Plus net - poor customer service

AlbaDhearg

Hi new to the forum but not the site, so too speak.

Just wondering what other customer's experience of plus net is?

I became a customer of plus net 3 weeks ago and can't complain about any of the work proceeding me going live, it was all good.

Disappointingly my issue is that with 3 adults & a teenager in the house we appear to have used up our 60gb allowance by streaming movies etc. Having informed me that I was nearing my usage limit (good service) and advising that I would be charged £5 for every 5 GB that I exceeded it. They then don't allow me to increase my limit to 120 GB at an extra cost of £4 per month but instead advise that I can cap my usage (no good to me) or keep paying £5 per 5 GB additional usage until my next bill!

At the time of writing that's an additional £35 on top of my bill, in contrast to the £4 it could have been. Meanwhile I need to wait until 8th September before I can increase my limit.

This I believe is NOT the type of customer service that I expected when signing up, as a consequence I telephoned today to ask for my MAC code only to discover this department is only available Monday to Friday !

So much for their wonderful Yorkshire based service.

A very unhappy customer, soon to be an ex-customer.

ktothema

I'm really not sure what advice to give. Did you sign up to a 12m contract? It sounds like they're just sticking to the terms you've signed up to.

The 120gb package they offer is fibre, not ADSL so I'm guessing you're not in an area covered by fibre at the moment. Some companies do allow this type of upgrade where possible, but they're not under any obligation to do so.

AlbaDhearg

Thanks for the response, I signed up to a monthly contract after getting my fingers burnt with the woeful Talk, Talk.

I wasn't seeking advice as such, just wondered what other users experiences had been.

When I spoke to a customer service member they advised me that I could move to a package which offered usage (not speed) of up to 120 GB per month but needed to wait until 8th September, which is my complaint in essence - the fact that you couldn't do it until that point. Thereby having to pay hefty penalties despite the fact that I requested to move prior to incurring them.

When I spoke to a different customer service member today he advised that you previously could change package at any time but plusnet have now ended that. Probably to earn more money- short sited I would suggest.

ktothema wrote: »

I'm really not sure what advice to give. Did you sign up to a 12m contract? It sounds like they're just sticking to the terms you've signed up to.

The 120gb package they offer is fibre, not ADSL so I'm guessing you're not in an area covered by fibre at the moment. Some companies do allow this type of upgrade where possible, but they're not under any obligation to do so.

blisteringblue

There is a 120gb non fibre option, but you have to request to become part of a trial. I have pulled this from the Plus.net community forum

What you could do is look at our Plusnet Premium package which offers 120GB usage per month.

If you're in a Market 1 or 2 area this would cost you £19.99 per month, however if you're in a Market 3 area it will be £15.99 per month.

If you'd like to sign up for this package (has no impact on any contracts you have) you can head over to http://trials.plus.net and select the "Extra Usage" option.

I'm watching our usage closely but I think 2GB a day should be enough to stream. If you download p2p etc then do this between midnight and 8am as this usage is "free" and does not count to your monthy quota.

I have moved from SKY LLU to Plus net and cannot fault the work so far. I've gained 1.5mb in line speed from Sky which is superb my sky started at 7mb and gradually slowed to under 5mb with all their little fixes (DLM etc).

You can't really blame Plus.net for you using the internet too much though, can you?

AlbaDhearg

There was no p2p downloading just streaming and the usual email, web surfing etc.

My complaint is as I stated, you can't upgrade to a higher usage allowance until your next billing date. I was advised that I could switch to the £15.99 package but that it wouldn't come into effect until the next billing date (8th September).

That is the issue, why offer it but then make you wait until the next bill?

I was more than happy to pay the additional cost per month for what we used which is appropriate, but can't undertsand why they don't allow it?

Other than they make more money by not allowing you to do it.

And I did start the thread by giving credit where credit was due, in terms of trasnfering to them and the actual service which is a vast improvement on talktalk. But that doesn't then mean you cant question/criticise their inability to be more flexible, thereby retaining someone who was happy to pay more for what they used.

macman

It's hardly Plusnet's fault that you signed up to an unsuitable tariff?

ktothema

Its certainly good that you haven't signed up for a year on that package as it does seem unsuitable for you.

Like I said previously though whilst a lot of companies will allow to upgrade in the middle, there's no obligation for them to do so. You've signed for a month, so it looks like they're going to hold you to the month before allowing upgrade.

I've been with plusnet only for two months now, but I've always found them very helpful and they've solved two issues we've had really well. But we've not tried to change our contract terms with them so I can't really comment on what they'd be like there.

Owain_Moneysaver

It's fairly reasonable for Plusnet to not switch you mid-month as their billing system may work on whole months only.

Plenty of ISPs would charge you £5 per GB for the next 18 months ...

sjb2016

Although it's annoying that the "I wanna cancel" people (I think retentions is their official name) are only available Monday to Friday, I bet that they'll be able to sort out the issue. I called to cancel once as there was a marginally better deal with 02 (pennies, literally), but they switched my package immediately, whilst saying that they could do this as they are retentions (reg customer service had no such power). Worth a shot as I find Plus.net to be the best of a bad lot.

-Sam

Plusnet_company_representative

Hi AlbaDhearg,

Sorry about the mixed messaging you've been getting about this. If you follow the link in post number 4 you should be able to get the extra usage you're after, please let us know if not, and if possible post a ticket ID so we can find your account, and we'll be able to get that sorted for you. The account change will have to be done on your next billing date though rather than in the middle of the month.

Hope that helps,

Matt Taylor
Customer Support

AlbaDhearg

sjb2016 wrote: »

Although it's annoying that the "I wanna cancel" people (I think retentions is their official name) are only available Monday to Friday, I bet that they'll be able to sort out the issue. I called to cancel once as there was a marginally better deal with 02 (pennies, literally), but they switched my package immediately, whilst saying that they could do this as they are retentions (reg customer service had no such power). Worth a shot as I find Plus.net to be the best of a bad lot.

-Sam

Thank you Sam for your helpful contribution.

I did indeed speak to the 'wanna cancel' people who sorted the issue out there and then moving me to the higher usage 120 GB while keeping my existing price - good customer service at last.

I am happy to remain a customer of plusnet as a consequence, although I do believe you should not have to go to the 'wanna cancel' people to get it sorted.

And thanks to the other contributors who pointed out the obvious i.e. I had signed up to this package etc. Yes i know that but that was not the point. The whole purpose of this site is to encourage people to be more money literate and save cash where they can, hence I posted my comment about the inflexibility of plus net.

Thankfully they resolved it, which is appreciated, and in return they retain my custom.