UK ISP Plusnet Sacks Rude Call Centre Worker for Insulting a Customer

Internet provider Plusnet has “wholeheartedly” apologised to one of their broadband subscribers, who had contacted the ISP in the hope of getting his Direct Debit date changed but instead found his surname being substituted with the C-word (hint, it’s not cat) by a call centre worker.

The customer service agent reportedly informed Mr Knott that they couldn’t change his direct debit date and so he instead asked to be put through to the provider’s cancellations department, at which point he overheard the agent make the offensive remark. Naturally Mr Knott complained to the ISP and the customer service agent was promptly shown the door.

A Plusnet Spokesperson said (Lancashire Telegraph):

“We would like to wholeheartedly apologise to Mr Knott for the recent, unacceptable, experience he had with Plusnet.

We pride ourselves on going the extra mile for our customers, but it is clear on this occasion that our call centre advisor failed to meet the usual high standard of customer service we expect and has been dismissed.

We believe in doing the right thing for our customers and would like to assure Mr Knott that this case has been taken very seriously.”

The provider also offered Mr Knott £250 and six months of free service, which he has accepted, despite still planning to leave at the end of his contract. The episode is of course very embarrassing for an ISP that claims to pride itself on good customer service, but they deserve credit for removing the abusive member of staff (we’ve seen other providers where rude staff appear to be almost endemic).

On the flip side customers’ can sometimes be similarly rude towards support agents, who are often just doing their job and may have little control over more complex issues. Sadly some people, when faced with a frustrating problem, do lose their cool. However we tend to expect more control from support staff, which should be trained to deal with difficult individuals.