Say NO To Plusnet Pro!

boozercruiser

I just received the below E. Mail from Plusnet asking me to pay another £5 a month for so called Plusnet Pro. Right now I pay them around £35 a month for my telephone and broadband (with 60gb download limit).

For that I expect the best service that they can give me without them trying to screw me for another Fiver.

Cheeky Blastards...they can shove this offer where the sun don't shine and I will be away from them just as soon as my contract ends.

E. Mail From Plusnet.........

Hello.

At Plusnet, we know that it would be nice to be able to jump the queue when things get busy, especially when the hold-up is preventing you from enjoying your online experience to the full. With our unique add-on Plusnet Pro, you can make sure your broadband connection is always prioritised, so that when you're using time-sensitive applications it doesn't get stuck in a jam.

For just £5 a month,* Plusnet Pro gives you a top-class connection, helping you keep up to speed with the office from the comfort of your own home, and stay ahead of the game when annihilating enemies in your favourite online pursuits. Take a look at how you can prioritise your connection with Plusnet Pro:

Fewer slowdowns: Pro allows your connection to run at line speed throughout the day, so you can enjoy a more consistent connection, even at peak times.^
Prioritised VPN and efficient FTP: Working from home, but need to keep up with the office? With Pro, sending large files securely over your VPN is quick and easy, and you can transfer files to work servers quicker with a prioritised FTP connection.
Cutting edge: When new games are released it automatically prioritises them, so you can immediately experience them to the full.
Stay ahead of the crowd: Make sure your connection is ready for the new releases this year - whether you're downloading the latest software for your smart phone, or using P2P to get the newest patch for an online game.
Beat the traffic and put an end to the online rush hour this year by adding Plusnet Pro now.

Gordon_Hose

That's like saying "Our internet is generally rubbish. But pay us 5 more a month and we'll make sure it works like it should have all along!"

boozercruiser

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

That's like saying "Our internet is generally rubbish. But pay us 5 more a month and we'll make sure it works like it should have all along!"

You know what Gordon Hose.....I wasn't looking at it quite like that...but thank you for getting it SPOT ON!:T

My line is capable of between 6 and 7 mpbs.....for around 3 weeks it went down to under 2 mpbs.

They did finaly sort it out...but I wonder if they will refund me £5 for supplying....

Plusnet MINUS!:mad:

spannerzone

Or converseley they're openly admitting that the average home broadband has no real service level agreement and if you want to pay a bit more then you can have a prioritised service.

I don't consider that paying £35 a month for line rental and broadband is particularly extortianate or should actually mean you get the best service available otherwise why would businesses pay a lot more?

I expect a fairly reliable service for my money but you have to be realistic about what is achievable for a given price.

ChiefGrasscutter

As a happy customer of Plusnet (£6.50 odd per month) can I just say I'd be delighted if the likes of the OP go elswhere.
As Ryanair said "we don't like dissatisfied customers - disssatisfied customers can go and fly with someone else.

You want more - you pay more - not a difficult concept to understand.
I recommend OP might like to try AAISP

boozercruiser

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

As a happy customer of Plusnet (£6.50 odd per month) can I just say I'd be delighted if the likes of the OP go elswhere.
As Ryanair said "we don't like dissatisfied customers - disssatisfied customers can go and fly with someone else.

You want more - you pay more - not a difficult concept to understand.
I recommend OP might like to try AAISP

O.K. so Green Grass doesn't mind mind being mulched.:eek:

However, as a past Union Works Convener, I never did like a Grass.

Nothing has changed!;)

brewerdave

Does that £35 pm include all calls as well as line rental? Presumably so,but even then, think you are paying over the odds - Even on a market 1 exchange 60Gb usage plus rental plus all calls comes out at ~ £33 pm as far as I can see.
Suggest you phone them and "negotiate" a decrease!!

boozercruiser

brewerdave wrote: »

Does that £35 pm include all calls as well as line rental? Presumably so,but even then, think you are paying over the odds - Even on a market 1 exchange 60Gb usage plus rental plus all calls comes out at ~ £33 pm as far as I can see.
Suggest you phone them and "negotiate" a decrease!!

Thank you for a sensible question obviously meant to help:T

Actually my last bill was as below which includes Line Rental, unlimited any time calls and broadband up to 60gb. I will use that as I download and stream rather a lot. As I say, this does include all calls (except Mobile which is the 78p). Actually as I have had 3 months free broadband at the start (I have been with them around 6 months) it probably isn't too bad over the year.

Also, I have just paid for a years line rental at £9 something a month for paying up front. so any line rental will drop out of that with my next bill.

Still, if you think I am missing a trick, please advise further!:D


QTY ITEM FROM TO PRICE
Total: £34.26
(inc VAT)


1 Call charge - 21/11/2011 £0.78
1 Plusnet Extra charge 21/11/2011 20/12/2011 £17.99
1 Talk Anytime charge 21/11/2011 20/12/2011 £11.99
1 Call Plan charge 21/11/2011 20/12/2011 £3.50

Lifeforms

I pay for Pro. Primarily it's just being open and saying we throttle during peak times, so pay this, and you can bypass it. Essentially most, if not all regular broadband providers do it, cept they tend to do it on the quiet, and never let on. It's only useful if you would benefit from it. So to quote from http://www.chooseisp.co.uk/broadband-guide/reviews/is-plusnet-broadband-any-good.html :

Traffic is managed as follows:

• Value: prioritises browsing and VoIP
• Extra: prioritises browsing, VoIP, gaming and downloads
• Pro (£5 extra on any deal): prioritises VoIP, gaming, VPN and FTP

I pay it because I voip a lot, game a reasonable amount, and do things like P2P during the day time. And I do notice the difference between day time downloading on plusnet pro, and my old ISP who secretly throttled.

They're just being honest, and actually allowing you to prioritise just what you want from your connection (at a charge, naturally) rather than not even having the option with many other ISP's.

It does not mean that "our net is crap usually, so pay extra to get better internet". You might find if all you do all day is browse, then paying the Pro fee wouldn't be beneficial, and you probably wouldn't even get to see any improvement. (perhaps even a downside to using pro with just browsing)

£5 a month isn't a lot, even paying that on top it was still cheaper than my old ISP, but I work on the basis that I want value for money, not just cheap net. Cheap net and mass offers tie you up for long term contacts on internet that is usually dreadful. I'd rather pay the extra on something I use prolifically and get a good service. Sometimes moneysaving isn't the be all and end all of products and services.

boozercruiser

Lifeforms wrote: »

I pay for Pro. Primarily it's just being open and saying we throttle during peak times, so pay this, and you can bypass it. Essentially most, if not all regular broadband providers do it, cept they tend to do it on the quiet, and never let on. It's only useful if you would benefit from it. So to quote from http://www.chooseisp.co.uk/broadband-guide/reviews/is-plusnet-broadband-any-good.html :
I pay it because I voip a lot, game a reasonable amount, and do things like P2P during the day time. And I do notice the difference between day time downloading on plusnet pro, and my old ISP who secretly throttled.

They're just being honest, and actually allowing you to prioritise just what you want from your connection (at a charge, naturally) rather than not even having the option with many other ISP's.

It does not mean that "our net is crap usually, so pay extra to get better internet". You might find if all you do all day is browse, then paying the Pro fee wouldn't be beneficial, and you probably wouldn't even get to see any improvement. (perhaps even a downside to using pro with just browsing)

£5 a month isn't a lot, even paying that on top it was still cheaper than my old ISP, but I work on the basis that I want value for money, not just cheap net. Cheap net and mass offers tie you up for long term contacts on internet that is usually dreadful. I'd rather pay the extra on something I use prolifically and get a good service. Sometimes moneysaving isn't the be all and end all of products and services.

Thank you for a very reasoned and very well put answer back without being nasty about it as some can be here.

Still, I can see where you are coming from and if that suits you fine.
However, I just think that a Broadband Charge used to be just that....and the any company would do its best to provide the best speeds possible.

Now though the attitude seems to be "If you want the best we can provide M8y then you will just have to pay £5 more.

I think this is just part now of Rip Off Britain.

I don't agree with that so I will beg to differ with you.

Still friends though..eh!:)

Lifeforms

Because I am on it, I've never had any emails about it, however the email you have posted is very ambiguous, and basically does sound like if you pay us the extra £5, then you will get a better service than your neighbour (who for examples sake doesn't pay the extra fiver). But when you sit and work it out, it doesn't actually work that way (unless he is your clone and does exactly what you do, but doesn't pay for it, whilst you do)

As I say, it's one of the main reasons that I went with plusnet. Their service is good, as are their tools online (monitoring exactly what takes up what on internet use), along with reasonable line rental (and I've just done their offer of 12 months line rental @ 9.49 a month) and call package charges. I have known for a long time with what I download (primarily TV shows from UK/USA) it has been throttled on all of my previous ISP's, so the fact I could actually pay to get that lifted somewhat, suited me.

Really we're all being held hostage by ISP's. Whether it's their promises of greatly reduced 3 or 4 month prices (based on some long term contracts) whereby you find so many subscribe that your service is poor when you want to do things outside general browsing etc, or simply charges for services we don't necessarily need/want. We need a change on Internet, and being truly unlimited as that will be the way forward people want to go (TV on demand, internet TV etc, iplayer.)