Plusnet cancellation after 3 days of terrible internet

Garnes76

I imagine the answer to this query is likely to be that Plusnet’s T&Cs are what they are but that I can complain and maybe get a reduction. However in case there’s a better route, I thought I’d ask you for advice.

We’ve been with Sky broadband for years and like their service. Trying to make cuts and get a faster broadband, though, I chose to switch to Plusnet’s 300mb package. 

I signed up with Plusnet on 13th August and the service was activated on 29th. It was immediately fast by the modem and desperately slow in the room where I work. 

Today, an engineer visited and said we’d need to buy extenders, but that Plusnet can’t offer these and also wouldn’t maintain them. I’m not happy about this option. To get a system that would work for our house we’d be looking at a minimum of £100 and, to be sure of a stable connection, more like a few hundred. After researching many extender/mesh options, and looking back at my ‘14 day’ cancellation period, I decided to return to Sky and this afternoon negotiated a new package with them.

The Sky package is due to activate within 7 days of today. I rang Plusnet to tell them I’m cancelling, and was told that I am in fact outside the 14 day period: the cancellation period began on the day I placed the order, so 13th August. This means I was wrong to think I could cancel the service if it turned out to be unsuitable. I have read elsewhere that Plusnet advisors tell people it is not a ‘try before you buy’ deal. This does seem very wrong to me, given that statuary rights apply to most products and, in this case, it’s a service which is crucial. If it can’t work for me, I’d like to think I don’t have to buy it?

They’re saying I’ll have a bill of apx £250. 

Is there a way around this that you know of? What can I do?

Brie

Did Plusnet promise a better service without the extras that are now being proposed?  That might work as it might be flagged as mis-selling or false advertising or somesuch.

Garnes76

My understanding was that they promised a minimum speed of 165mbps. I haven’t found anywhere in their info that specifies that they test this speed next to the modem and not elsewhere in the house. 

They do ask that, if speeds are regularly low, customers contact them to try to fix the issue. I feel I didn’t do this, because I immediately contacted them on the first day of usage and they said they’d send the engineer, who came this morning. He told me they only test that the speed to the modem is what it should be. For reference, I’m getting between 1mbps and 20mbps in the room where I work, and where Sky gave me 65mbps with just one extender. 

(Edit, I meant to add that their Contract info for the package is here: blob:https://www.plus.net/08eb4948-5c18-47d0-ab7d-314583406c83 )

Garnes76

Ah and there’s also this statement on their website:

”All Full Fibre packages come with a Hub Two, our most reliable router, so we’ve got your home covered.”

From https://www.plus.net/broadband/full-fibre/

400ixl

The speed guarantee is to the hub, not to anywhere in your house. So reach across your house will not be a reason you can use for termination.

Any reason you aren't re-using the extender you were using before? Unrealistic to expect the same performance without it.

Failing that, have you tried splitting the Wifi networks on 5Ghz and 2Ghz into separate names and then connecting to the 2Ghz network where you are having issues? 5Ghz whilst faster is poorer at penetrating walls etc than 2Ghz.

littleboo

Internet speed  is only ever measured to the router.

iniltous

Broadband isn’t a try before you buy product, the cooling of period is incase you were sold something you quickly regret or feel you were pressured into taking , if after this period you were happy to continue then you no longer have the option to cancel using ‘cooling off’, after that  it’s only if what you were promised doesn’t materialise ( and they don’t promise WiFi speeds ) you can leave penalty free , but even then you are expected  you to give them time to try to fix the issue .

PN have had costs to set up your service, provide you with a router ( even if you don’t rate it ) etc. so expecting to be simply released from your contractual obligations is a little naive , you really should have checked before contacting Sky , you presumably could still cancel Sky penalty free ( if you are within 14 days of speaking to them ) basically your choices  are , let the Sky order progress and pay the PN early termination fees or cancel Sky and stick with PN and explore WiFi improvements.

If you still have your Sky router from your previous Sky service you could potentially use it as an access point from your PN device.

QrizB

Garnes76 said:

I rang Plusnet to tell them I’m cancelling, and was told that I am in fact outside the 14 day period: the cancellation period began on the day I placed the order, so 13th August. This means I was wrong to think I could cancel the service if it turned out to be unsuitable.

Yes, that is correct.

I've recently arranged to switch my VDSL. Here's what my new supplier's confirmation email says:

The legal bit
You can read more about your contract in our terms and conditions. For more information about our pricing and packages, have a look at our Price List.
If you’ve changed your mind about switching to us, or need to change your order, you now have 14 days to cancel without charge. To do this, please call us on 0330 xxx xxxx.

That's 14 days from placing my order.

My go-live days is 18 days from placing my order, 4 days after my cooling off period ends.

If you check your PlusNet emails I would expect them to say much the same thing.

Garnes76 said:

We’ve been with Sky broadband for years and like their service. Trying to make cuts and get a faster broadband, though, I chose to switch to Plusnet’s 300mb package. 

I signed up with Plusnet on 13th August and the service was activated on 29th. It was immediately fast by the modem and desperately slow in the room where I work. 

Today, an engineer visited and said we’d need to buy extenders, but that Plusnet can’t offer these and also wouldn’t maintain them.

That sounds correct also. Your broadband connection is good, but your new router has poorer wifi than you're used to.

Garnes76 said:

For reference, I’m getting between 1mbps and 20mbps in the room where I work, and where Sky gave me 65mbps with just one extender.

So you already knew that you could need extenders?

Garnes76 said:

Is there a way around this that you know of? What can I do?

Off the top of my head:

1. Buy extenders - mesh, poweline or whatever else you fancy.
   
2. Run network cables through your house (this is what I do).
3. Buy a better wifi access point and attach that to your Plusnet router.
4. Buy a router with better wifi and replace the Plusnet one.
5. Move the router closer to your work room, or work closer to the router.
   

Good luck with whichever you choose.

Garnes76

Thanks for your responses.
I’m thinking we’ll have to pay the fee at this stage. I’m aware that a future switch to another company would probably be easier if we were to then have in place a mesh, etc, but right now it’ll be a relief to have Sky’s reliability back.
I do feel very mis-sold by Plusnet. Some background:
To the person who asked about the extender Sky gave us, this was a recent addition after a brief period of poorer than usual speeds but we’d been fine for several years without it; and that was a theoretically far slower package from Sky. Sky gave the extender to us. It works only with Sky as far as I can tell, and anyway we’d need to return it if we left Sky.
As a side note, I briefly used a Huawei sim modem which actually gave better speed than Plusnet across the house. I still have that modem but can’t see how I’d use it as a sim free router.
Broader back story: we’ve had a recent very difficult bereavement in the house, I’ve been trying to streamline everything in terms of contracts and finances, and it looks as though I’ve just dropped the ball with this one. Maybe that’s naivety—to not consider that switching providers might involve also laying new cables through the house or researching extra expensive systems, nor that if a major problem were apparent on day one we’d have to pay for the full 18 months—or maybe it’s a result of doing bereavement pressure. Ultimately though, I’d have no problem with paying for Plusnet’s time and expenses to date. I wish they’d been kinder about it because maybe I’d then have considered them in future but I’d actively avoid them after the way they’ve spoken to us a couple of times now, not to mention the lack of care and support compared with Sky. But it’s a ‘whatever’ matter at this point since there’s obviously no protection for people in our situation.

I will emphasise that their advertisement of service strongly suggests that the house will receive the speed, (even if you take into account the minimum guaranteed speed). See screenshot of their website. I am aware there will be fluctuations and that not all houses are the same but ours is a fairly straightforward house with fairly thin walls and I did presume they’d go at least some way towards setting it up to work so that they’d actually got “our home covered”. I expected that the advertised top notch “Hub Two Router” would do what they said it’d do. I couldn’t really know it wouldn’t work well until it was in place? Hey ho. 

Any further suggestions would still be welcome but please go a little gently. Thanks. 

iniltous

You state it would cost ‘at least £100’ to improve your WiFi sticking with PN as the ISP , but the penalty for leaving PN so early on in your term would presumably be way more than that , so if it’s simply a question of cost , the economics seem clear ….obviously if your preference is returning to Sky , that should also return the level of wireless performance you had previously , but there is no inherent superiority equipment wise , Sky don’t have some magic formula or patented technology that others don’t , there may be some slight differences around the margins but that’s about it .

 I would have thought the more obvious approach is either a wired connection to avoid the vagaries of WiFi , but depending on the  devices  you use , that  may not be an option  , or improve the WiFi performance, after all there is no reason why the PN kit ( possibly with additional equipment ) or replaced with a superior router , cannot be made to perform similarly to the previous Sky kit , and presumably it would be the cheaper option, but ultimately it your decision.

QrizB

One last thought - have you tried turning the Plusnet router to face in a different direction? No WiFi device has perfectly uniform coverage, and it might be that pointing it in an odd direction makes all the difference?