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That’ll Do – Plusnet Make “renewed push” into the Value Market

Monday, Oct 19th, 2020 (12:17 pm) - Score 20,112
plusnet uk

Budget broadband ISP Plusnet has informed us that they’re refocusing their strategic direction, with a renewed push into the value market by “concentrating on its three core strengths – simplicity, reliability and award-winning customer service.” So it’s out with the old tag line – “we’ll do you proud” – and in the with the new – “that’ll do“.

Admittedly for some people the old saying of “we’ll do you proud” was somewhat of a double entendre and we suspect “that’ll do” may find some similarly comical uses. Otherwise, this is all part of a “large-scale project to create a unique position within the wider Consumer division of BT Group” for Plusnet, which once again draws playfully from the provider’s Yorkshire roots.

According to Plusnet’s Marketing Director, Sam Calvert: “People don’t come to Plusnet for elaborate packages or add-ons they don’t need or will never use. They don’t expect bells or whistles. Our mission is to make the basic things brilliant, clear and simple for our customers and give them exactly what they ask for – great value broadband that just works. This means straight-talking language away from jargon, no unexpected costs, wifi you don’t have to think about, and a human voice on the other end of the phone if you need support.”

However, the provider has had a rocky couple of years, following a troubled migration to a new billing platform and their recent CPI + 3.9% policy change on future price hikes (here), so they’ll no doubt be hoping for a fresh start with the new campaign. But we suspect that many of their customers would rather they just got on with the job of launching some long overdue “ultrafast broadband” (G.fast or FTTP via Openreach) packages instead.

Meanwhile Ofcom recently handed Plusnet a strong customer satisfaction rating of 93% for broadband (here), although the same survey also noted how they attracted an above average proportion of consumer complaints and continue to suffer from one of the longest call waiting times of any major provider (3 minutes and 48 seconds). Suffice to say, there’s still a bit of work needed.

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
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Comments
59 Responses
  1. Avatar photo Lissa says:

    Plusnet are rubbish isp now. Worse ever.

    1. Avatar photo freddie says:

      Maybe because they pay people like yo a lot a month and you don’t even have the service? Or maybe you do? story changes every day Max

  2. Avatar photo HATE PLUSNET says:

    That’s right! With Plusnet there are no bells and whistles. No decent working broadband and no customer service either – but your under contract and we have your money – that’ll do

    1. Avatar photo Caroline E Johnson says:

      So true. Plus.net are crap.
      They even fck payments up!

    2. Avatar photo Tariq Glock says:

      Very true, Great customer service but no service…very slow broadband and kept disconnecting. Stay well away!!

  3. Avatar photo JitteryPinger says:

    That’ll do…. pretty much sums it up.

  4. Avatar photo freddie says:

    Only problem is – they charge £29,99 for 21/6Fttc where we live.. But BT charge £29,99 for 145/145 fttp (up to 1000/220 apparently- so yes that’ll do.. We are switching

    1. Avatar photo JamesP says:

      That’s fine if you have FTTP in your area, why not migrate to something faster if required. We pay £24.99 for 20 / 1Mbps, but this is due to line length rather than the Plusnet service (would be 40Mbps if close to cabinet).

  5. Avatar photo Tom says:

    I’ll be honest – I’ve been with Plusnet for 4+ years and never had any issues as a direct result of Plusnet. Any issues have always been in the dreaded Openreach network.

    I did have issues with speed / performance when I moved into my property which was due to physical wiring so was Openreach’ responsibility. Plusnet were helpful throughout the whole process. Customer services are always helpful and chirpy (Maybe a northern thing who knows).

    Also can’t fault them on their ability to provide a static IP for a one off cost of £5 either.

    The only thing I will say which has already been mentioned in this article is that I wish they were more open about their future plans such as FTTP. An indication would be nice but this is presumably being forcibly put to one side from the powers that be (BT) who own Plusnet.

    1. Avatar photo Tom says:

      May I also add – Connection has been rock solid with no drops and always getting what we pay for on our 80/20.

      Most people who say they’re not getting the speeds or they’ve had internet issues probably don’t fully understand that most of the infrastructure is provided by Openreach and the issue lies with them. Moving ISP will not always resolve the issue.

    2. Avatar photo JamesP says:

      Same. No issues with the Plusnet service ‘themselves’ and have been with them since 2015. The faults we have had are simply to do with the long line length and are Openreach’ responsibility (equally, cannot fault response from Openreach in fixing issues).

    3. Avatar photo Mark says:

      Been with Plusnet for a while (and BT directly before but switched due to an in-contract price hike), and like you most of our woes have been due to Openreach. Our line is full of aluminum and quite long, so it’s not the best no matter what ISP we use – I’ve attached our line stats below. The OR ‘engineers’ got fed up constantly coming out to a ‘fault’ flagged on our line by an automated system, a few actually told us to stop reporting a fault – it wasn’t us, we just have a bad line and your systems are crap!

      To Plusnet’s credit the customer service reps on the forums are very good at solving issues if you manage to get their attention, the phone reps, not so much, at least not in my experience. I think they’re all quite over-worked.

      —-
      Line State: UP [0x0]
      Line Mode: G.993.2 (VDSL2)
      Line Uptime: 3d 21h 31m 7s
      Annex: B
      Profile: 17a
      Data Rate: 19.135 Mb/s / 4.285 Mb/s
      Max. Attainable Data Rate (ATTNDR): 20.005 Mb/s / 4.628 Mb/s
      Latency: 0.13 ms / 0.0 ms
      Line Attenuation (LATN): 26.7 dB / 30.4 dB
      Signal Attenuation (SATN): 23.2 dB / 30.2 dB
      Noise Margin (SNR): 7.1 dB / 5.9 dB
      Aggregate Transmit Power (ACTATP): 6.7 dB / 11.7 dB
      Forward Error Correction Seconds (FECS): 0 / 0
      Errored seconds (ES): 0 / 2330
      Severely Errored Seconds (SES): 0 / 3
      Loss of Signal Seconds (LOSS): 0 / 0
      Unavailable Seconds (UAS): 86 / 86
      Header Error Code Errors (HEC): 0 / 0
      Non Pre-emptive CRC errors (CRC_P): 0 / 0
      Pre-emptive CRC errors (CRCP_P): 0 / 0
      ATU-C System Vendor ID: Broadcom 193.144
      Power Management Mode: L0 – Synchronized

    4. Avatar photo Web Dude says:

      “a static IP for a one off cost of £5 either”

      Has that gone down? I thought it was £25 when I paid for mine (~10 years ago)

  6. Avatar photo Dan says:

    Customer: “Hi, I’m paying for up to 40Mb broadband, but I’m only getting 10Mb.”

    Plusnet: “That’ll do.”

  7. Avatar photo Ajt says:

    What a crap slogan

    1. Avatar photo HATE PLUSNET says:

      Matched PlusNet crap broadband and customer service

  8. Avatar photo Mrs Wendy Lancaster says:

    I’m with Plusnet I’ve got a problem but cannot get hold of them. I’m kept on the phone for ages waiting to speak to someone, I left a message in the phone system but that wasn’t answered, I’m beginning to think they are a waste of time.

    1. Avatar photo David rowlands says:

      I’ve been with them almost 2 years. They’re the best for everything I can think of. Rang them last Friday and again yesterday to help me with a question. Never waited more than 39 seconds each time and a big plus is that all their agents are in england so communication is OK.

    2. Avatar photo David rowlands says:

      I must add that I only have sim cards with them.

    3. Avatar photo Web Guy says:

      PN Mobile was (last time I used them) based on the Wirral, so no real link to the Yorkshire base and their (frequently overloaded) call centres for the broadband.

      I hated it when they closed down during the night – 3am used to be my favourite time to get issues sorted (not that I had too many over 17 years).

      Not with them now, but seeing a fiver for static IP (when “specialist” ISPs willing to provide charge per month, and have significantly higher charges overall) does look attractive again…

  9. Avatar photo Paul says:

    How do plus net get rated highly for customer service, it’s horrendous, great start when you on hold 30+ mins before they even pick up

  10. Avatar photo Jon says:

    Been with Plusnet for 3 years now. No reliability issues and they are always good with price on renewal (takes a phone call).

  11. Avatar photo cdh1981 says:

    FTTC: That’ll do.
    (Because FTTP doesn’t exist in our world).

  12. Avatar photo Harry says:

    Been with plusnet nearly 4 years switched from EE after being told when had billing issue with EE best find new provider
    You get what I pay for in this life and plusnet does us fine

  13. Avatar photo Sharon Rudd says:

    Plusnet customer for a year now.
    Found their customer service efficient, patient and polite when we needed to contact them with an isolated service issue

  14. Avatar photo Mike says:

    My experience of Plusnet has been horrendous. Emails sent with read receipts returned with “deleted without being read”, my speed has halved over the 2 years and is under the minimum advertised speed but nothing done, master socket replaced and just left on the floor, not screwed to the wall, Al in all an experience I have no desire to repeat.

    1. Avatar photo Tom says:

      You realise they use a ticketing system so read receipts will not work as you expect them to?

      Also your socket is nothing to do with Plusnet….. it’s owned and maintained by Openreach.

      Speed Halving? Pick up the phone, if it’s under the guaranteed speed they have to fix it (as they did for me).

    2. Avatar photo Web Guy says:

      As Tom says – e-mail just isn’t part of how they do things and any notifications of an update probably (been a while since I was a customer) say that e-mail does not get seen – like quite many online services I use (for hosting, domains, etc).

    3. Avatar photo Mike says:

      It was emails direct to a senior complaints manager not read, not emails to a ticket queue.
      Socket was replaced at Plusnet’s instigation and a follow-up complaint not dealt with by them.
      I’ve had 3 routers and spent a lot of days back and forth trying to sort the connection with no joy, I am moving away from them next week and can’t wait. That’ll do.

  15. Avatar photo Peter Sebastian says:

    I have been with plusnet for years and years ,they are fantastic.

  16. Avatar photo MountfordD says:

    We have been with Plusnet for over 3 years and never had a problem after an initial callout with the physical phone line. Granted it was OpenReach that came out to fix the problem which included fitting a new master junction box and replacing the outside cable, we were never charged a penny. Since then I have only called their helpline twice to ask if anything can be done about nuisance calls and even received really good advice about cutting my bills at the end of one of the calls. I can run my own servers, my own VPN, decent average speeds and essentially everything I need to do internet-wise. I also use them as my mobile phone provider and I get a good deal as a combined service customer. 5* out of 5 as far as I am concerned.

  17. Avatar photo Kris says:

    Just switched from Plusnet to Zen at the weekend, contract had ended and couldn’t be bothered with the whole song and dance trying to get a new deal.

    Also really fed up with their “coming soon” with IPV6, doubt it will ever arrive as IPV4 “that’ll do”

    1. Avatar photo Web Guy says:

      While IPv6 isn’t so important to me, out of interest, what were you paying and what are you now paying? Budget is often a diciding factor when taking on a new 12 / 18 / 24 month contract (or perhaps longer for a business user)…

  18. Avatar photo Wayne Gould says:

    This time next week i can cancel my contract with Plusnet. Ive been with the for a month now and the broadband is a disgrace. 12mbps at max and 0.53mbps a its worse , it even drops iff completely at times. They dont do fibre in our area neither

  19. Avatar photo Dave Davies says:

    Plusnet not great for me..couldn’t get connected to some appliances.I cancelled – thought I was within my 14-day cooling off,didn’t realise it was when I placed the order- not when I went live! I called them & they said they would look into it to see what I owed to cancel.Got a letter from debt collectors with 25% added to the Bill ! did not do me proud

  20. Avatar photo willtell says:

    Is it as cheap as vodafone broadband?

  21. Avatar photo Elizabeth Percy says:

    I am really happy with Plusnet I have the whole nine yards. Broadband, Home phone,TV and mobile. Have been a Plusnet customer for 10 years never had a problem they could not fix including flooded lines in the road. Great company imo whatever anyone else says.

  22. Avatar photo Bob says:

    Awful service they increased the price halfway through contract. I have hearing difficulties so was unable call them. Attempted to use the online chat but the staff kept cutting me off when I asked for them to refund my money. I had to log it as a hate crime to get it resolved.

    1. Avatar photo Buggerlugz says:

      Good for you Bob! Shouldn’t be necessary but I guess those are the measures customers have to take when companies behave so badly.

  23. Avatar photo Steve Bayley says:

    Worst company , I have ever dealt with , set up a direct debit and they had billing issues which meant they didn’t collect , set up new account with old email address which they had closed and then they chased old payments on the email address they had closed and blamed me for not paying a claim I had not received and sent the debt to a debt agency which when I complained they said it was impossible to bring back in house , I spoke with the agency and they informed me this was a lie and they can recall any claim at any time , they’ve dropped the debt agency claim and deleted all related correspondence and not had any decency in admitting they got it wrong , just waiting for the new contract I was falsely sold to expire and then I will move , reported them to ombudsman , pathetic untrustworthy company , should carry a health warning for anybody thinking of dealing with them , a current customer, hoping soon to leave……useless

  24. Avatar photo Mark says:

    That’ll do.. Worst slogan ever, and sums up their FTTP attitude.

    I’m only with them because of the referral discounts. I’d be long gone to a FTTP provider..

  25. Avatar photo Keith says:

    Not really had a problem with Plusnet. I was told originally that my drop from 76Mb to 52Mb was due to ‘crosstalk’. Migrated to Plusnet as was cheaper. They contacted me to say that the speed was too low and would I like them to investigate. I told them what happened that and they could send out an engineer. The engineer found that I had been on the wrong port and coupling in the exchange for 3 years. Was paying for 80/20 service but only getting a 52Mb. Now getting 62-66mb. Although will think about changing soon but pretty difficult to find a decent provider on FTTC (BT, Talk talk and Sky are out of the question). Would like to get FTToD but will cost £18000….

  26. Avatar photo popjones says:

    LMAO – Because of all the negative feedback from customers constantly saying ” you aint done me proud ”
    LMAO

  27. Avatar photo Jim thomson says:

    Been with plusnet for 10 years any problem I just phone some people seem to think they should answer right away.its a call centre you are phoning not your doctor,never really had any bother.infact I have just renewed my contract and it is £6 cheaper.they have won a lot of awards more than some of the so called big boys can say

  28. Avatar photo Davidb says:

    I joined sky, then moved to plusnet and then Post office Broadband. I moved in order to get the best £ deal, and have to say I have noticed no difference whatsoever. Speeds OK, drop outs are occasional, perhaps now broadband next

  29. Avatar photo alan says:

    I dodnt realises until I read this PN are increasing prices by the CPI. Following in the steps of BT. It rattles my cage when I see contracts broken by these prices increases.
    I would have thought they wpuld have emailed all their customers about this increase
    Just on principal I will leave when my contract ends

  30. Avatar photo Buggerlugz says:

    Its a Virgin Media pricing model. Like Virgin, if most of their customers are out of contract its easy pickings for them to consistently increase the prices for the majority. Not ethical, but when has that bothered ISP’s?

  31. Avatar photo N Stebbings says:

    Have been with plusnet for 10 years and overall been ok,plus bonus have British call centres Also been lucky with them as problem with billing ment I haven’t paid for the last 16 months

  32. Avatar photo j karna says:

    I was a customer with them for 11 years with a truly excellent service but I gave up asking Plusnet about their FTTP plans.
    Community Fibre came to my area and I took out a 150Mbps symmetrical service for £20 per month. As FFTP implementations advance, customers will vote with their feet.
    PLusnet have missed the boat.

  33. Avatar photo Brian says:

    Plusnet lied to me to keep me as a customer when I moved house. They promised discounts on my next bill which was 45 days later. I then discover no discounts but I’d gone over my 28 day cancellation period. I won’t be renewing with them in November after 5 years with them.

  34. Avatar photo Andy says:

    Left them at contract renewal a couple of years ago – got fed up trying to persuade them to offer a price even vaguely near their “new customer” price – final offer was crap compared to the competition. Sick of having to change ISP with every contract renewal…

  35. Avatar photo N Mehta says:

    Plusnet service has fallen so far. I would stay very clear of them unless you want to potentially lose your number and have 1 week of no service. When this happens Plusnet will blame your previous provider although it tends to be their fault.

    My advice to anyone- Say you want to raise a complaint – use those words.
    They have 8 weeks to respond. If they do and you are happy with the outcome then great, job done.
    If not then ask for a deadlock letter.
    With a deadlock letter or after 8 weeks from the initial complaint you can go to a 3rd party ombudsmen. Most likely you will win.
    I did this with Plusnet and got them to release me from my contract 1 month in and compensate me as well.

  36. Avatar photo Carol says:

    Our internet and connection to wifi is down at the moment so having to use mobile data costing me extra money. The router doesn’t connect to the computer or any phone. Tried many times . When we rang up told we would be contacted within 72 hours. My son is trying to apply for jobs, my daughter is on a course so difficult to connect. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME IN 2 YEARS THIS HAS HAPPENED. THE ENGINEERS ARE ALWAY OUT AT THE BOX REPAIRING IT ON A DAILY BASES AS SOMEONE IN THE VILLAGE AS A PROBLEM. WILL BE CHANGING AS LOOKS LIKE YET AGAIN THE ROUTER IS FAILING US AND WANTS TO CONNECT TO THE OLD ROUTER THOUGH WE’VE HAD THE ROUTER FOR OVER A YEAR. ITS V SLOW CANT GET AN UP LOAD HIGHER THAN 6 OR DOWN LOAD MORE THAN 25. AS RELY ON THE INTERNET NOT END OF THE WORLD BUT CAN’T WATCH PLAYBACK ON TV EITHER. AND NO OFFER OR REFUND EVER OFFERED OR GIVEN. NOW TIME FOR A CHANGE. PLUS THE UNDERGROUND CABLES ARE OFTEN CONNECTED WRONG . IE WRONG ORDER. AS TOLD BY AN ENGINEER ON LAST TIMES REPAIR AND CALL OUT. ITS ALWAYS GOING DOWN AS THOUGH SOME1 SWITCHES SOMETHING ON TO INTERFERE WITH THE VILLAGE INTERNET. 9PM TO 7AM .plus just had the bill for plusnet but know Explanation why it’s down after 24hrs.

  37. Avatar photo D Prior says:

    Have been with Plusnet for over 10yrs, had minor problems in the past it sorted out very quickly. Very happy.

  38. Avatar photo freenetfromplusnetlol says:

    I know of 2 people getting FREE internet from plusnet after the billing system went tits up over 16 months ago, they told me they have had no bills and no payments have been taken.
    So for some people plusnet are bloody brilliant lol

  39. Avatar photo Jack says:

    I for one feel Plusnet will be phased out in a few years time. BT have got to offload these brands somehow and will push their EE broadband service more once they do. There billing system is cacked up anyway and everything feels dated and years behind the competition and BT’s own brands.

  40. Avatar photo Vince says:

    “That’ll do” sums up the Plusnet approach. For once an honest slogan.

    That is how they treat you too.

    Bizarrely honest, but I can’t imagine they don’t know how stupid it is to say it.

  41. Avatar photo Michael patten says:

    Phoned plusnet on the 5tg nov because I had a problem with my internet ,a person from plusnet checked and said it was my router and that they would send a new one but I at to pay £6.99.It is now the 13th nov still no router ,phoned plusnet to find my router and they said that it was sent out on the 10th nov.SO MUCH FOR WATCHING MY BACK IF THIS IT THEIR BEST ATTEMPT AT IT GOD HELP THEIR CUSTOMERS AND THAT INCLUES ME MIKE

  42. Avatar photo John Brennan says:

    To those who rubbish Plusnet. Try another provider. I was going to switch to virgin but they put back my install date by over a month. I have managed to cancel the installation by spending over 4 hours on the phone with the last half hour being told by their asian call center every reason they could conjure up why I should not cancel a service that they cannot provide. When I gave notice to plusnet that I was switching they accepted it gracefully and wished me the best of luck. I am now about to renew my contract with them.

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