/customer service: The amount of time on hold is unacceptable. Even ringing earlier today 45 minutes. Thats not good enough for a company trumpeting customer service.
Announcement of fee increase: I don't object to fair increases, but look at that email again, it stinks of trying to hide bad news. I spotted it straight away in the direct debit email, why not announce the price increase with the same clarity?
The broad band connection is pretty good.

[#8]

Quote from: captainjameson

Calling support/customer service: The amount of time on hold is unacceptable. Even ringing earlier today 45 minutes. Thats not good enough for a company trumpeting customer service.

Plusnet publish the current waiting times on this page: http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=212&helpheader=rhmcallstats
Also available from the "Help & Support" page on the main PlusNet Site, followed by the "Customer Support Stats" item in the left-hand menu.
At least you can use that to choose to call at a quieter time...