Mum Leaving Plusnet

[securespark]

Plusnet are quitting landlines. Ma, 90 in December, can't live without her landline, so we looked to move elsewhere.
She only found out because her next door neighbour (who is also with PN) told her he had swapped from copper to FTTP and moved to another provider.


In several conversations, Plusnet have told her she is out of contract, she is on a rolling contract, or that has a short time left before her contract expires.

From what I can make out from her original contract, it was commenced 24 October 2019. But in the latest conversation with them today, I was told it would expire on the 24 December this year. I asked her to explain why the contract had "slipped" 2 months, but she couldn't explain.

In a prior conversation, they told Ma that they had sent her a letter telling her that they were swapping her over to EE (who do provide a phone service) and that she had 30 days from the date on that letter to decide what to do.
It arrived earlier this week with a date of 2nd Sept. on it.

This potential swap from PN to EE hasn't been at all clearly explained by the company.

Anyway, I helped Mum swap to another provider who said they would pay off the contract (another company I spoke to told me they wouldn't do that).

Then she gets a text from PN.

"Thinking about switching"? She already has!

Good job she was with me because she'd have been upset at seeing that "you owe us" note.

I think it's wrong that they do this, especially when the company she has moved to has pledged to pay off that fee.

The hyperlink "to see how switching would impact you" is also deviously worded. When you click on it, all you get is some links to better deals. No good when you've already told them you're leaving because they no longer do landline and you don't want to move to EE because it too damned expensive.

I just think the whole way PN have treated Mum has been poor and were she trying to navigate this switch on her own, she'd have been worried to bits.

 

[sparkymarka]

Plusnet used to have excellent customer services when it was uk based …but I guess that’s all changed …

 

[davelx]

Plusnet used to have excellent customer services when it was uk based …but I guess that('s) all changed …

when it was bought by BT

 

[securespark]

Plusnet used to have excellent customer services when it was uk based …but I guess that’s all changed …

I thought the CS was still based in Sheffield, no?

 

[spile]

Plusnet are quitting landlines. Ma, 90 in December, can't live without her landline, so we looked to move elsewhere.
She only found out because her next door neighbour (who is also with PN) told her he had swapped from copper to FTTP and moved to another provider.


In several conversations, Plusnet have told her she is out of contract, she is on a rolling contract, or that has a short time left before her contract expires.

From what I can make out from her original contract, it was commenced 24 October 2019. But in the latest conversation with them today, I was told it would expire on the 24 December this year. I asked her to explain why the contract had "slipped" 2 months, but she couldn't explain.

In a prior conversation, they told Ma that they had sent her a letter telling her that they were swapping her over to EE (who do provide a phone service) and that she had 30 days from the date on that letter to decide what to do.
It arrived earlier this week with a date of 2nd Sept. on it.

This potential swap from PN to EE hasn't been at all clearly explained by the company.

Anyway, I helped Mum swap to another provider who said they would pay off the contract (another company I spoke to told me they wouldn't do that).

Then she gets a text from PN.

View attachment 422550

View attachment 422551

"Thinking about switching"? She already has!

Good job she was with me because she'd have been upset at seeing that "you owe us" note.

I think it's wrong that they do this, especially when the company she has moved to has pledged to pay off that fee.

The hyperlink "to see how switching would impact you" is also deviously worded. When you click on it, all you get is some links to better deals. No good when you've already told them you're leaving because they no longer do landline and you don't want to move to EE because it too damned expensive.

I just think the whole way PN have treated Mum has been poor and were she trying to navigate this switch on her own, she'd have been worried to bits.

I recommend posting this on the Plusnet forum. Staff frequently pick up and deal with issues like this.

 

[securespark]

Oh dear, this is not going well.

After confusion over the final bill, plus threats of a £50 "fine" if we don't send the old Technicolor router back (I rang up, we don't have to), we are finally free of Plusnet.

But now we have an issue with the new service. The landline has gone AWOL.

Ringing in to her number sounds perfectly normal. Except the phone does not ring. Picking up the phone at any time (even when you are ringing in) produces a dialling tone, so there is something working.
Dialling out, you can start dialling a number and part way through, you get an error message.

First I tried a reboot of the ONT and router.

That failed to improve things, so I then rang YouFibre CS for Ma on my mobile, and the guy did some checks and stuff then said the phone is ringing, pick it up. I explained the phone wasn't ringing, but picked it up anyway and put it on speaker so he could hear the dialling tone. He then asked us to dial some numbers. We tried three, and instead of the other message, got "This number is not recognised, please try again."

We left it that he would report it to Openreach and we should have everything tickety boo again within 24-48 hours.

I used to install a lot of phone sockets and smaller PABX systems pre fibre and understood how the systems worked.
But I'm burgered if I know what's going on here.
Can anyone here who knows about this new-fangled wizardry explain what's going on?

 

[ETAF]

how did they connect the phone to the router ???? - what port?

the ont connects by ethernet to the wan on the router - then my old vodafone router which used to use the old telephone sytem - i changed to fibre on tuesday - but the landlinewas using voip on the router for last 2 tears
all they did was leave the phone cooneted to the router - phone port and connect the ont to wan connection - the the router disconnected from the old master socket

is it an old phone ???
maybe it needs a micro filter to get the ring

 

[securespark]

Sorry, should have added this information...

The phone did work when they first installed it.
They have not plugged into the back of the router as I expected.

She has a set of two DECT cordless handsets with the main base having an answerphone. The main base has the usual 431A plug and the other just plugs into a 13A socket and links to the base.

So they have plugged the main base into a 13A socket and a telecom socket fed by copper that looks like it's wired into the ONT.

 

[ETAF]

i have a cordless phone system as well
i was changed to VOIP and used the router back in 2024
The plan was to stop people using the old analogue system at varios years , but the telecare system was an issue , so not sure when tht was switched off - I beive all analogue system are to stop byJan2027

She had a copper wire system and the master socket had both the phone and the router plugged into it - up until the fibre was installed - is that correct ? or was it already converted to use the router

when you changed to fibre - did they also fit a new router or use the old one ?

then when they installed the fibre - mine copper wires were from a telegraph pole to the house and they removed those and then replaced with the fibre to the house
a Box fitted to the outside of the house
then a cable from that box - run into the house and into the ONT box on the wall - which is plugged into 13a socket
then a cable ethernet from that ONT box to the router , the cable that used to go from the Old BT master socket removed and from the router as no longer using the copper connection
the cable from the ONT box goes to the WAN on the router

now you are left with the phone data cable - that used to go to the master socket ?? or did it already go into the router before ???

 

[JohnD]

I had a phone that was plugged into a router and did not work. When the router was replaced, the installer plugged the phone into a different socket on the router, and it did.

No doubt there was some reason for providing a phone socket that doesn't work.

 

[securespark]

John, post fibre, the phone was never plugged into the router. It has been plugged into a telecom socket wired into the ONT (or at least, that's what it looks like).

Having done some research, it would seem some ISPs have ONTs that are enabled to allow such a set up.

i have a cordless phone system as well
i was changed to VOIP and used the router back in 2024
The plan was to stop people using the old analogue system at varios years , but the telecare system was an issue , so not sure when tht was switched off - I beive all analogue system are to stop byJan2027

She had a copper wire system and the master socket had both the phone and the router plugged into it - up until the fibre was installed - is that correct ? or was it already converted to use the router

when you changed to fibre - did they also fit a new router or use the old one ?

then when they installed the fibre - mine copper wires were from a telegraph pole to the house and they removed those and then replaced with the fibre to the house
a Box fitted to the outside of the house
then a cable from that box - run into the house and into the ONT box on the wall - which is plugged into 13a socket
then a cable ethernet from that ONT box to the router , the cable that used to go from the Old BT master socket removed and from the router as no longer using the copper connection
the cable from the ONT box goes to the WAN on the router

now you are left with the phone data cable - that used to go to the master socket ?? or did it already go into the router before ???

ETAF

I'm a bit confused about this post.

 

[blup]

The approach by these companies seems to be set up a competitive efficient independent internet provider with excellent human phone based communication, build up the customer base, sell for a profit to one of the big players who then strip out these costs, put prices up and give a crap customer service. A few years later the penny drops with Which magazine, and the company loses its best buy status.