hugely disappointed

[#1]

It depends on how long it takes for our Provisioning Team to pick the ticket up.
If the SIM Order fails, we have to re-place the broadband order separately, so in real-time it does delay the customer because as far as they are concerned both services should go active on the same day. If it does fail, we would have to place the broadband order manually which will complete 5-7 working days after the telephone order completes.
It's really, really important that we set the initial expectation correctly so our customers are aware of what could happen in the worst case scenario - something that is actively done by our Support Teams across the board.

[#2]

Chris,
I don't really want to distract you from fixing other's issues, but you have out lined here a classic 'use case' scenario which leads to predictable delays, which ought to be the subject of a process improvement plan.
1. PN places a SIM order on their sub-contractor
2. The sub-contractor fails to deliver the order in part or in whole (PN Customer let down)
3. The sub-contractor passes the problem back to PN (sloping shoulders!)
4. PN fail to promptly identify failure to install (dropped left ball)
5. PN now need to do the job manually (additional cost to say nothing of the delay)
6. PN look stupid in front of their customer who now needs to take another day off work
I suggest that PN need to explore process changes with the sub-contractor / Ofcom so that having placed an order, the sub-contractor owns responsibility for managing the provision until it is complete.  The current "Oh dear we failed to deliver to the requested specification / scheduled date but it is now your problem to manage forward and oh by the way we make no special promises that we will get it right next time even though we have badly let you down" approach is just not acceptable in a competitive commercial market.  Oops I forgot BTOR have no real competitors!
That said, may be PN need to put in place better identification (automation?) of failed provisioning orders and then proactively progress them... "Sorry Mr Jones, we have noticed that BTOR failed to deliver the service as promised this morning / yesterday afternoon.  Regrettably they will need a further appointment with you...".  That has to be better than leaving it to the customer to chase the no show engineer / incomplete provision?
Cheers,
Kevin

[#3]

Thank you for your feedback on this.
I believe some of what you have mentioned was covered by James yesterday at: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,119573.msg1036675.html#msg1036675 which explains that we do have a project running at the moment which is solely for Provisioning which we believe will improve things drastically.

[#4]

Chris,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I've been away for the weekend.
That appointment date suits fine, updated ticket to reflect this.
Appreciate your efforts to get this sorted.

[#5]

So now been told that appointment date for install/engineer has not been confirmed.
Will continue to be monitored, apparently, though what this means is unclear.
I signed up for PN on October 2. My first install didn't happen and now god knows what is happening with the second, which is scheduled for November 11.
Even if it goes ahead, which I now doubt, it will have taken the best part of six weeks to get a phone line and internet access.
In the meantime, I've received a bunch of messages telling me my service is active and asking me to rate it.
What I am paying for, exactly? One month's line rental gone, another, plus cost of internet and phone package, on the way.

[#6]

Quote from: Chris

Thank you for your feedback on this. I believe some of what you have mentioned was covered by James yesterday at: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,119573.msg1036675.html#msg1036675 which explains that we do have a project running at the moment which is solely for Provisioning which we believe will improve things drastically.

Chris,
Can PN really afford to wait 6 or so months into 2014?  At best BTOR is an embarrassment to PN, at worse they are severely helping to badly tarnish PN's reputation.  Is there someone presently tasked with chasing every missed engineer visit - ensuring the provisioning team have not missed it?  With respect the issues need task force day by day management until the improved automation becomes available.

[#7]

The order has still been placed and hasn't been cancelled. Our suppliers are carrying out some work on 07/11/2013 with their Network Records. The engineer has still been booked in for 11/11/2013. We need to await for the Network Records to be updated before we can confirm that the engineer visit will go ahead. At this point our suppliers haven't done anything wrong, the order is just progressing and as soon as we have the engineering visit committed, we'll update the ticket.

[#8]

Engineer meant to arrive today between 8am and 1pm. Still had no confirmation of appointment from Plusnet, despite being assured this would happen.
Let's see what happens...

[#9]

Well, it's now past one. One of the engineers has turned up, the other hasn't.
How hard can this be, seriously?
And what now happens to my order?

[#10]

Ok, is this a joke?
Just got a text saying my service is up and running.
It's not. And the second engineer still has not arrived.

[#11]

Really sorry to see and hear this, I've checked over your order and it's now showing that your appointment is due for the 19th November 8am-1pm. I've not got the full details why this has been delayed yet but is seems it's due to the phone order.
Do you have a dial tone at the minute?

[#12]

This whole process has been an utter farce.
If my appointment has been delayed (yet again, I might add), why did I have to sit in all day until you finally told me at 3.30?
And why, when I explicity asked for confirmation as to whether or not the appointment was going ahead, was none forthcoming?
I am sorry to say this, but I have never experienced worse customer service. It is beyond woeful.
To top it all off, how can you not even know what the problem is?
I don't know if I have a ring tone. I was holding off getting a phone until the service was actually installed.
When you look at the absurd, constant delays I've experienced so far, you can perhaps understand why I didn't go straight out and get one.
Just so I understand correctly, after the first hold-up and the £50 you charged me for installing a new line, I now have to get a handset so you can see if your people did what they were meant to do? Are you having a laugh?
And still Plusnet is taking my money. Again, why have I paid for line rental? And I can I expect a refund if and when/ever you actually pull your finger out and give me what I paid for?
Now I'm told a line will be installed on November 19. I bet that's going to happen.
What a joke.

[#13]

Sorry about yesterday, as soon as I came across your post I checked and saw it had been delayed. The delay was due to an issue with your phone order which has delayed your broadband appointment. although your phone order is showing that work has been completed and your phone should now be working. This may be a system issue at our suppliers end.
This is why I asked about your dial tone. I could have explained in a little more detail as above about the question I asked regarding your dial tone, as mentioned your phone order is showing as complete, if your dial tone is present then I can try and bring the broadband appointment forward(if there's any earlier availability) if there's not then I also need to get your phone line working.
I can't see where we have charged £50 for an install fee? I also see that we've refunded your payment that you initially made.
Yes we would have made things a lot better if we had notified you earlier than you being sat in all day and apologies for that, I'm happy to look at a goodwill gesture for you once you're up and running.
I'm also more than happy to monitor this daily for your in order to get this installed with no further hiccups.

[#14]

I'm sorry, but all you have given me is vague answer after vague answer, commitments that go unmet and reassurances that someone will monitor my situation. All to no avail. After all this time, I still have no broadband.
The issue with the phone has always been there. No one has done anything about it.
I appreciate that people on here have done their best to keep me informed, but Plusnet itself has done nothing. My experience, in the short time I've been with the company, has not not been positive.
With the dial tone, I don't know because I haven't got a handset. When I call the number, it rings.
I was told I would be charged £50 for the install yesterday. The one that never happened.
Now I have to take a third day off work for something that may or may not go ahead, Judging by past experience, I'm not holding my breath.

[#15]

It is critical to have a properly working telephone line for broadband to work properly. If you have any issues with dropping connections or reduced speeds the first thing that should be checked is whether the phone line is working correctly with no background noise. I'd therefore say that it is essential to have a phone handset available for testing purposes.
When it comes to finding a handset you definitely need to go for a wired phone - cordless phones often have a background noise them selves which can confuse things. If you can't pick up something suitable from a car boot sale for 50p I'd be surprised!
As you don't have one at present, surely there's a neghbour that has one you could borrow for 10 minutes just to do the check?
Edit: If you are anywhere near Wiltshire I have two in a box waiting to go to the dump!