Kalesh at Plusnet take a bow

Having just tried to negotiate what should have been a simple cease
and reprovide with Plusnet, I have to report a chap who is without
doubt the worst Customer Services representative I have ever had the
misfortune to encounter.

Kalesh, (surname he refused to supply), provided answers such as
"that's irrelevant" and, when I politely asked for a Supervisor, he
answered "I am the most senior person available". If that's the case,
God help Plusnet.

Plusnet had not contacted us to advise us that there was a problem
with the transfer, they had just posted a note on their own website,
despite my having selected the "email notification" option. I was
told by Kalesh "well, you'll have to keep checking the website then".
Hardly addressing the issue. Kalesh then proceeded to inform me in an
extremely offhand manner that, despite our having been a business
customer for some time, that we would have to start the whole
procedure again, despite the line test having been completed
previously.

Naturally, Plusnet have already taken payment for all this.

We had been fairly happy with Plusnet until the recent serious and
extended email service outage. Now, with the mess they have made of a
simple service transfer, I have to conclude that all is not well up in
Sheffield. What a shame.

Suffice to say, Zen will be my next call. We placed a call to
Plusnet's Sales team to advise them of the Kalesh's dreadful manner,
only to be told to write in. No names would be provided, they said,
which leads me to believe that they are well used to dealing with
complaints.

If you read this, Plusnet Customer Services, have a listen to the
tapes of Kalesh's calls. I wouldn't mind betting there are quite a
few valued customers feeling the same way as us.

<Crossbow> wrote in message

> Having just tried to negotiate what should have been a simple cease
> and reprovide with Plusnet, I have to report a chap who is without
> doubt the worst Customer Services representative I have ever had the
> misfortune to encounter.
>
> Kalesh, (surname he refused to supply), provided answers such as
> "that's irrelevant" and, when I politely asked for a Supervisor, he
> answered "I am the most senior person available". If that's the case,
> God help Plusnet.
>
> Plusnet had not contacted us to advise us that there was a problem
> with the transfer, they had just posted a note on their own website,
> despite my having selected the "email notification" option. I was
> told by Kalesh "well, you'll have to keep checking the website then".
> Hardly addressing the issue. Kalesh then proceeded to inform me in an
> extremely offhand manner that, despite our having been a business
> customer for some time, that we would have to start the whole
> procedure again, despite the line test having been completed
> previously.
>
> Naturally, Plusnet have already taken payment for all this.
>
> We had been fairly happy with Plusnet until the recent serious and
> extended email service outage. Now, with the mess they have made of a
> simple service transfer, I have to conclude that all is not well up in
> Sheffield. What a shame.
>
> Suffice to say, Zen will be my next call. We placed a call to
> Plusnet's Sales team to advise them of the Kalesh's dreadful manner,
> only to be told to write in. No names would be provided, they said,
> which leads me to believe that they are well used to dealing with
> complaints.
>
> If you read this, Plusnet Customer Services, have a listen to the
> tapes of Kalesh's calls. I wouldn't mind betting there are quite a
> few valued customers feeling the same way as us.
>

That sounds like the person I spoke to weeks ago when I rang with a
complaint. I was fobbed off and I asked to speak with a supervisor and was
told that it was not necessary as the supervisor would just say the same
thing. Whoever I spoke to was very bloody rude! The first rule of good
customer service...The customer is always right (even when they maybe
wrong).

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:12:07 +0100, Crossbow <> wrote:

>Having just tried to negotiate what should have been a simple cease
>and reprovide with Plusnet, I have to report a chap who is without
>doubt the worst Customer Services representative I have ever had the
>misfortune to encounter.
>
>Kalesh, (surname he refused to supply), provided answers such as
>"that's irrelevant" and, when I politely asked for a Supervisor, he
>answered "I am the most senior person available". If that's the case,
>God help Plusnet.
>
>Plusnet had not contacted us to advise us that there was a problem
>with the transfer, they had just posted a note on their own website,
>despite my having selected the "email notification" option. I was
>told by Kalesh "well, you'll have to keep checking the website then".
>Hardly addressing the issue. Kalesh then proceeded to inform me in an
>extremely offhand manner that, despite our having been a business
>customer for some time, that we would have to start the whole
>procedure again, despite the line test having been completed
>previously.
>
>Naturally, Plusnet have already taken payment for all this.
>
>We had been fairly happy with Plusnet until the recent serious and
>extended email service outage. Now, with the mess they have made of a
>simple service transfer, I have to conclude that all is not well up in
>Sheffield. What a shame.
>
>Suffice to say, Zen will be my next call. We placed a call to
>Plusnet's Sales team to advise them of the Kalesh's dreadful manner,
>only to be told to write in. No names would be provided, they said,
>which leads me to believe that they are well used to dealing with
>complaints.
>
>If you read this, Plusnet Customer Services, have a listen to the
>tapes of Kalesh's calls. I wouldn't mind betting there are quite a
>few valued customers feeling the same way as us.
>
>
>
>
>

Hi there,

Firstly can I apologise if you do not feel that we offered you the
level of support that we as a company do pride ourselves on.

I have raised this as an internal issue, both Kailesh's manner and the
internal procedure for dealing with complaints.

The email notification is only for tickets that are opened by
yourself. A ticket that is opened by us will not notify you. This is
something we are looking to change.

The problems with your cease and reprovide have mainly been due to BT
rejecting the new circuit saying it will not support 1Mb. We then
asked you which 512 product you wanted and this was the last place we
had got to before the issues you stated above.

Again please accept our apologies for this, we will investigate it
further.

If you have any further queries regarding this please don't hesitate
to contact myself, or one of the comms team.

Kind regards

Luke
--
| Luke Horwath Broadband Solutions
| Comms team for Home & Business
| PlusNet Technologies Ltd. @ http://www.plus.net
+ ----- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet -----+

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 18:35:32 +0100, PlusNet Support
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:12:07 +0100, Crossbow <> wrote:
>
>>Having just tried to negotiate what should have been a simple cease
>>and reprovide with Plusnet, I have to report a chap who is without
>>doubt the worst Customer Services representative I have ever had the
>>misfortune to encounter.
>>
>>Kalesh, (surname he refused to supply), provided answers such as
>>"that's irrelevant" and, when I politely asked for a Supervisor, he
>>answered "I am the most senior person available". If that's the case,
>>God help Plusnet.
>>
>>Plusnet had not contacted us to advise us that there was a problem
>>with the transfer, they had just posted a note on their own website,
>>despite my having selected the "email notification" option. I was
>>told by Kalesh "well, you'll have to keep checking the website then".
>>Hardly addressing the issue. Kalesh then proceeded to inform me in an
>>extremely offhand manner that, despite our having been a business
>>customer for some time, that we would have to start the whole
>>procedure again, despite the line test having been completed
>>previously.
>>
>>Naturally, Plusnet have already taken payment for all this.
>>
>>We had been fairly happy with Plusnet until the recent serious and
>>extended email service outage. Now, with the mess they have made of a
>>simple service transfer, I have to conclude that all is not well up in
>>Sheffield. What a shame.
>>
>>Suffice to say, Zen will be my next call. We placed a call to
>>Plusnet's Sales team to advise them of the Kalesh's dreadful manner,
>>only to be told to write in. No names would be provided, they said,
>>which leads me to believe that they are well used to dealing with
>>complaints.
>>
>>If you read this, Plusnet Customer Services, have a listen to the
>>tapes of Kalesh's calls. I wouldn't mind betting there are quite a
>>few valued customers feeling the same way as us.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>Hi there,
>
>Firstly can I apologise if you do not feel that we offered you the
>level of support that we as a company do pride ourselves on.
>
>I have raised this as an internal issue, both Kailesh's manner and the
>internal procedure for dealing with complaints.
>
>The email notification is only for tickets that are opened by
>yourself. A ticket that is opened by us will not notify you. This is
>something we are looking to change.
>
>The problems with your cease and reprovide have mainly been due to BT
>rejecting the new circuit saying it will not support 1Mb. We then
>asked you which 512 product you wanted and this was the last place we
>had got to before the issues you stated above.
>
>Again please accept our apologies for this, we will investigate it
>further.
>
>If you have any further queries regarding this please don't hesitate
>to contact myself, or one of the comms team.
>
>Kind regards
>
>Luke


Hi Luke,

An e-mail alert to any ticket response is a must, I would say. I'd
assumed this was already the case. We lost 5 days as a result, and my
staff are NOT impressed that we now have another week at least of
dialup.

Also, the order was closed by you immediately that BT rejected the 1mb
service. No thought put into that from Plusnet's side either really,
just another post on your own website.

OF COURSE we were going to want the equivalent Office service at 512k
if that's all that's available - yet after another day's delay, we get
another closed ticket asking a simple question which we could have
answered in 2 seconds. And it was because we wanted as little
disruption as possible that we asked you to cease and reprovide for
us, for which you charge a fee, rather than just do it ourselves.

Customer Services used to be really good at Plusnet - and we'd even
put 2 referrals your way as a result. This experience has really left
a bad taste though. You charge a premium rate for business service -
where is the premium service?

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Crossbow <>
says...

> OF COURSE we were going to want the equivalent Office service at 512k
> if that's all that's available - yet after another day's delay, we get
> another closed ticket asking a simple question which we could have
> answered in 2 seconds. And it was because we wanted as little
> disruption as possible that we asked you to cease and reprovide for
> us, for which you charge a fee, rather than just do it ourselves.

Although you may say this we do need to confirm it with you. If we put
the order through for 512 and you then said you didn't want it we would
lose out as we would not be able to get the money for activation and
such back.

Some people may go with a cable company to get a faster service if they
are not able to get ADSL.

> Customer Services used to be really good at Plusnet - and we'd even
> put 2 referrals your way as a result. This experience has really left
> a bad taste though. You charge a premium rate for business service -
> where is the premium service?

I do admit that in this situation we could have done better, but we do
take all feedback onboard and feed it back to the agents to ensure it
does not happen again.

Regards,
--
| Josh Berry.....................Unmetered & ADSL solutions
| Technical Support...................for Home & Business
| PlusNet Technologies Ltd............@ http://www.plus.net
+ ---- My Referrals - It pays to recommend PlusNet ---+

On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 14:59:00 +0100, PlusNet Support Team
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Crossbow <>
>says...
>
>> OF COURSE we were going to want the equivalent Office service at 512k
>> if that's all that's available - yet after another day's delay, we get
>> another closed ticket asking a simple question which we could have
>> answered in 2 seconds. And it was because we wanted as little
>> disruption as possible that we asked you to cease and reprovide for
>> us, for which you charge a fee, rather than just do it ourselves.
>
>Although you may say this we do need to confirm it with you. If we put
>the order through for 512 and you then said you didn't want it we would
>lose out as we would not be able to get the money for activation and
>such back.

Umm..well - email me then, to ask!! I could then have responded
immediately.

>
>Some people may go with a cable company to get a faster service if they
>are not able to get ADSL.
>
>> Customer Services used to be really good at Plusnet - and we'd even
>> put 2 referrals your way as a result. This experience has really left
>> a bad taste though. You charge a premium rate for business service -
>> where is the premium service?
>
>I do admit that in this situation we could have done better, but we do
>take all feedback onboard and feed it back to the agents to ensure it
>does not happen again.

Take a look at the final "apology" posted against this message on your
website. I quote:

"With regards to your order, this was cancelled by BT wholesale as the
line was out of limits. I have subsequently scheduled your account for
cancellation"

You don't say!!!.......The author hadn't read my previous complaints
then. My assumption regarding a severe drop in standards at Plusnet
therefore stand.

Well thanks for the Customer Service! No mention made of a refund
either. I expect I'll have to take this to the Credit Card company
for resolution.

To conclude, Zen got this sorted without any delays, with the BT chap
even popping in to see what was connected to the line before
conducting his line check. A lucky break, I suspect. I have moved my
two business ADSL accounts from Plusnet so far. I recommend that
others watch what's happening at Plusnet in the hope that mine is an
isolated incident. I somehow doubt that it is..


>
>Regards,