new customer worried after reading reviews

[#1]

I joined plus net this evening and after reading reviews I am really concerned. I cannot afford to have no phone or internet particularity when we will be living rural and have a husband with lung cancer, we have to have access to the phone line in particular but his appointments and results come by email too. arghhhhh what should I do ?

[#2]

Moderator's Note(s)

Thread moved from My Order to Plusnet Feedback.

[#3]

I wouldn't worry as people are far more likely to leave bad reviews than good ones; satisfied customers don't have the same urge to say that they are happy as those who have had problems.

[#4]

Hi @FM,

I'm sorry you feel this way. I believe we've been discussing this matter via a Facebook message and we've created a ticket for you to respond to here. Once that's responded to we'll get what's been discussed actioned for you. 

Thanks!

[#5]

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@ThePillenwerfer wrote:

I wouldn't worry as people are far more likely to leave bad reviews than good ones; satisfied customers don't have the same urge to say that they are happy as those who have had problems.

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This is a strange argument that often comes up in discussion about the state of customer service by PN. Do you think that problems should be disregarded simply because these are a small proportion of user experiences? How much negative opinion by users would be acceptable in your view - 1%, 5%, 10%, 20%?

[#6]

@mechanic123 How many of Plusnets customers actually use the forums, and how many of those who do  with problems are helped?

Only a very small proportion use the forums, and those that ask, and respond to requests for more information, are usually sorted.

[#7]

Not sure that is relevant to the discussion.

[#8]

Care to explain why it’s not relevant as opposed to it does not support your argument.

The reality is that the vast proportion of users experience no issues. The whole nature of forums, support channels and social media is that those who do have issues gather like bees to a honey pot ... along with those who have no problem but just like to grumble.

I mean why would someone who is not having issues express (elsewhere here) the view that they hope PlusNET goes bankrupt? That’s just plain daft!

[#9]

@FM,

A warm welcome to the forums.

Why are you having a specific concern (fear?) that your service might be problematic because you are rural, more with Plusnet than another ISP?

All ISPs are dependent on the same local copper network provided for and serviced by BT Openreach.  If your fear is related to your geography, the risk of being without a phone service is no different across any ISP using BT's care level 2 repair service (72 hours).  Some communication service providers do offer service level 1 (24 hours) but that comes at extra costs.

If I recall correctly, Plusnet does have a social care option for phone repair - may be one of the staff members can comment on that and how to get registered for it.

Service dependability is very distinct from some of the billing issues which have been experienced since the new billing system was introduced last September.  If there is a delay in a bill being raised, the remedy is very simple - (aside from the cost of calls outside of any call plan) people know how much their monthly bill should be and need to put that money "aside" each month whilst any billing issue is resolved.  It is called managing a budget and that is the responsibility of each consumer.

[#10]

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@Townman wrote:
Care to explain why it’s not relevant as opposed to it does not support your argument.

Well, we can always rely on 'Townman' to jump in and present the Plusnet viewpoint.

As for relevance, if you care to read the OP you will see that the issue is the degree of support available to a vulnerable rural customer and whether Plusnet can provide this. I see from other responses that this is being addressed via a support ticket so no need for further comment.

As for arguments based on various proportions of complainers, this is a mistake. Any valid complaint deserves attention, accepting any level/proportion of such is wrong. The NHS doesn't accept a level of infant mortality as ok, and PN shouldn't accept (as therefore ignore) any numbers as ok. I'm not saying they do by the way, but some posters seem to take that approach.

[#11]

I guess attacking me is a good deflection from the topic. I do not defend the PlusNET position here. Poor responses are not acceptable - I do not suggest they are. What I do suggest is that what is reported here is not representative of the experience of the vast proportion of users.

To use your analogy, the fact that within the NHS there are some infant mortalities would not lead a rational person to conclude that a majority of infants die under NHS care. Equally such a rational conclusion is not an acceptance that any such mortality is acceptable ... but from time to time it happens. No system is 100% failure proof.

As for the OP they asked a question specifically related to a rural location and Plusnet. Rural locations have their own level of risks which I suggest are very independent of the billing ISP. Such can be said of any ISP, not just PlusNET. If you read carefully what I said, I did not say Plusnet was better than the rest as your attack suggested, I said that there was no reason to expressly consider them to be worse because the OP is in a rural area.

All that said, I understand that perspective is a glass half full one.

[#12]

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@Townman wrote:

@FM,

 ... the risk of being without a phone service is no different across any ISP using BT's care level 2 repair service (72 hours).

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Almost exactly a year ago I was without my PN phone service for NINE days, and I'm in London.  I even had to post a request here to get a refund for the service I hadn't received: https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing/Refund-Goodwill-Payment/m-p/1521077#M29235  I therefore wouldn't put too much store by the 72-hours.

[#13]

Indeed sometimes BTOR major faults do take longer than 72 hours to resolve, such faults impact all ISPs alike.

We all have our tales of woe ... a couple of years ago a ship damaged an under ground (river) cable talking half the village out for 10 days.

[#14]

Don't think it's possible to have anything other than a subjective view of whether Plusnet's relationship with BTOR is worse or better than any other ISP when it comes to resolving faults.

@FM - Do you have a smartphone backup to enable you to still make and receive calls and emails in the event of any problems with the landline services? If not, could be an option worth looking at - mobile phone coverage could well be an issue in the countryside but hopefully neighbours might be able to point you towards a reliable provider for that area.

[#15]

While it's fair to say that increasing the care level brings the initial estimated response time from a 2 working day to a 1 working day lead time, it is only estimated and can be missed depending on engineer availability and the work needed.

In @Jonpe's case sadly it took 5 working days for an engineer to pick up the fault report we raised, which likely wouldn't have been much quicker even with care level 2. 

I'd like to note that for vulnerable customers who qualify we can raise an emergency welfare case with our suppliers and if accepted, this means an engineer will be assigned ASAP which is usually the same day or the next day.

More information regarding our free priority fault repair process can be found here.