Help my phone line is broken

mikeopvc

Running a business from home and this morning seemed strangely quite in the office, about 10 o clock I got a call on my mobile from a member of staff out on site saying he and other people on sit had been trying my landline number all morning. I checked for a dial tone and it was there, I tried calling the office phone from my mobile but it just rings once, bleeps 3 times then goes dead.
I called my provider PLUSNET and we went through the motions of unplugging all internal equipment and inserting the phone into the test socket, still nothing.
Following that he asked me to select 3 days and an AM or PM slot, he then said someone will be in touch possibly before easter weekend if not after.
That's it, no landline.
How am I supposed to run my business for the next coming week with no phone, I dread to think what custom I might be losing, This is a busy period for my business and we don't need setbacks like this.

I'm at a loss, not really sure why i'm posting on here but am just desperately hoping someone has an idea of what the problem might be, or if anyone knows of my rights with regards to speeding up the engineer visit, surely they have engineers on call who can come straight away.

Sorry for the long post.

Any advice/suggestions welcomed.

Heinz

Doesn't Plusnet offer, like BT does, a (free) divert to a nominated mobile number then?

mikeopvc

Good idea, I'll check
Though I'd like to think if they do then whoever I spoke to before should have offered the service.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Is it a business account? What does the SLA say?

mikeopvc

I thought it was a business account but now I'm not so sure, the account type shows as HOMEPRO
I just called and asked if the incoming calls could be diverted to another number and was told that this can only be activated if added as a feature for £2.50 per month. I suggested that considering the circumstances they might add the feature temporarily as I am potentially losing money with no incoming calls from potential customers. He was quite adamant that this wasn't going to happen so I demanded he put me through to cancellations, (short fuse I'm afraid) so he put me through to a classical tune which I stupidly listened to for about 3 minutes before realising no one was ever going to pick up.
Anyway as a result it seems they can divert calls but won't unless you pay.

macman

Since you are on a Home service they won't prioritise it in the way that they would a business service. Technically you are in breach of contract running a business on that service. Sole trading is generally not an issue, but it sounds like yours is a larger set up than that?
Plusnet don't have any site engineers. The local BT lines are maintained by Openreach and Plusnet are dependent on getting a slot with them. As a Home customer, you'll be in the queue behind all the business faults.
However I would have expected them to offer you a divert under the circumstances.

spike7451

macman wrote: »

Since you are on a Home service they won't prioritise it in the way that they would a business service. Technically you are in breach of contract running a business on that service. Sole trading is generally not an issue, but it sounds like yours is a larger set up than that?
Plusnet don't have any site engineers. The local BT lines are maintained by Openreach and Plusnet are dependent on getting a slot with them. As a Home customer, you'll be in the queue behind all the business faults.
However I would have expected them to offer you a divert under the circumstances.

Mac's correct on this,
When NTL first released their broadband,we were installing it into a home where the owner was running a business,the bband line was going into a converted garage which was being used as a office.
When our manager came out to do a site visit,we were ordered to stop the install as it was for a business & should've been carried out by the installers who deal with businesses.
The reason he was going for a home use install was purely down to cost.

As for the charge to divert the calls,this I believe is levied by the mobile companies.

mikeopvc

I know this, I did actually ask for advice on here at the time of switching (see links below) but got little response other than a reccommend for plusnet.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2204095

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2203693

It was never my intention to deceive anyone, I even gave my business bank account details for the direct debit, All I wanted was a good deal for my phone and broadband.
I know it's my own fault and need to change to a business account asap but can anyone reccommend a good business deal for phone and broadband?
please!

spike7451

mikeopvc wrote: »

I know this, I did actually ask for advice on here at the time of switching (see links below) but got little response other than a reccommend for plusnet.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2204095

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2203693

It was never my intention to deceive anyone, I even gave my business bank account details for the direct debit, All I wanted was a good deal for my phone and broadband.
I know it's my own fault and need to change to a business account asap but can anyone reccommend a good business deal for phone and broadband?
please!

Nae probs,
Try O2 business phone & bband.

http://www.o2.co.uk/corporate/fixed/landline

macman

Your original post states that 'I run a business from home', which implies sole trader.
Most ISP's are fine with that. But the reason that (on home contracts) they ask you to declare that you are not running any other sort of business, is so that you can't subsequently sue them for loss of revenue should your line go down for a few days.
Now you mention going to the office and having other staff, which rather implies that your business has changed since you took out the Plusnet contract.
Suggest you look at samknows. to see what the LLU options are on your local exchange.
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php

iniltous

I think I would call them back and demand that they put your line on divert to a number you nominate (landline or mobile) for the duration of the fault, this is pretty standard practice,in fact if you are on a resold BT wholesale service ( not full llu) then the charge for the forwarded part of the call is picked up by BT anyway, obviously if Plusnet charge you for call diversion as a rented facility then you pick up the bill for the diverted part of the call as well as the monthly charge for the 'service'