PlusNets credit card information errors!!!!!!

Hi All

I found what I consider to be a major fault with the way the portal 'takes' credit card information.

I logged in to find a reminder to update my CC information as the current one expires on 31st May. For the record my default payment is by Direct Debit but this "fault" could mean that if you pay by credit card around the first few days of the month and are away on holiday at that time PN could declare you have not paid and I wonder how quickly they would cease your service???

I tried to enter the new card details and got a dialogue telling the card was in the future date so invalid. Tried to re-enter the old card details and was told that the card validity runs out before the next due date. Each circumstance being mutually exclusive ~ now is it me or has someone at PN introduced something that is just so wrong???

Now the portal does allow you to enter a second CC in case of trouble with taking payment from the first..................now granted many folk may & do have more than one CC but what about those that do not! Or indeed those that have no wish to pay by Direct Debit and only have the single CC.

Come on PlusNet make this more user friendly for all users It is no good asking users to update their info before the expiry date and then not let the new card info be entered.....................what idiot failed to test the system before it went live :lol:

IMO if the answer is "we allow a wide leeway to receive payment" then still not good enough as it does not take much imagination to see that circumstances could arise where a user is unaware of the problem until it is too late and then how would the CSC handle that one?

The system has been like this for years. It only works properly if there is an overlap of the expiry of the old card and the start of the new. Generally when I've had my card replaced the expiry of the old (which goes to the end of the month) and start of the new (which starts from the 1st) are for the same month so that gives a one month overlap and the system works.

I believe if you ring in an agent can add the new card as a secondary card before it's start date (but you shouldn't have to!).

The "valid from" date of the card can normally be omitted, most cards don't use it for authentication (wasn't it just the defunct Switch that used it?).

In reply to a post by jelv:

The system has been like this for years. It only works properly if there is an overlap of the expiry of the old card and the start of the new. Generally when I've had my card replaced the expiry of the old (which goes to the end of the month) and start of the new (which starts from the 1st) are for the same month so that gives a one month overlap and the system works.

I believe if you ring in an agent can add the new card as a secondary card before it's start date (but you shouldn't have to!).

Hmmmm? I do not ever recall having such an overlap with either Visa or Mastercard based cards.

As you say if an agent can add a 'future dated'' card why cannot the user do it via the portal?

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

The "valid from" date of the card can normally be omitted, most cards don't use it for authentication (wasn't it just the defunct Switch that used it?).

I agree but when I put in just the expiry date of the newest card it threw me out saying something about the start date so I put that in and got the same message so the 'controller' is seeing the expiry date and knows the validity years of the cards i.e. it back calculates.

As I said this is not a very user friendly structure for the single CC holder who does not wish to use Direct Debit

I look forward with interest to a CSC to chime with in their "logic" on the matter???

What is the credit card info for anyway? I thought that sort of thing was just to validate addresses and suchlike when opting for d/d, which is a one-off procedure.

Are they saying that if you cancelled a d/d authority they would use the credit card as if you had given a CCA?

Hmmm.

In reply to a post by Routefinder:

As I said this is not a very user friendly structure for the single CC holder who does not wish to use Direct Debit

I look forward with interest to a CSC to chime with in their "logic" on the matter???

What penalty are you paying for not using the direct debit payment method ?

Wagstaff

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What is the credit card info for anyway? I thought that sort of thing was just to validate addresses and suchlike when opting for d/d, which is a one-off procedure.

Are they saying that if you cancelled a d/d authority they would use the credit card as if you had given a CCA?

Hmmm.

I always used to pay by CC but a while back I switched to DD and yes the CC is a fallback payment 'protection' and they have the space for entering a second CC if payment cannot be taken for whatever reason from CC no.1

They have a structure that there is a "Default payment method/source" and my concern is not necessarily for myself (?) but for folk with a single CC who do not wish to use DD and could fall into a situation where they were not on the ball with expiry date of CC and circumstances were such that they missed by many days their payment date.............???

The procedure IMO needs to be made more user friendly to mitigate for the way CC expiry dates and start dates 'work'.

Ah right, so it's more than just the input form doing validation checks, the "backend" is also doing checks.

In reply to a post by Routefinder:

Hmmmm? I do not ever recall having such an overlap with either Visa or Mastercard based cards.

There used not to be an overlap, which was very annoying as you could easily get caught out shopping and couldn't destroy the old one when you got the new one, but all the cards I've had in the last couple of years have had a one or two month overlap. Perhaps some banks are still not doing this.