From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

I've had my letter from PlusNet (see other post re the EE booklet!).
Anyone here been with EE for home broadband for a while? If so, what are
they like - I'm more interested in customer service, technical support,
etc. - especially as compared to PlusNet. Poking round the PlusNet
website, I keep finding references to their "award winning customer
support" - if that wins awards, I hate to think what those worse are like!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
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From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 22:26:41 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk>
wrote:

I've had my letter from PlusNet (see other post re the EE booklet!).

Anyone here been with EE for home broadband for a while? If so, what are
they like - I'm more interested in customer service, technical support,
etc. - especially as compared to PlusNet. Poking round the PlusNet
website, I keep finding references to their "award winning customer
support" - if that wins awards, I hate to think what those worse are like!

Think it's been a few years since PN won any awards.
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From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On 09/09/2026 18:57, Peter Johnson wrote:

On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 22:26:41 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk>
wrote:

I've had my letter from PlusNet (see other post re the EE booklet!).

Anyone here been with EE for home broadband for a while? If so, what are
they like - I'm more interested in customer service, technical support,
etc. - especially as compared to PlusNet. Poking round the PlusNet
website, I keep finding references to their "award winning customer
support" - if that wins awards, I hate to think what those worse are like!

Think it's been a few years since PN won any awards.

https://www.uswitch.com/telecoms-awards/ A million flies can't be wrong.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On 2026/9/9 22:17:54, Nick Finnigan wrote:

On 09/09/2026 18:57, Peter Johnson wrote:

On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 22:26:41 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk>
wrote:

I've had my letter from PlusNet (see other post re the EE booklet!).

Anyone here been with EE for home broadband for a while? If so, what are >>> they like - I'm more interested in customer service, technical support,
etc. - especially as compared to PlusNet. Poking round the PlusNet
website, I keep finding references to their "award winning customer
support" - if that wins awards, I hate to think what those worse are like! >>

Think it's been a few years since PN won any awards.

https://www.uswitch.com/telecoms-awards/ A million flies can't be wrong.

Thanks. For 2026 (hey, I thought there was srtill about a quarter of
2026 still to come!):

"National Broadband Provider of the Year
Public choice

EE wins for delivering a premium home connectivity experience, standing
out as the most trusted brand for households seeking a seamless, high-performance connection."

That doesn't really tell me anything about what their customer service
is like.

I repeat my question - anyone here been with EE for long enough to tell
whether their customer service - answering queries over billing, or
sorting technical problems - is good/bad/terrible? I'm not that
concerned about link performance, as I'm pretty sure whoever I go with
will be just reselling OpenReach anyway.

"Best Broadband Provider for Customer Service
Public Choice

Plusnet earns top marks for its helpful, jargon-free UK support and
impressive pace of issue resolution."

Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say; either these awards aren't worth
the paper they're written on, or I have a really terrible experience to
look forward to if I switch to anyone else. "impressive pace of issue resolution" - really?!?!?

(Other [broadband] awards shown - I'm not commenting:
Value for Money - Vodafone; Reliable - Virgin; popular - Vodafone.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I used to dream of the day when linux was as stable as windows. Never
did I imagine that parity would be achieved by windows declining into
the chaos that engulfs and stifles linux.
- mike <ham789@netzero.net> in alt.windows7.general, 2018-4-1
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:

On 2026/9/9 22:17:54, Nick Finnigan wrote:

On 09/09/2026 18:57, Peter Johnson wrote:

On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 22:26:41 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk>
wrote:

I've had my letter from PlusNet (see other post re the EE booklet!).

Anyone here been with EE for home broadband for a while? If so, what are >>>> they like - I'm more interested in customer service, technical support, >>>> etc. - especially as compared to PlusNet. Poking round the PlusNet
website, I keep finding references to their "award winning customer
support" - if that wins awards, I hate to think what those worse are like! >>>

Think it's been a few years since PN won any awards.

https://www.uswitch.com/telecoms-awards/ A million flies can't be wrong.

Thanks. For 2026 (hey, I thought there was srtill about a quarter of
2026 still to come!):

"National Broadband Provider of the Year
Public choice

EE wins for delivering a premium home connectivity experience, standing
out as the most trusted brand for households seeking a seamless, high-performance connection."

That doesn't really tell me anything about what their customer service
is like.

I repeat my question - anyone here been with EE for long enough to tell whether their customer service - answering queries over billing, or
sorting technical problems - is good/bad/terrible? I'm not that
concerned about link performance, as I'm pretty sure whoever I go with
will be just reselling OpenReach anyway.

"Best Broadband Provider for Customer Service
Public Choice

Plusnet earns top marks for its helpful, jargon-free UK support and impressive pace of issue resolution."

Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say; either these awards aren't worth
the paper they're written on, or I have a really terrible experience to
look forward to if I switch to anyone else. "impressive pace of issue resolution" - really?!?!?

(Other [broadband] awards shown - I'm not commenting:
Value for Money - Vodafone; Reliable - Virgin; popular - Vodafone.)

With a large ISP you can never be sure of the quality of technical support.
It will depend on who answers the phone. Some know what they are talking
about, some struggle through a script. The other problem with such ISPs is
that what is their strategy this year might be different next year -
Plusnet being a case in point.

If you want support from knowledgeable people who donrCOt use scripts it will cost you more in monthly subscriptions. I can recommend IDNet.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On Thu, 10 Sep 2026 06:44:45 -0000 (UTC)
Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:

subscriptions. I can recommend IDNet.

I have always found that Zen have no problem continuing with my ticket
whoever answers the 'phone, and they all have English accents.
--
Davey.

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From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

I repeat my question - anyone here been with EE for long enough to tell >whether their customer service - answering queries over billing, or
sorting technical problems - is good/bad/terrible?

I'm with BT but EE have merged with them. I had a line fault recently
(no internet). When I phoned (150) it seemed to be an EE helpdesk I was speaking with. I gave my details and said I was with BT and they
understood this. They tried to run a remote test on my hub and said it
would need an engineer visit (no network problem). This was on a
Thursday and the earliest appointment was for Tuesday. The Openreach man arrived on time, traced the fault to the cabinet and fixed it. So that
wasn't too bad.

Previously, I had a problem with sent emails being rejected. My help
there was via an online chat-bot from the BT website which then
escalated to a humaan. I'm not sure of EE's involvemet but they kept
trying to get me to use webmail or an app which they said worked. The
problem wasn't webmail but their SMTP server. The helpdesk had no
experience or knowledge about it, said they would escalate but nothing
came of it. I then raised a complaint and spoke to a custommer service representative (they phoned me) who handed me over to a real tech
support person. Meanwhile, I'd found their mail servers are operated by Openwave which the tech knew. I sent him a log of the SMTP dialogue and
the issue was then resolved quickly.

So, a mixture of good and bad there and probably fairly typical.
Sometimes you have to be persistennt.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

Apd <not@all.invalid> wrote:

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

I repeat my question - anyone here been with EE for long enough to tell
whether their customer service - answering queries over billing, or
sorting technical problems - is good/bad/terrible?

I'm with BT but EE have merged with them. I had a line fault recently
(no internet). When I phoned (150) it seemed to be an EE helpdesk I was speaking with. I gave my details and said I was with BT and they
understood this. They tried to run a remote test on my hub and said it
would need an engineer visit (no network problem). This was on a
Thursday and the earliest appointment was for Tuesday. The Openreach man arrived on time, traced the fault to the cabinet and fixed it. So that wasn't too bad.

Previously, I had a problem with sent emails being rejected. My help
there was via an online chat-bot from the BT website which then
escalated to a humaan. I'm not sure of EE's involvemet but they kept
trying to get me to use webmail or an app which they said worked. The problem wasn't webmail but their SMTP server. The helpdesk had no
experience or knowledge about it, said they would escalate but nothing
came of it. I then raised a complaint and spoke to a custommer service representative (they phoned me) who handed me over to a real tech
support person. Meanwhile, I'd found their mail servers are operated by Openwave which the tech knew. I sent him a log of the SMTP dialogue and
the issue was then resolved quickly.

So, a mixture of good and bad there and probably fairly typical.
Sometimes you have to be persistennt.

As well as tech support you ought to look at the ISPrCOs price increase
policy. EErCOs website stated a -u4/year rise. That seems rather steep, especially if they repeat this over a number of years.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

Tweed wrote:

As well as tech support you ought to look at the ISPrCOs price increase policy. EErCOs website stated a -u4/year rise. That seems rather steep, especially if they repeat this over a number of years.

I don't think OFCOM allow rises to be calculated as inflation+X% any
longer, so all the ISPs who have an annual increase, now state it as -uX.YY

I think the increases are steep, until now I manage to avoid them having
too much effect by going through the "retentions" route to keep
resetting to the "new customer" price after each 18-24 month contract
period ...

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On 10/09/2026 12:19, Tweed wrote:

As well as tech support you ought to look at the ISPrCOs price increase policy. EErCOs website stated a -u4/year rise. That seems rather steep, especially if they repeat this over a number of years.

They have an offer in March to renew now and avoid the April increase,
but past performance is no guarantee of future results.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Tweed wrote:

As well as tech support you ought to look at the ISPrCOs price increase
policy. EErCOs website stated a -u4/year rise. That seems rather steep,
especially if they repeat this over a number of years.

I don't think OFCOM allow rises to be calculated as inflation+X% any
longer, so all the ISPs who have an annual increase, now state it as -uX.YY

I think the increases are steep, until now I manage to avoid them having
too much effect by going through the "retentions" route to keep
resetting to the "new customer" price after each 18-24 month contract
period ...

I got fed up with this sort of performance with Virgin Media. IrCOm now in my third year of having fibre via IDNet and the price actually went down by a couple of quid. The big ISPs appear to attempt to lure people in with very
low pricing, which isnrCOt economically sustainable for them, and then hope they can boiling frog raise the price over the next few years.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

Tweed wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

I manage to avoid them having

too much effect by going through the "retentions" route to keep
resetting to the "new customer" price after each 18-24 month contract
period ...

I got fed up with this sort of performance with Virgin Media.

Plusnet keep cutting the reasons to stay ... no usenet, no VoIP, no
email, puny webspace, no IPv6 despite years of promises.

About the only factors left for me are 8 static IPs and a domain
registration at zero cost ...

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On 2026/9/10 7:44:45, Tweed wrote:
[]

With a large ISP you can never be sure of the quality of technical support.

I suppose the same applies, but I think all the tickets I have raised
(with PlusNet) in the last few years have been done through the
ticketing system. (Which is harder and harder to find - I think the last
few times the only way to open a ticket has been to raise a complaint,
even if I wasn't actually complaining, just asking about something.
Though that lack of route is in itself a complaint, of course.)

It will depend on who answers the phone. Some know what they are talking about, some struggle through a script. The other problem with such ISPs is that what is their strategy this year might be different next year -
Plusnet being a case in point.

Indeed.>

If you want support from knowledgeable people who donrCOt use scripts it will cost you more in monthly subscriptions. I can recommend IDNet.

Noted.

I'll probably give EE a go.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The modern world so often thinks that the way to relax is by doing
absolutely nothing, and I've never really understood that.
Nigella Lawson in RT 2015/10/31-11/6
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

On 2026/9/10 12:49:19, Andy Burns wrote:

Tweed wrote:

As well as tech support you ought to look at the ISPrCOs price increase
policy. EErCOs website stated a -u4/year rise. That seems rather steep,
especially if they repeat this over a number of years.

I don't think OFCOM allow rises to be calculated as inflation+X% any
longer, so all the ISPs who have an annual increase, now state it as -uX.YY

Yes, I thought that had been stamped on. It was mostly inflation + 2.9%,
and nobody - including the ISPs - seemed to know where the 2.9% figure
had come from!>

I think the increases are steep, until now I manage to avoid them having
too much effect by going through the "retentions" route to keep
resetting to the "new customer" price after each 18-24 month contract
period ...

Yes, I've done the same with PN, more or less. Obviously the contract
term usually includes one of the March increases.

Presumably the Greenby email handling will be transferred to EE!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The modern world so often thinks that the way to relax is by doing
absolutely nothing, and I've never really understood that.
Nigella Lawson in RT 2015/10/31-11/6
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.telecom.broadband

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

Presumably the Greenby email handling will be transferred to EE!

You'd hope that PN have effectively pre-paid the 2 years of hosting, so
that anyone leaving isn't expected to start paying from then onwards?

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2