Plusnet pricing...

"Plusnet Value: ... costs £6.49 a month 3 months, then £10.79 or £12.99

Plusnet Extra: ... costs £11.49 a month 3 months, then £15.79 or £17.99"

I appreciate Market 3 for the lower price continuing, but would appreciate an explanation for the two different upper prices. I felt PN was good value for most users, but am looking at the costs at the upper end in more remote areas but the fact there are two prices now, confuses me !

Isn't the intermediate figure the "Price beat", which ended on 12 July? The numbers look familiar. Or is it on a current PN web page?

See here, and Section 5 just below.

On current web page at the bottom under pricing

Ah, yes I see.

They've forgotten to update the Home page . If you follow the link you end up where I linked to. I went straight to the target page without going through the Home Page, as it came up in my history list while typing the Plusnet URL.

Have flagged it up and will report back

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Isn't the intermediate figure the "Price beat", which ended on 12 July? The numbers look familiar. Or is it on a current PN web page?

You're right, the £10.79 and £15.79 pricing is part of our "Won't be beat on price" campaign. I'll give the content folk a nudge, although it's not doing too much harm as the 'shopping cart' during the signup journey correctly reflects the price you'll pay before a prospective customer commits to anything.

Thanks for the link.

I was looking at the pricing section here

shame the difference (6.50) appears to have increased year on year, so those in Market 1/2 can rightly feel 'miffed' at just how much they are having to pay

Cannot remember quite how much I was expecting to pay this year (after last year's price freeze for existing customers) but finding Extra (in Market 2 area) is cheaper than Value, would annoy, if I was not in a Market 3 area.

In reply to a post by bpullen:

it's not doing too much harm ...

whether it gets corrected later or not, it is misleading.

I'm really glad I didn't start pumping the form with postcodes from across the country (areas which I would have searched for as Market 1 / Market 2.

It's simply misleading to suggest a price as being available when you know it cannot be achieved, and I'm frankly shocked to see a PN rep suggest it is acceptable. Would a newspaper or TV/radio advert be 'pulled' if it was a lie?

In reply to a post by ultra:

It's simply misleading to suggest a price as being available when you know it cannot be achieved, and I'm frankly shocked to see a PN rep suggest it is acceptable.

I can't see the problem here. The £15.79 they are advertising on the website has been reduced to £11.49. But I suppose if you ask them nicely you can pay the higher price if you really want to.

Looks like Market 2 is now priced as Market 3 as well. It was as Market 1.

Found it - I wonder if someone has really mucked up

Edited by deleted (Mon 18-Jul-11 23:17:45)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Looks like Market 2 is now priced as Market 3 as well. It was as Market 1.

Yep, that's what I was implying with my post, I wasn't aware that it's a recent change though.

I remember seeing Market 1 vs Market 2 + 3 being listed, and assumed so. It was months ago though, and I assumed someone on Market 2 would spot it and complain they weren't getting the lower price !

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

I can't see the problem here. The £15.79 they are advertising...

I have the impression the 15.79 price is not available, else I wouldn't call it a lie.

My memory, which may be false, from less than a couple of weeks ago, is that M2 was still priced with M1 at the high level, and I deduced that the Price Beat intermediate price was available on some M2 exchanges where the LLU offering was lower than the standard price. Such as where C & W was there but not TalkTalk or Sky. M2's with either of those I would think was handled manually.

I would guess that the number of M2s is decreasing and moving them into the M3 price band is now feasible without a huge effect on profit. I'm not sure if there is any underlying cost change from OR, but the expected increase in customer numbers may counteract the potential revenue hit.

So I think your earlier statement that the £15.79 has become £11.49 is correct.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 19-Jul-11 09:12:21)

In reply to a post by ultra:

I have the impression the 15.79 price is not available, else I wouldn't call it a lie.

So you really are upset that the prices on the website are higher than they are actually charging?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

My memory, which may be false, from less than a couple of weeks ago, is that M2 was still priced with M1 at the high level, and I deduced that the Price Beat intermediate price was available on some M2 exchanges where the LLU offering was lower than the standard price.

Your understanding is correct, and the customers that fall into this bracket currently pay less.

Rgds,

Thanks for that.

However, if it is correct as now shown, that M2 is now priced the same as M3, can existing M2 customers on the M1 and Price Beat prices both expect an automatic price fall, or do they need to raise a ticket?

I wonder if the phone prices could come down a bit too (like the same as O2) ?

(The weather is making me a bit difficult today....!!)

Meldrew

Bob, Will this change be applied automatically to all M2 Customers?

I have several referral accounts who are being charged £11-99 Value + £11-99 for Talk Anytime Line Rental and an addiional Call Plan Charge of £3-50 and Caller Display of £0.99.

What should the correct charge be?

Until i saw Bob's comment today at 15:33 I was unsure just what had happened to pricing. My belief had been that M1+M2 were still at the higher price of 12.99/17.99 while the intermediate prices were being shown but (as far as I knew) the higher price was being charged.

It is now somewhat clearer, that M2 + M3 pay the lowest fee, M1 pay the highest and the intermediate fee should still not be shown. I'm pleased that those on M2 now get the discount. My complaint was with showing a price that was lower that what is charged, and no-one can get it.

You seem to be thinking I want people to pay more than they might be expecting to pay (or for M2, that PN should not charge the same as for M3) and I've never suggested anything of the sort.

"The £15.79 they are advertising on the website has been reduced to £11.49."

My point was that it should not be advertised at all. I'm on Market 3 and pay the lowest of the three anyway. I'm not looking to pay anything different, just wanted clarity over what is being charged, and under which circumstances.

I guess you follow threads on here, and marketing from PN, much more than me.

I had no knowledge that M2 prices were definitely reduced.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

However, if it is correct as now shown, that M2 is now priced the same as M3, can existing M2 customers on the M1 and Price Beat prices both expect an automatic price fall, or do they need to raise a ticket?

That's a very good question, Bob.

Will all Market 2 Value customers receive an automatic price reduction to £6.49 per month?
It would be useful if Plusnet could answer this.

Wagstaff

I lost patience waiting for an answer here so I called the retentions line and have ascertained that:

* Market 2 is now priced as is Market 3

* The correct price should be Value @ £6.49 + Line Rental @ £11.99 + Anytime @£3.50 + Caller Display@ £0.99 = £22.97

* You have to call Retentions to get the new Prices

* If you are on a "Retention Discount", you will lose that.

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay revisiting this thread!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

However, if it is correct as now shown, that M2 is now priced the same as M3, can existing M2 customers on the M1 and Price Beat prices both expect an automatic price fall, or do they need to raise a ticket?

They'll need to raise a ticket via the usual avenues.

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

You have to call Retentions to get the new Prices

As above, that's not necessary.

Rgds,

Bob, if that is the case, somebody needs to tell the CS Reps because I called this afternoon and they said thecouldn't do it. She did however transfer the call to the Retentions team who fixed it for me.

In reply to a post by bpullen:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

However, if it is correct as now shown, that M2 is now priced the same as M3, can existing M2 customers on the M1 and Price Beat prices both expect an automatic price fall, or do they need to raise a ticket?

They'll need to raise a ticket via the usual avenues.

Are you saying that all your Market 2 customers will have to raise a ticket in order to obtain the price reduction?
This is extraordinary - I just wonder how many Market 2 customers you have and whether your Support Team is ready for the flood of tickets.

Wagstaff

In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

I just wonder how many Market 2 customers you have and whether your Support Team is ready for the flood of tickets.

How many will find out?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

I just wonder how many Market 2 customers you have and whether your Support Team is ready for the flood of tickets.

How many will find out?

Are they really trying to hide this information from their existing customers?
If so, that's an appalling state of affairs, Bob.
If it wasn't for your link, how many of the posters/viewers here would've known?

Wagstaff

Are they really trying to hide this information from their existing customers?
If so, that's an appalling state of affairs.

I doubt if there is malfeasance here. Just the people directly responsible don't think these things through. Pretty elementary though, so ...?

Certainly Bob Pullen is being straight with us and hopefully reporting the problem.

Edit - tautology.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 20-Jul-11 22:38:08)

I believe that this Price adjustment for M2 customers has been approved by Management as a discretionary reduction to be used by the retention team (and possubly other sales staff) to keep or gain a customer.

Bob has indicated on the PlusNet portal that this pricing action may not be permanent and this may explain why it hasn't been publicised more widely.

Of course, PlusNet does have a record of NOT bringing Product and Pricing changes to the attention of existing customers on higher priced products so go figure!

I think we are confusing two different things here.

The original question by the OP was about the Price Beat prices, which still appear on the Home page but are specifically eliminated on the page that explains what Price Beat "was".

The second question, which is what I was meaning, having (I thought), established that those intermediate prices have been dropped for new customers, is that that page also shows that Market 2 is now priced at the same level as Market 3.

That is not a discretionary price for retentions or sales, it is a flat statement of standard prices.

What may be the case is that sales and retentions have deals available to be used at their discretion, but not necessarily at the Price Beat figures. This practice is common across all ISPs and many industries. Just the way things are.

My follow-up question which I thought we were discussing was what would happen to existing M2 customers on the previous M1 or Price Beat charges. Mixing that up with ongoing retention and special pricing deals in the same post makes discussion of either impossible.

Yes, I agree that we seem to have digressed from the OP from your post about 8 posts above and Bob's response to you. I will defer to Bob to clarify the original issue.

My belief that the current M2/M3 Pricing may be transitionary and therefor not being applied across the customer base stems from this thread on the PlusNet Portal http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,9739...

and specifically Bob's post of 20/07/2011, 17:27

To avoid further confusion, I will step away from this discussion.

No need to step away - perfectly legitimate to question why PN is not actively switching everyone on an M2 exchange to the lowest charge that applies without needing the customer to make contact.

It would do far more 'goodwill' for PN if they didn't make people jump through hoops, or have to get to the retention team, to get what seems like a 'standard' price and is 'taken for granted' if someone is on M3 exchange.

Leaving it to customers who may only find out "by chance" is a rotten way of handling it. Sure, it is up to customers to consider what options are available, and if that means someone considers switching is given the reduction they do save, but why the hurdles, why not make it automatic!

Indeed!

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

Bob, if that is the case, somebody needs to tell the CS Reps because I called this afternoon and they said they couldn't do it.

What account was that in relationship to, because all the front line agents should know the situation?

In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

Are you saying that all your Market 2 customers will have to raise a ticket in order to obtain the price reduction?

Yes, that's the current situation.

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

Bob has indicated on the PlusNet portal that this pricing action may not be permanent...

This is true, and whilst it's the case I can't see us proactively switching the existing base. There are other things to consider to, like special offer discounts and non-standard conditions that are being applied to certain customers accounts.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What may be the case is that sales and retentions have deals available to be used at their discretion, but not necessarily at the Price Beat figures.

Yes, they do. They have quite a lot of flexibility.

Rgds,

Hi Bob,

Question #44733688 resulted from my call to CS who transferred the call to Adam in Retentions

I was very happy with the outcome of the call because not only did he attend to this case but he also called two of my other referrals and fixed their accounts.

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

Question #44733688 resulted from my call to CS who transferred the call to Adam in Retentions

Thanks!

I've read through this thread a couple of times and still cant quite get my head round it.
I'm on the Breadsall exchange EMBREAD which is market 2, and currently pay £17.99 for Extra.
Should I be paying less, particularly now that TT have LLU enabled at my exchanged?
Thanks

If your Exchange is Market 2 (or Market 3), you should be paying the lower price of £ 11.49 for Extra or £6.49 for Value.

According to Bob, ANY CS Rep can change this for you but my experience was that my call was transferred to the Retentions Team to effect the change.

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

If your Exchange is Market 2 (or Market 3), you should be paying the lower price of £ 11.49 for Extra or £6.49 for Value.

According to Bob, ANY CS Rep can change this for you but my experience was that my call was transferred to the Retentions Team to effect the change.

That's great, thanks.
Can any Plusnet reps on here confirm this? And if it is correct what should I say to them when I ring?

p.s Wheel_nut, hope this post doesnt infer that I dont believe you, because I do!! What did you say when you spoke to them?

Edited by deleted (Tue 02-Aug-11 15:44:22)

In reply to a post by bpullen:

In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

Are you saying that all your Market 2 customers will have to raise a ticket in order to obtain the price reduction?

Yes, that's the current situation.

As above, Bob confirmed it earlier

If you call and ask to be changed to the market 3 price as you're on a market 2 exchange it'll be arranged for you.

Just spoke to PN and got my bill reduced to M3 price, thanks to all on this thread.
Bit sneaky of PN to keep it a secret though

In reply to a post by steadyeddie:

Just spoke to PN and got my bill reduced to M3 price, thanks to all on this thread.
Bit sneaky of PN to keep it a secret though

Its not a sneaky secret though and Plusnet staff on here are not telling the full picture, I left Plusnet because of their high prices, Once I found out about this I went to their website and got my line checked, It said I can have BB and the market 3 price and no call to retentions was needed( obviously ) as I am no longer a customer.
So plusnet please clarify.

Edited by deleted (Tue 02-Aug-11 16:48:36)

New customers (as you would be coming back) get the price shown on the website. Existing customers need to contact our Customer Options Team as mentioned above.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

New customers (as you would be coming back) get the price shown on the website. Existing customers need to contact our Customer Options Team as mentioned above.

Thank you Chris

Existing customers need to contact our Customer Options Team as mentioned above.

I wonder how many of the 300,000 customers are aware they could get a price reduction

Still find it difficult to understand why they're not pro-active about changing existing customers to pay less...

I did see some post about individual cases being more complicated, but frankly, they have to deal with all sorts of "automatic vs manual" processing, it is surely easy enough to define some rules for "those on a Market 2 exchange where Market 3 pricing should apply" and just get on with it, by script, in 99% of cases !!

In reply to a post by ultra:

Still find it difficult to understand why they're not pro-active about changing existing customers to pay less...

What is also difficult to understand is how little the response has been to Wheel_Nut's thread about this subject on Plusnet's Community Billing forum.
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,9739...

I think you can rest easy knowing that you've done all you can to make their existing customers aware of the savings available.

Plusnet appears to be one of the better ISPs in this wretched industry, so I shudder to think how the customers of other ISPs are being treated.

Wagstaff

In reply to a post by ultra:

Still find it difficult to understand why they're not pro-active about changing existing customers to pay less...

Indeed. Certainly there would be a sudden drop in revenue if there were a mass shift, but I dare say a drop in churn or retention cases.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

New customers (as you would be coming back) get the price shown on the website. Existing customers need to contact our Customer Options Team as mentioned above.

Not according to Bob:

In reply to a post by bpullen:

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay revisiting this thread!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

However, if it is correct as now shown, that M2 is now priced the same as M3, can existing M2 customers on the M1 and Price Beat prices both expect an automatic price fall, or do they need to raise a ticket?

They'll need to raise a ticket via the usual avenues.

In reply to a post by Wheel_Nut:

You have to call Retentions to get the new Prices

As above, that's not necessary.

Rgds,