Plus.Net Home Phone... still only 1 month contract ?

Was looking yesterday for info in the T+C / FAQs for the Home Phone facility and while I could see charges for remaining months on a contracted service (I'm assuming 12 months which was an option) I saw no mention of any 'transfer in' fee (ie moving my line to PN) nor something indicating I could choose 1 month rolling contract or 12 month contract.

I appreciate with the product refresh the web site has undergone change to give priority to new customers switching to some combination of {essentials | unlimited} {broadband | fibre } and phone service, but in the revamp, seems to me that it's less easy to find some info.

I'll admit I wasn't looking exhaustively (there was Snooker on), nor did I go down the steps of 'upgrade' to switch my phone line, but felt I should have been able to find basic {and essential} details more easily, and while the FAQs cover the 'logistics' of switching, there was no apparent mention of contract terms.

I've been going througgh the Home Phone T & Cs on and off for three days for another reason. It's exhausting as bits are scattered around and extremely difficult to find.

A simple one though is that up until the new unlimited packages were announced Home Phone was 10-day notice. As was out-of-contract broadband.

Anything signed up for since "unlimited" on 19 December 2012 is 30-day notice once out of contract. 10-day seems to remain for earlier sign-ups.

So anyone who upgraded to unlimited from a legacy broadband product will be on 30 days for that, not 10 when their minimum term expires. I assume their legacy Home Phone if they have that isn't affected.
_{Edit - typo.}

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 20-Jan-13 13:00:22)

"30-day notice once out of contract."

Thanks. Did you spot any 'minimum contract' terms ? It seems as if 12 months is now minimum contract for services, which is in line with many other ISPs but hopefully not all. I was waiting on the phone to talk to them but have given up (my hands free desk phone is not to hand and the queue was long) so off to watch some Snooker

3/4^qtrs of the way down this page. I'm not sure if you are talking about an existing service or taking one out now.


Phone Early Termination Charges

Contracted phone packages (after 18th December 2012) are subject to a minimum period of 12 (with broadband) or 18 (with fibre) months. The following monthly early termination charges apply for customers choosing to end their Plusnet phone service within this period (Excluding Line Rental Saver customers).

Monthly Early Termination Charge

Talk Anytime £4.25
Talk Anytime International £5.25
Talk Evening & Weekends £2.25
Talk Mobile £4.25
Talk Mobile 1 £4.25

according to this http://www.plus.net/support/service/policies/product... it has changed

7. Home Phone
Adding phone to an existing broadband package - Rules for current broadband products (Plusnet Essentials and Plusnet Unlimited)

With a contract
Adding a phone package will restart your current contract
Without a contract
customers can choose whether to start a new contract

Adding phone to an existing broadband package - Rules for legacy broadband products (no longer sold)

Any call plan can be chosen
Adding a call plan will not add a new contract or affect an existing contract
See our Broadband product archive for more information on legacy products

Switching between phone plans

Any change of call plan will be scheduled to take place on your next bill date.
There is no charge to change between call plans.
Customers under contract are able to switch between call plans without affecting the length of their contract.

Hi,

To clarify, as the page Oldjim has linked to states, no new contract is added. In other words there is no contract per se other than the 14 days notice we'd require if you left, which is the same amount of time it takes to to transfer to another provider.

I'll do what I can to see if we can make this information clearer and easier to find.

Adam,
That isn't what it says - unless I am totally misreading it
Example
I am on unlimited with a 12 month contract and i am 6 months in to it (I know that isn't actually possible at the moment)
Adding home phone resets that contract so although the phone part may or may not have an extended notice my broadband 12 month contract restarts which really shouldn't be the case

And it is quite clear that all products ordered from 19 December 2012 carry a 30-day notice period even when out of minimum term. The 10 days one is retained for legacy products.

No it isn't - the home phone part might be but look what it does to your broadband contract - it could go from 2 months remaining on a 12 month contract to 12 months just because you add the phone
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,1111...

Edited by deleted (Mon 21-Jan-13 16:50:30)

I wasn't contradicting you. I was adding.

What I need to recheck, or ask, is whether the 30-day notice out of contract applies rigidly to the product, so in time I will be on that, or whether pre-19 Dec 2012 customers who were on 10 days stay on that once they run out of contract on (for example what I have done) an upgrade from Extra to Unlimited.

I'm fairly sure I will be on 30 days.

with you - confusing isn't it as the reply to my question on the Plusnet forums is that

AFAIK we decided to do that instead of having a separate contract in place for phone.

Which rather mucks up the idea of a 30 day contract - I just had a look at the new sign up route and if you take a 12 month broadband contract it looks as though you get a 12 month phone contract as well
I may be wrong but it definitely isn't clear
http://www.plus.net/info2/legal/price_guide.html#talk

Contracted phone packages (after 18th December 2012) are subject to a minimum period of 12 (with broadband) or 18 (with fibre) months. The following monthly early termination charges apply for customers choosing to end their Plusnet phone service within this period (Excluding Line Rental Saver customers).

So I still believe that taking phone on top of an existing contracted broadband lands you with a 12 month minimum contract for both

Edited by deleted (Mon 21-Jan-13 17:35:15)

Looks that way.

I think it's a bit unfair when adding the phone to an existing broadband service. I haven't checked the prices, but the supposed reason for ISPs wanting people on a phone/broadband bundle is because the phone makes the money!

It's understandable, if unpleasant, that the 30-day notice has come in for the new products, but something somewhere has to compensate for the superb broadband packages now.

I don't currently have Home Phone from Plus.Net but use Primus.

I had known that the phone service had a one month contract so if one decided against it, there was no 12 months minimum, though I read that same page and felt that from 19/12/12 it had been significantly changed (else no need to quote charge for 'unused' months).

from 2 months remaining on a 12 month contract to 12 months...

or even 18 months if one was using Fibre !

Looks like best avoided. I had considered the 1 month option a significant benefit.

In reply to a post by thatadamwalker:

In other words there is no contract per se other than the 14 days notice we'd require if you left, which is the same amount of time it takes to to transfer to another provider.

I think that contradicts your post made on Community (which Oldjim linked to), or can I have your word that if I added Home Phone and then switched away 2 months later, there'd be no demand from PN for 10x monthly fee of 2.25 for Evenings and Weekend package ?

Edited by deleted (Thu 24-Jan-13 17:35:24)