Plusnet - Abysmal Internet and Even Worse Customer Service

Jaith

starving_artist wrote: »

It seems to me we are constantly being urged to switch utilities to get better deals but the reality is that it can turn in to such a nightmare that it creates a real disincentive to change.

I've been thinking the same recently. When even the best rated providers can deliver awful service it makes me inclined to stick with the next provider who manages acceptable service, regardless of a small increase in cost.

This is a very different sentiment from the old 'you get what you pay for' - there appears to be little correlation between price and service in these markets. Rather it's an aversion to switching away from a merely decent deal, as to switch feels like entering a pot luck draw - it will be simple and marginally better most of the time, but the massive grief from just one in ten switches going wrong could drown out all the small gains from the other 9 cases that go well.

I would not for a moment suggest that that those who have never switched insurance provider and could save £800 per a year should avoid doing so. But in my situation on already good deals - switching energy, mobile and internet every single year to save a combined £10 or so per month is starting to feel like false economy.

Jaith

Update to this: Plusnet customer services eventually responded and were polite but unhelpful and unrelenting - in their view since they couldn't diagnose the problem they were under no obligation to fix it or release us from the contract.

So after a couple more email exchanges I told them I would collect further photos and videos, then switch to Sky and take them to the Ombusdman for a return of my charges.

I have done all this and switched recently, and after 3 days with Sky the service is already far better - back to what it used to be. So the problem was undoubtedly with Plusnet as we asserted all along.

Oddly, I wasn't required to pay out the remainder of the contract to Plusnet as I had assumed, in fact they have not contacted me during or since the switch. However, this is not much consolation since I paid around £164 line rental up front and only £2.50 per month line rental after discount. So now it's on the Ombudsman to claim back the line rental...

baby_frogmella

Apparently many on Plusnet are experiencing slowdowns at peak times...

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/plusnet/f/4399583-plusnet-in-meltdown.html?fpart=all

Uxb

Well its is a cheap/low cost service - so what do people expect?
Once Plusnet started to rope in the lowest common denominator with advertising on 'Big Brother' and the cashback wheeze one might have guessed it was a race to the bottom to grab customers at all costs.

Want a decent service, no slow downs and faults really sorted? then go to AAISP - but you won't like the prices!
and no you won't get unlimited as that stops the few selfish ones hogging all the available bandwidth 24/7 "cos they paid for it" or "cos im entitled to it" type of drivel.

karrie12

I was about to switch from Virgin Media to Plusnet but thought I'd do a bit of research beforehand. Glad I did. Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone.

Whilst the dodgy bb might be to do with locations, the fact that their customer service is so unhelpful and Jaith it's outrageous that you have to go to the ombudsman for a refund. Hassle you don't need when you've done nothing wrong. Good luck and hope you get your money back.

Whilst Plusnet are cheap that is by no means a reason for them to supply a crap connection or for unhelpful customer service.

stephenliverpool1

I must be the exception, I can't fault Plusnet. Excellent service and customer support (compared with Sky and T/talk !).

alba7

I switched to plusnet a month ago without any problems at all. I'm not into gaming and I don't watch TV programmes or films online but I certainly haven't noticed my broadband being any slower. If anything, it's a lot more stable than it was with BT, although that may not be a surprise!

Jaith

Thanks for the comments, I'll update again when this is resolved.


@UXB - While I agree that, on average, cheaper providers will provide a slightly lower level of service, the remainder of your argument simply does not follow. Nor is it true that aggressive customer acquisition in a generally solid company will lead to poor performance.

Even with the cheapest products (of which Plusnet is not one), we still have the right to expect a minimum level of service which in my case was lacking. I'm not talking about 8 vs 12 Mb download speeds or 30ms vs 60ms ping as will be clear from my early posts.

Your argument is tantamount to suggesting that we should expect to catch e-coli when eating Lidl chicken, since it's half the price of Waitrose organic; or that we should not complain when our Ford breaks down on a 20 mile motorway journey, because it was half the price of a BMW. Fortunately the law does not see it this way, nor do the great majority of consumers.

yadami

I am one of those who did the biggest mistake of switching to plusnet. I was promised everything will be arranged by the 30th of June and that I will receive broadband access from midnight on 01/07/2015. Nothing was done afterwards, when I rang customer services on the 02/07 I was put on hold for 15 minutes they could not figure out the problems and told me that they had to carry out some tests and that would take another 24-48 hours, they also told me that I would be getting a call from the team to let me know about the progress. Nothing from them I had to ring back to find about the progress. Everytime I called them I was put on hold, just to be told last night that the line has been ceased by the previous supplier and they will have to place a new order resulting in getting everything sorted by the 13th July.Today is the 4th of July I am left without a landline and broadband access till the 14th July because I gave up with Plus net and joined Talk Talk due to Plusnet's incompetence and very poor customer services. PLUSNET NEVER AGAIN!!