Please note that after being told that its £49.99 for new broadband router or signup for another years contract or £60 if the fault is on my premises I asked for a mac which they will email me ( I have no internet connection) I said just cancel they said "£30 to disconnect or go over to cable, so they expect me to carry on paying even with no servicel until I have another internet provider seems Money is what that want one way or another, from old customers as they are giving to the NEW
Plusnet Broadband Reviews
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Report abuseFAO. Mr Bob Pullen.
Thank you for taking the time to reply and comment to my post.
I would just like to state that i did in fact have a contract for both phone line with anytime calls and broadband.
I also did contact Plusnet prior to leaving and was offered a discount to stay but it did not match that offered to new customers.
I realise that a reasonable person would expect a company to make a profit. We all know of a few that didnt and where they are now! However I still find it hard to understand how it is profitable to seek out new customers by mass advertising and offering good incentives but are prepared to loose existing ones.
In my opinion it is not good practice and is not profitable.
My reasoning - An existing customer has an existing connection at the exchange, is already in possession of a Plusnet router, has all financial details, direct debits etc, logged into the system.
All incurred costs.
You will retain some because of apathy, but I rather think that the more cost conscious (I include myself) will migrate.
I am now in to my third week with a competitor.
So far so good!
Maybe next year??? -
Report abuse@FrillyFrog, if you're confident that the problem's outside your property then it's highly likely to be something affecting the local loop i.e. the wires between your master socket and your local cabinet/exchange. If that is the case then the problem would have developed with BT too. They use the same physical infrastructure we do in this repect. When your service migrated to us, none of this wiring will have been touched (it's a simple software change).
If the problem's as intermittent as you say it is then I'm not going to mislead you, it's likely to take some persistence to fix. Multiple Openreach engineer visits may also be required. If you can provide me with a recent support ticket reference then I'll happily take a look at your account and see what I make of it?
@rustyfrog, we'd normally match an introductory offer assuming you're out of contract and meet all the necessary criteria (e.g. the introductory offers are only applicable to those who have their phone service with us). As you've found though, it's sometimes at the expense of a lengthier contract. Why don't we offer everyone the introductory offers? Bottom line I guess is the fact that we're a business and we need to make money. We make comparatively little money from our broadband customers as it stands.
I'd offer to look into things for you and see if I can offer anything more competitive but by the sounds of things the boat has already sailed :(
Sorry to see you go and all the best with your new provider.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
Report abuseAh, but Martian, while the ISPs *could* promote their services for streaming video, I suspect they are still very much hoping that the higher allowances are used by a minority than by the vast majority.
I suspect pretty much every service with a "bundle" (internet + TV or phone or mobile or any combination) has some part more profitable than the internet component (hence Primus offering unlimited broadband at 4 pounds/month, plus a {somewhat higher} line rental, TalkTalk, Sky, etc).
Even Plus.Net is only offering deals for people taking both broadband / fibre AND Phone Line rental, presumably because they make more out of the phone call charges and/or the benefit of either (a) a bloated line rental fee or (b) having the whole year's fee paid in advance, so they can have cash in the bank...
I'm generally happy and see the offering of 'unlimited' as a real bonus rather than something to be expected. Few other ISPs really offer a truly unlimited traffic package. Most say unlimited but have a "fair use policy" such as Tesco, which has a 'behind the scenes' limit of round 100 GB a month. -
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FAO Mr. Bob Pullen.
It is with some disappointment that I have left Plusnet for another provider.
Let me say that I had no significant problems with you and any problems I did have were dealt with promptly, with courtesy and efficiently.
Why then did I leave?
Like a lot of service providers, Plusnet are geared to attracting new customers rather than keeping their existing customer base.
When you see the array of "special/introductory" offers, one cannot be blamed for taking advantage of one of them.
I did ring customer services, and yes I was offered a reduction on the full price (not as good as the intro. offers) but I would have to sign up for two years.
In my opinion, it is time a company offered its loyal existing customers the same, if not a better deal, to stay.
I welcome your comment and opinion.
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I can now say that I am 100% happy with my plusnet service. My only criticism was how long it took for plusnet to offer a truly unlimited package. The growing availability of internet tv and movie rentals make the old limit of 60GB unrealistic if the services are to grow. I truly believe that these interactive services will replace satellite and cable TV services. Even with a modest speed of 5-7mb there is enough bandwidth to stream TV to large screens and use the internet at the same time.
I am surprised that ISP's are not trying to cash in on this and offer non terrestrial TV stations as an extra to their packages. The infrastructure is there for any home who has access to broadband. That must be far higher than the other 2 put together. Cheap media boxes can be obtained for as little as £20 now as well. -
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I joined Plusnet last year, the migration over from BT was pain-free and carried out in a timely manner. However, my broadband will work fine for a few weeks then it keeps dropping out. Every time I call Plusnet I have to go through this whole rigmarole of having the disclaimer statement read out to me warning me of a £60 engineer visit charge followed by the inconvenience of changing the micro-filter, taking off the front plate and plugging into the socket direct. It's obvious to me there's no problem with micro-filter or the socket as I've now carried out this pointless exercise on numerous occasions. I have had an engineer visit which didn't seem to come up with any solution as it's once again dropping out. I'm looking to move providers, I've had enough. Previous to Plusnet I was with BT with which I never had a problem apart from their call handling. I shall be leaving Plusnet shortly.
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@Bala - I suggest you check the list of 'Featured Broadband Suppliers' shown up on the right hand side. Plus.Net seems to beat nearly every score where customer satisfaction figures are actually shown. Think it would be the same anywhere else you look. Plus.Net is a medium size ISP, so has some of the economies of scale, but has UK based customer service staff so if something goes wrong (and let's face it, most comments will be made when there's a problem with a service, not to praise it!) it gets resolved (and in most cases, quite quickly, eg within 24-48 hours).
I've neve claimed Plus.Net is perfect (I doubt any ISP is) but there was also a very interesting piece in one of the national papers online about the delays and problems caused by Openreach to ALL ISP customers (made worse by fact the customer, you or me, cannot complain to Openreach, so the ISPs take all the flak!) -
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@Bala - I'd say customer 'horror stories' are standard part of most similar websites. There are a number of positive comments on HotUKdeals.com, including a number from past customers of BE (Un) Limited which, together with O2 broadband, gave now been sold by owner Telefonica to Sky. Customers of BE were generally paying quite a bit more and happy with the service but because there were no plans to offer Fibre, decided to switch.
If you look at most of the ISPs listed on Broadband Genie, relatively few have detailed customer 'satisfaction' information, and Plus.Net seems to beat Be, BT, O2 and TalkTalk in practically every category, which hardly surprises me, as I consider the service good value for money while the number of customers (at 400,000 to 600,000, I believe) isn't so high as to make customer service seriously poor {and a UK team is one of the things many people appreciate}.
Cashback deals from firms like Quidco.com and TopCashBack.co.uk have made it very attractive for someone switching (in fact more attractive for them than for long-standing customers who may feel they're not being offered much for their loyalty). Someone switching to Plus.Net in January would save 150 pounds {90 cashback and 6 months at half price} for switching internet and phone to Plus.Net, but an existing customer, 'upgrading' would save not a penny off the regular 19.99/month and for phone line rental (except perhaps the fibre installation fee, if they were able to switch phone line rental to Plus.Net, otherwise they'd be expected to pay for that on top).
Obviously, when Fibre does become available, I'm going to ask Plus.Net what they can offer someone who has been a customer since 2003, and what they say will help me decide whether to get a second line and use another ISP and not bother to upgrade right now (as I run a small business I was considering this anyway), or whether to use Fibre from Plus.Net ... or leave them at the end of my 12 month contract so I can start again as a new customer with the benefit of any deals that may be on offer... -
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@Bala,
Glad to hear you're considering us. It's highly likely that you'll see a significant speed increase moving to fibre. The availability checker here will give you a good indication as to what you can expect - http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome
Don't let the horror stories put you off. You'll find them for pretty much every ISP. We won an award on this very site earlier in the year and we fair pretty well on comparison sites etc.
If you've any questions about the service then let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.
http://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/broadband/awards
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?commit=Compare&isp_7=1&isp_86=1&isp_77=1&isp_21=1&isp_22=1&isp_84=1
http://www.plus.net/home-broadband/awards/
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
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i was planning to switch to +net fibre. but after reading all the horrific stories , i am thinking whether i should change my current provider - i.e Virgin through BT line.
Speed is aroung 2mbps most of the times and throttling as usual . but the disconnections are not ofte. anyhow i am looking at fibre broadband from any of the providers -
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@katoomba, I don't believe I even passed comment on the 'sado' remark? Neither have I attacked you. If you've taken it that way then you have my apologies.
I'm not going to argue with you. I'll reserve my time for helping people here who are having genuine problems with our service.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
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Bob Pullen, for your information its you who wears the tin foil hat, its you who keeps contradicting yourself along with your buddy Peter from Merseyside, I was trying to make the point that if you cant take it dont dish it out some one called you a sado which I agree was over the top but your comments and nasty remarks made when representing Plusnet really are shameless and unprofessional , suggesting that some-one is a troll and now you attack me for pointing out that you are just as bad for nasty comments!. if you cant defend then attack along with your buddy Peter seems the pair of you get the oars in together says it all really,
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@Adrian - one of my criticisms of Plus.Net is their lack of contact with customers when they bring out reductions. One area was the Market 1,2,3 pricing (they have been able to drop the price for Market 2 but didn't seem to tell anyone know, and only those who became aware - eg from following discussions on the ThinkBroadband forum - and then asked for a reduction, were given it).
It's pretty much the same with the "unlimited" accounts which came into being on 19 Dec 2012... Those who look on TBB or the "Community" web pages and see the Plus.Net blog posts spot news of new accounts, and those who don't may never know new accounts exist. You've reminded me to let my sister and a few others to switch account.
The only downside with changing to the new Unlimited or Essential accounts (and which a few argued about,) was the fact it ties one into a 12 month contract (or 18 months on Fibre products).
Fibre was due in my area last September but my local cabinet might be enabled in the next 2 - 3 months. As a customer for just over 10 years, I will hope to get some sort of price match to get a deal for the first 6 months when I can switch, but know that new customers were able to save as much as 150 quid if they switched from other ISPs to Plus.Net phone rental and Fibre broadband back in January/February {there was a cashback deal mentioned on Hot UK Deals which meant Plus.Net was paying out 90 quid commission for new customers, and giving the half-price deal [for first 6 months] on their 'Unlimited Fibre' package (but no discount on the phone rental... which is not the cheapest at about 14 quid, unless someone pays for a year's rental in advance)}.
I won't get 150 quid discount like new customers, but should be able to save 60. In fact I was hoping they might do the line installation cheaper (Openreach is offering a special deal for simultanous provision of phone line and fibre broadband, from start of January to end of June, but Bob replied that they offer below cost setup as things stand so it'd still cost me about 50 quid for a new phone line... -
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@katoomba - no, I don't work for PN, nor do I "back up" Bob - we disagree from time to time though as customer and staff member I hope we usually see eye to eye!
I could just as easily suggest that you and Dave are one and the same person, but it would be just my impression and I've no proof (though BB Genie staff might be able if they could see the same IP address being used). -
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@Paul, sorry to hear that and it's a shame to see you go. I've just looked at the offer you were requesting and it's hugely frustrating because I see no reason why we couldn't have honoured it. I even offered to take a look at things for you back in February :(
@katoomba, I can categorically state that Peter does *not* work here so feel free to put the tin-foil hat away ;)
Neither have I have had any recent discussion with Peter outside what is visible on this site.
If you look over on our Community Site you'll see there are plenty of customers of ours who are willing to invest time helping others. In fact the moderators of our forums are customers to (and no they don't get paid by us).
I'm not here to argue. If you don't appreciate my intervention here, or my approach then I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm far from ashamed about the time and effort I invested into helping that particular customer though. You'll note that I offered to call them to sort the problem out in the very same post. Needless to say they declined the offer.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
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FTAO Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care.
Had been a customer of Plusnet for approx 8 years but point blank refused to match new customer deals for me despite raising a ticket and calling customer services. Have therefore moved my account. Was account greatcurtains if you would like to check history!
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I fully agree with Dave, it appears that there is more than just the review writing that seems to link peter from merseyside and bob pullen i am of the opinion that they are colleagues at plusnet.
re bob pullen your suggestion was that the customer was a troll thats what you meant to get across sow the seeds eh ! your comments were borderline defamation. and coming from a Plusnet employee you should be ashamed of yourself you are showing Plusnet to be just the same as yourself , if you dont like what is said you then get Peter to join the attack how convienient is that. -
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@Malcolm,
Your engineer visit's finally been rescheduled for next week. I've also reviewed your billing due to the hassle you've had and the length of time it's taken to get things sorted. I've dropped you an email containing the details.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
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@w.j.young, that doesn't sound right to me. Our Customer Options Team quite often arrange offers for existing customer that match the promotional ones we advertise. Happy to look into it if you can provide me with some method of identifying your account (username or recent support ticket reference).
@Dave, sorry to hear you had problems. Glad to hear they're no more though. Not sure where the claim we're expensive comes from. I'm of the opinion we're one of the cheapest. There are complaints across the internet concerning pretty much every ISP. Whilst we're by no means perfect, and mistakes do happen occasionally, we tend to come of pretty favourably if you look at the more popular comparison sites.
Plusnet was not created as a 'sub-company'. We've been around as an ISP since 1997, floated on the investment market mid-2000's and were acquired by BT shortly after. We still operate independently to BT Retail to this day and have our own offices, operations etc. I've worked for the company throughout.
Our fibre services are available to over 15 million premises and rising, which you have to admit is hardly a 'few scattered areas'.
Thanks for the career advice but I'll politely decline if that's OK with you ;)
@Adrian, if you've still not managed to get through to us then provide me with your account username or a recent support ticket reference from your account and I'll see what I can do.
@katoomba, to clarify, what I said in reply to that particular customer was, "...your posts are borderline trolling." I did not call the customer a Troll in the derogatory sense. All of my posts and attempts to help the customer in question are still visible on page two of these reviews if you click the hyperlink to view them all.
@Dave, the £25 fee you refer to is a cessation fee. It's explained on our website and for what it's worth is actually *less* than what we get charged at a Wholesale level to disconnect a customer's line (migrating to another ISP doesn't incur the charge).
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care. -
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So > Peter on Merseyside < what you are saying is you totally agree with me Plusnet is just another arm of BT, you do often 'get in wrong' and you and Bob spend all your time fire fighting to mop up the mistakes of your poorly trained, minimum wage customer hindrance department. And my opinion is not just my opinion, it is shared not by a few hundred, but thousands of our Ex-customers that were ripped off even when trying to escape your YES very expensive disorganisation. £25 calculation fee even when you are out of your 12 month contract ? a massive artificial hype in the 'over your woefully low 60gb limit usage fee - just to try and milk the last drops out of a departing customer, Plusnet tried to charge me £95 !!! and for a £13 months line rental after I had switched to another company with my MAC code so were disconnected from Plusnet !Pete you and Bob are members of a disgusting extortion racket, not a professional well run business. So yes Very Expensive just like its parent company BT.
Glad we all agree ! -
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Re Peter on Merseyside.
so the guy called Bob Pullin a sado, bit over the topI have to say, but do I recall several months ago Bob Pullen calling another disgruntled customer a Troll on the forum which is every bit as bad more so when Bob Pullen is acting on behalf of Plusnet and making derogatory remerks himself. -
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My last comment was in response to w.j.young (frustrated loyal customer).
As for Dave's comments... where on earth do I start ?
"Plusnet was created as a Sub-company to try and win back customers that would not touch the equally inept and hideously expensive BT."
No, Plus.Net was bought by BT a few (6?) years ago, but runs separately and unlike the takeovers of Tiscali and Pipex by TalkTalk, had no form of "absorption" into the new owner's empire.
I'd agree that BT is often expensive, but "Everything about your lame, expensive and inept Dis' organisation blah, blah, blah" Well, that your view, Dave, but while I'd never claim any ISP is perfect, and Plus.Net has its faults from time to time, I think it's pretty much the opposite of expensive, inept or lame. As for Customer Service, I'd hate to be with many other big ISPs, as time and again, Plus.Net gets recognition as having one of the better CS teams...
"you Sad'o Bob has to trawl the many Broadband blogs to try and rescue your sinking company"
A bit much to get personal, when you're sat at an anonymous screen, calling a guy at an ISP a "Sado" (and where on earth do you get the impressing it's a "sinking" business ?
Fact is, there are many ISPs that don't bother to interact with customers apart from inside their own web forum, so for much of the time, complaints aren't out in public. At least Plus.Net takes note, and where possible, tries to resolve problems, offer a different level of support (Bob and a handful of others bend over backwards to try and chase faults and sort out a response for the customer. Yes, from time to time Plus.Net gets it wrong, and Bob is man enough to not just confirm that, but tries to offer some goodwill or assist the (soon to be ex-) customer, and if it needs changes in Plus.Net customer services, as they have said or done the wrong thing, Bob will educate CS and try to prevent it being repeated. That's the type of Customer Service that makes me happy to be with them - not one that jut says "sorry about that' in some half hearted way and carries on without correcting things for the future. -
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I've just discovered that I am paying £25/mth for unlimited broadband whereas new customers are paying a mere £9.99. I've been with plusnet for 10 years, wanted to switch to fibre, got put on hold/disconnected (twice!) until 30 mins later the lines were closed. I think they've just lost a customer.
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I did switch to the unlimited deal, but can quite understand what you're feeling.
When Fibre comes to this area (fairly soon), I'd like to be able to get the same deals that new customers get (back in January, some were getting the Fibre Unlimited at half price for 6 months, saving 60 quid, and then also getting 90 quid cashback from Quidco (I think), meaning they made a saving of 150 quid on the annual 240 pound cost (and many could also use the phone deal to get the installation free).
As a customer who joined end of March 2003, I am looking to use a brand new phone line (installed into an upstairs "office") for fibre, but as an existing customer what discounts would I get... well, perhaps the Fibre would be installed for free, if I had Plus.Net install the line, but there would seem to be no discount for someone upgrading.
As it would be an upgrade I'd have the full 240 to pay during the year. I don't really need the phone call package(I have unlimited [internet, texts, and] calls to landlines and mobiles on T-Mobile for 8 pounds a month), and Primus charges less each month than the "discount rate" Plus.Net charges, so I have no incentive to even use Plus.Net for the line (but that means I then would have extra to pay for the Fibre service to be installed).
It feels like a kick in the head for already using Plus.Net! -
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To: Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care.
Bob,
I made the mistake of signing up with Plusnet (BT/ Openreach all one company with multiple names). Thankfully dumped you when the contract ran out, no problems ever since.
Everything about your lame, expensive and inept Dis' organisation is summed up on these posts and your chronic dysfunctional customer service (should be re-named Victim 'fob off' and milk them for all they are worth Department). The fact that you Sad'o Bob has to trawl the many Broadband blogs to try and rescue your sinking company just proves just how bad its run. You blame BT/ Openreach >>> Plusnet was created as a Sub-company to try and win back customers that would not touch the equally inept and hideously expensive BT.
Openreach are just another name for the lazy overpaid 4 day a week BT engineers ITS ALL THE SAME COMPANY MAN ! as you well know.
As most broadband suppliers 'rent' BT exchange lines they are bound to be all as slow and unreliable as BT as they all use the same 30+ year old copper wire lines fine as human hair and covered in verdigris copper rot). BT's greed and lack of investment in the UK Telecom infrastructure has meant it has stagnated all through the 1990s, 2000s, and only just catching up in a few random areas. Nynex/NTL put down the alternative fibre optic network in the early 90s that Virgin use today with speeds of 30mbps and 60mbps and 100mbps, just a bit faster than your average 6mbps land line or even Plusnet fibre optic available only in a few scattered areas.
All in all a total disgrace of a company and Bob old boy I strongly suggest a rapid career change, you are trying to polish a turd and trust me its impossible.
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Have tried to renew my agreement after 12 months to an unlimited deal but cannot get anyone to match there own deals for new customers so they effectivly push you out the door,called twice to get a mac code and waited over 25 min on each call untill I got it.
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Hi Terry,
The fibre set-up fees are typically waived if you move your phone service to us (or already have it with us). If you're hanging problems with your ADSL service though then I'd urge you to work with us to sort those out before you consider upgrading (or moving elsewhere).
If you're using a wireless connection when you experience the problem then I advise seeing if you can replicate the issue using a wired connection. That should help narrow down whether it's the Internet connection itself or an issue with the wireless link.
Either way, it's worth you heading over to http://faults.plus.net and completing the troubleshooter there so that we can run some tests on your line. If you do this and can provide me with the fault ticket reference then I'd be happy to take a look and see if there's anything I can do to help.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care -
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I have been with plusnet for some years now (i switched from sky)but over the last few months the internet service has become diabolical! I can not connect and and when eventually conected its painfull slow. (through my iphone 3G is much faster!)
After calling customer service i was told to turn off router etc which i have to do most days now but does not seems to help.
I had looked into fiber optic but with that comes exrra fees for set up etc.
I can say if this continues i will be looking to change my internet provider. All i want is a goid internet service thst works. -
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Hi Malcom,
I've just taken a look at your account and I'm equally as disappointed to see there's been little movement :(
It's unfortunate you've found yourself in the situation you have. Orders don't normally stall like this and we're having to battle with BT Wholesale and Openreach to remedy a problem with their systems before we can progress further.
I still have my eye on things and will be happy to offer something in the way of a goodwill gesture once things are up and running.
Best regards,
Bob Pullen
Plusnet Digital Care.
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