Is there a decent alternative to Plusnet?

[BackinBlack 11]

As a Sheffielder I chose Plusnet as my businesses internet and phone provider - signing up for a year and paying £100 for an install. Why? Because I apparently & mistakenly figured that by choosing company who trumpet good values I would get the bees knees.

 

The install took a couple of weeks to happen after the sign-up and the router came a week after that. Since then I have found that the internet often drops out and have been onto them to resolve the matter. The basic problem I have now though is that the opt-out expired during the wait for their service to be installed and the box to arrive and I am expected to pay almost £500 if I now try to get an alternative provider.

 

I apparently & mistakenly assumed that by paying Plusnet for an installation, their engineer would check that the room in the building where my office was, actually received the services that I was paying for. It seems not though.

 

My last discussion with a Plusnet customer service assistant revealed that it was now apparently my role to be a technician and to test the connections. It was put to me that I should buy or borrow some else's router to see if the Plusnet one was faulty (which seems a bit unprofessional to me). I was told that the router actually now belongs - is owned by - me and is not their problem if it develops a fault. Furthermore I was told that on their website and in the Ts & Cs, the internet connection is not even guaranteed by Plusnet. Unbelievable!

 

I suggested that if they wanted me to test the router, that they could send a second one for another £7 as they did the first and I could check it this way. They told me that I would have to pay around £50 for the second router, so that's no good.

 

They said that if I was not willing to do their checks for them, they could send out an engineer to do them - but should the issue be beyond the socket that was installed in the building's comms room, it would cost me over £140 for the diagnostic (not the resolution).

 

I put it to the Plusnet advisor that when Virgin Media installed my home internet and phone, they came, installed and checked that it all worked BEFORE leaving. I can't see why Plusnet don't do the same. Since when did I become qualified in telecommunications? Also - so far as I am aware, the landlord of the offices provided the Plusnet engineer who came to install the service with the necessary cable adapter to put into my office - this would be needed to plug my phone in and test that the connection worked in there. The engineer never entered my office on the day and left - taking the cable with him!

 

Now I can see where the Plusnet argument might be - in that the office's internal wiring / connecters and adapters etc. may be at fault, but think about how many businesses exist in offices within shared buildings, where the comms come into a different room and are wired through into all the different offices. Now think why on earth I wasn't advised about the possibility that there might be an issue - especially if Plusnet are meant to be experts in their field and are fully aware that their engineer doesn't actually check that their customer - the one who is paying them and will or won't stay, return or recommend them is in receipt of their service or not. It would have taken 5 minutes to check and now they put the burden onto the customer to do it all for them - or pay for them to return. Also take note that the £140 charge is one which has a profit margin in. It is not doing it at cost! They'll be using 0844 numbers for customer services next.

 

I was advised that I should have used the search box on the Plusnet website to search for specific problems to see if I was covered or not by their service. However this is only useful if I know what the problems might be in advance (crystal ball stuff - or learn through this apparent bad experience with Plusnet).

 

So I am stuck. I have so far spent about 5 to 6 hours trying to resolve this matter with them and I foresee another day at least, but it looks like I will be paying for another provider to do what Plusnet have apparently failed to do - which is simply to provide decent broadband and some element of customer service.

 

Can anyone advise on decent business internet and phone providers? Although looking at the likely scenario, I will still have the phone service and will instead need just business broadband. Our office is in town, so any provision should be good (apart from Plusnet - apparently, of course). Needs to be wireless and now relatively cheap due to paying £500 for Plusnet's (apparent lack of) service.

Edited April 4, 2013 by BackinBlack
Spelling - add detail

[AngryDog 10]

Contact of com etc

[cuttsie 1,091]

As a Sheffielder I chose Plusnet as my businesses internet and phone provider - signing up for a year and paying £100 for an install. Why? Because I mistakenly figured that by choosing company who trumpet good values I would get the bees knees.

 

The install took a couple of weeks to happen after the sign-up and the router came a week after that. Since then I have found that the internet often drops out and have been onto them to resolve the matter. The basic problem I have now though is that the opt-out expired during the wait for their service to be installed and the box to arrive and I am expected to pay almost £500 if I now try to get an alternative provider.

 

I mistakenly assumed that by paying Plusnet for an installation, their engineer would check that the room in the building where my office was, actually received the services that I was paying for. It seems not though.

 

My last discussion with a Plusnet customer service assistant revealed that it was now my role to be a technician and to test the connections. It was put to me that I should buy or borrow some else's router to see if the Plusnet one was faulty (which seems a bit unprofessional to me). I was told that the router actually now belongs - is owned by - me and is not their problem if it develops a fault. Furthermore I was told that on their website and in the Ts & Cs, the internet connection is not even guaranteed by Plusnet. Unbelievable!

 

I suggested that if they wanted me to test the router, that they could send a second one for another £7 as they did the first and I could check it this way. They told me that I would have to pay around £50 for the second router, so that's no good.

 

They said that if I was not willing to do their checks for them, they could send out an engineer to do them - but should the issue be beyond the socket that was installed in the building's comms room, it would cost me over £140 for the diagnostic (not the resolution).

 

I put it to the Plusnet advisor that when Virgin Media installed my home internet and phone, they came, installed and checked that it all worked BEFORE leaving. I can't see why Plusnet don't do the same. Since when did I become qualified in telecommunications? Also - so far as I am aware, the landlord of the offices provided the Plusnet engineer who came to install the service with the necessary cable adapter to put into my office - this would be needed to plug my phone in and test that the connection worked in there. The engineer never entered my office on the day and left - taking the cable with him!

 

Now I can see where the Plusnet argument might be - in that the office's internal wiring / connecters and adapters etc. may be at fault, but think about how many businesses exist in offices within shared buildings, where the comms come into a different room and are wired through into all the different offices. Now think why on earth I wasn't advised about the possibility that there might be an issue - especially if Plusnet are meant to be experts in their field and are fully aware that their engineer doesn't actually check that their customer - the one who is paying them and will or won't stay, return or recommend them is in receipt of their service or not. It would have taken 5 minutes to check and now they put the burden onto the customer to do it all for them - or pay for them to return. Also take note that the £140 charge is one which has a profit margin in. It is not doing it at cost! They'll be using 0844 numbers for customer services next.

 

I was advised that I should have used the search box on the Plusnet website to search for specific problems to see if I was covered or not by their service. However this is only useful if I know what the problems might be in advance (crystal ball stuff - or learn through this bad experience with Plusnet).

 

So I am stuck. I have so far spent about 5 to 6 hours trying to resolve this matter with them and I foresee another day at least, but it looks like I will be paying for another provider to do what Plusnet have failed to do - which is simply to provide decent broadband and some element of customer service.

 

Can anyone advise on decent business internet and phone providers? Although looking at the likely scenario, I will still have the phone service and will instead need just business broadband. Our office is in town, so any provision should be good (apart from Plusnet of course). Needs to be wireless and now relatively cheap due to paying £500 for Plusnet's (lack of) service.

I have read your post and my eyes were drawn to the add at the top of the page advertising the best ten Broadband suppliers.

Serendipity that in't it.

[orbrey 10]

Hi,

 

Hoping I can help at least explain some of this, and offer some help if possible.

 

As a Sheffielder I chose Plusnet as my businesses internet and phone provider - signing up for a year and paying £100 for an install.

Thanks very much indeed.

 

I mistakenly assumed that by paying Plusnet for an installation, their engineer would check that the room in the building where my office was, actually received the services that I was paying for. It seems not though.

It's actually a BT Openreach engineer, they're the ones who install all internet services on BT lines no matter the ISP. They will install the service at the master phone socket but won't guarantee the service beyond that, it's known as the demarcation point.

 

My last discussion with a Plusnet customer service assistant revealed that it was now my role to be a technician and to test the connections.

I'm afraid that again that is the case, though all you have to do is prove that the connection is faulty beyond the master socket. If the line still drops with the router in the master socket and nothing else connected you've done that, so it's not a great deal of work - just make sure that all internal wiring is eliminated as a possible cause.

 

It was put to me that I should buy or borrow some else's router to see if the Plusnet one was faulty (which seems a bit unprofessional to me).

Sorry you feel that way, you could also take the existing router to a known working connection and test it there if that's easier? Again it's just a matter of proving the router isn't what's causing the fault.

 

I was told that the router actually now belongs - is owned by - me and is not their problem if it develops a fault.

To a point this is correct though I'm really sorry if the agent you talked to was that blunt. If you find that the router is indeed broken it's guaranteed for 12 months so we can issue a replacement, unfortunately though we can't do that for testing purposes (we tried, you may be not at all amazed at the difficulty we had getting the test routers back).

 

Furthermore I was told that on their website and in the Ts & Cs, the internet connection is not even guaranteed by Plusnet. Unbelievable!

I'm afraid again that's standard practice. If you need an internet service with guaranteed uptime you'd need to look into getting a leased line, and those are not cheap - I believe they're in the realm of hundreds if not thousands of pounds a month.

 

They said that if I was not willing to do their checks for them, they could send out an engineer to do them - but should the issue be beyond the socket that was installed in the building's comms room, it would cost me over £140 for the diagnostic (not the resolution).

If we send out an engineer (again, it'd be a BT Openreach engineer) and he finds the fault to be with either the internal equipment or wiring, we'll be charged an abortive visit fee of £144 + vat - we have to pass this fee on, I'm afraid we can't absorb it. That's why we request the checks from the master socket to be done, if we know that's the case and we receive a charge we can reject it.

 

Since when did I become qualified in telecommunications?

Understand your frustration, but as I said above all we ask is that you prove the fault still exists with the router plugged into the master socket and all other items disconnected from the line. We're certainly not asking you to redo any wiring?

 

Also - so far as I am aware, the landlord of the offices provided the Plusnet engineer who came to install the service with the necessary cable adapter to put into my office - this would be needed to plug my phone in and test that the connection worked in there. The engineer never entered my office on the day and left - taking the cable with him!

I'm afraid once again we're back to the master socket - once the service is installed there, that's where the engineer's responsibility stops. I don't think Virgin would have fitted any extension sockets either?

 

Now think why on earth I wasn't advised about the possibility that there might be an issue - especially if Plusnet are meant to be experts in their field and are fully aware that their engineer doesn't actually check that their customer - the one who is paying them and will or won't stay, return or recommend them is in receipt of their service or not. It would have taken 5 minutes to check and now they put the burden onto the customer to do it all for them

As I said the engineer would have checked to confirm the signal is present at the master socket. I am sorry there's a fault with the service and we're more than happy to investigate and get it resolved for you, we just need to make sure either that you're happy the fault doesn't lie with the internal wiring or the router or that you understand if an engineer attends and finds that that's where the fault is that a charge will be issued.

 

Also take note that the £140 charge is one which has a profit margin in. It is not doing it at cost!

I'm not sure where you heard that but it's not the case. We're charged £144 + vat for an abortive visit charge and we pass this cost on, we don't make any profit on it at all.

 

They'll be using 0844 numbers for customer services next.

We've no plans to change our existing support numbers; the business support number remains an 0114 geographical number and our residential support teams are available on either an 0800 number for landlines or an 0345 number for mobiles which will be included in any packaged minutes.

 

So I am stuck. I have so far spent about 5 to 6 hours trying to resolve this matter with them and I foresee another day at least, but it looks like I will be paying for another provider to do what Plusnet have failed to do - which is simply to provide decent broadband and some element of customer service.

As I've said we're more than happy to investigate this and get it fixed, and I'm sorry this has been such a bad first experience.

 

I hope that helps explain some, if there's anything at all we can do to help or hurry this along please post back or drop me a PM, or feel free to post on our own forums at http://community.plus.net

 

Regards,

 

Matt Taylor

Customer Support

[Kandg 10]

Can't suggest a provider but I do recommend that you post this on their facebook page. I had an issue with a supermarket which i couldn't seem to get resolved so I posted on their fbk page and within 15min it was resolved and I got a voucher.

[The_Knifeman 10]

Try these - they offer a brilliant business to business service

 

http://www.voot.org

[cgksheff 44]

BackinBlack,

 

You say it yourself.

 

You assumed, mistakenly, the extent of the services that you were contracting for.

 

Take it on the chin and if you want to set up an internet connection that is working in your office, and you feel unable to do it yourself, I suggest that you pay someone to do it for you.

[damageandy 10]

thats the problem with crappy cheap companies, had a similar problem with ours connection dropping and not working properly randomly for bout 4 months, had all the tests done, engineers could never find a fault, said everything was fine at their end, so must be ours.

 

Changed company, same problem started to happen, 24hrs after reporting, boom was fixed was a problem at the local exchange, talktalk must have not even sent anyone out to check.

[Michael_N 36]

Try the local Origin Broadband on the local Digital Region South Yorkshire network. They have delivered us exactly what it said on the tin and we moved from a BT line that could support no greater than 3MBps to 23MBps with Origin (same phone line and distance etc).

 

Have a look around their site (they also have a facebook/twitter page) and have some good reviews on here too: http://www.origin-broadband.co.uk/

 

---------- Post added 04-04-2013 at 11:42 ----------

 

Should add the only problem you may encounter with them is the time to get connected is extremely long. Took us over 6 weeks!! Was worth it though in the end.

[lil-minx92 10]

To be fair I've used PlusNet for 3 years now with only one problem (with phone calls) which was fixed within the promised timescale. Never one had an issue with the internet not working. Credit where credit is due

[truman 10]

To be fair I've used PlusNet for 3 years now with only one problem (with phone calls) which was fixed within the promised timescale. Never one had an issue with the internet not working. Credit where credit is due

 

We swapped to Plusnet from another ISP..we now have a much better internet service than before..and it's cheaper..no issues at all..it'll be interesting if we ever find out what the OP's problem was..

[tony2 10]

All it took was you to plug another modem in and see if it works, is that really too much to ask? you waste more time writing crap like this on here when it would have taken you 5 minutes to plug new modem and and found out if the fault is with BT line or plusnet modem/setting up of modem

Plusnet is not allow to touch wires outside of the building as it belongs to BT

Edited April 4, 2013 by tony2