Sorting out "missed payment"

According to http://www.plus.net/support/customer_service/billing...

"You can then choose to try again with your normal payment method,"

Where do I find this option please?

Your normal payment method was your original Direct Debit, which is cancelled. Unfortunately you'll need to make the outstanding payment by card now.

I also think that page is slightly miselading, so I'll ask someone to get it updated.

If you let me know the best time, I'll get someone to ring you and sort the payment out over the phone, we tried to call on Monday but no answer unfortunately.

Edited by chrisparr (Wed 19-Jun-13 09:05:56)

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

I also think that page is slightly miselading, so I'll ask someone to get it updated.

At last!

Some acknowledgement to my "question".

While we are on a roll ......

According to https://portal.plus.net/apps/paymentdetails/manage/

"If we can't take your normal Direct Debit we'll use these details for payment"

Why aren't you doing that please?

We tried to use your card details, as you've mentioned on a different thread, your card was declined so we couldn't take payment from it.

If you let me know the best time, I'll get someone to ring you and sort the payment out over the phone, we tried to call on Monday but no answer unfortunately.

Edited by chrisparr (Wed 19-Jun-13 11:21:32)

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

We tried to use your card details, as you've mentioned on a different thread, your card was declined so we couldn't take payment from it.

But your system accepted the card and went through all the checks, including a verified by visa page.

If you tell me what information you want I'll get it to you.

I've sent you copies of a letter from my bank showing my address in case this is the problem, as suggested by someone else on here.

The card payment was not accepted. I'd strongly suggest not sending card details via PM or similar.

I'm more than happy to get someone from here to call you at a time convenient to you. I'd really suggest doing this as the timescales are getting close to the next stage of failed payment which will include restrictions to your account.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

i'd strongly suggest not sending card details via PM or similar.

I've entered them onto your https server!

And as I've mentioned several times, when we tried to take payment they were declined.

I've offered to get someone to call you to sort this out. I'm really not sure what else I can do so I'll reiterate it.

When are you available for us to call in order to sort this payment out?

I can't understand why it is so hard to make a single outstanding payment, particularly by a known cust, and why it takes at least three threads to discuss it in public?

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

when we tried to take payment they were declined.

I've check my statements and you were paid £31.49 on this card on 31/01/12 under your ref. 15189368, so I don't see what the problem can be?

I can't see this being sorted out unless the OP does as requested several times and arranges a time and phone number when they can speak to him. If he does that they can verify all the card details and attempt to take the payment while he is talking to them.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

three threads to discuss it in public?

Apologies to anyone getting fed up with these threads.

There would be no need to for this if Plusnet answered emails or responded to what they call questions or passed you over to a supervisor when you phone up and ask.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

I can't understand why it is so hard to make a single outstanding payment, particularly by a known cust, and why it takes at least three threads to discuss it in public?

Probably because the OP refuses to arrange a convenient time for Plusnet to give him a call!

There would also be no need if you did as has been requested by Chris several times!

The card details have been re-added since then, it could be something as simple as a number typed incorrectly.

Would you like us to call you to try and resolve this or continue going round in circles across multiple threads?

If the stored details of the card are rejected by the issuing company then doing it over the phone should work, as the name on the card gets confirmed and the number and security code are used. Any discrepancy between the PN and issuer records is therefore bypassed.

I would have thought the OP could ring in 24/7 rather than need to arrange a time for this, but probably better done by arrangement to avoid any possibly confusing explanations.

Another alternative would be for PlusNet to credit the missing amount and raise a new invoice to cover it, which would then be taken on the next, (presumably next but one), direct debit.

Aren't the three threads caused by the OP? Why ask PN that question? They have to respond to each thread, or risk being accused of ignoring the customer.
_{Edit -typo.}

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 19-Jun-13 12:37:33)

We've responded 30+ times to the tickets/questions you've posted on our website, including 25+ from myself. I'm struggling to see how we can help any more than we have done!

In reply to a post by jelv:

they can verify all the card details and attempt to take the payment while he is talking to them.

I've phoned them and given them details from two different cards. They've had payment via one of the cards in the past, so I can't see what the problem is.

All they need do is accept a cheque, an electronic transfer or do as they say on their website and attempt to take the direct debit payment now their system has processed it.

Another alternative would be for PlusNet to credit the missing amount and raise a new invoice to cover it, which would then be taken on the next, (presumably next but one), direct debit.

Unfortunately our billing system doesn't work like that. If we created a new payment it would be treated as a 'one-off' and therefore not be taken via Direct Debit.

do as they say on their website and attempt to take the direct debit payment now their system has processed it.

Our website says ' "You can then choose to try again with your normal payment method," - Your normal payment method is a direct debit that is now *cancelled* (the old direct debit) - hence we cannot take payment from it.

Unless you can offer a way for us to contact you to resolve this or have any points that I haven't already addressed, I'm stepping away from this thread.

In reply to a post by jelv:

There would also be no need if you did as has been requested by Chris several times!

OK, it's obviously me. Ring me now Chris!

I'm off out again in a few minutes.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

[Unless you can offer a way for us to contact you to resolve this or have any points that I haven't already addressed, I'm stepping away from this thread.
[/quote]

You can email or fax me 24 hours a day.

Then call me!

I'll try ringing you in the meantime, but I usually get an automated message rather than a human and give up after a few minutes.

Just called and spoke to Rob. Asked to speak to you and was told my postcode wasn't on the system!

Is there any way I *can* communicate with you other than on here please?

You don't need to speak to me specifically, just someone who can sort the payment out. I'll ask someone to ring shortly.

If the card is declined again then the only option left is a cheque payment, which we don't usually do due to the amount of manual assigning to accounts they take and the clearance time for them.

Edited by chrisparr (Wed 19-Jun-13 12:32:32)

Yes!

Do as requested and suggest a time slot and telephone number when you can be contacted - with enough notice for them to do see your message and make the call!

I've tried to call you as after speaking With Chris, unfortunately there was no answer.

If you could provide me with a time to call I'll make sure we're in-touch then.

This is madness, so much stalling from the customer, wonder if they have the funds to make the payment?

I tried to call you a couple of times today, let me know your availability so we can get this sorted for you.

Just calling you now.

Left the number you wanted with your James as he said it wasn't possible to speak to you!

Good luck this time .

Well no, I'm at home now. Did James try to take the payment while you were on the phone as that's what we want to do.

Unbelievable! He rings up at nearly 10pm in the evening expecting someone who made a post to this very topic at 12:50 (9 hours ago) to still be there.

I'm seriously beginning to suspect another contributor to this topic got it right:

In reply to a post by LEEEVANS69:

This is madness, so much stalling from the customer, wonder if they have the funds to make the payment?

Ironic that, given all the back-and-forth today on this thread, the answer to the current situation was given on day 1 on the other thread, near 2 weeks ago:

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

Perhaps the thing you are missing is that, even when the DD is set up, this particular payment won't go through it. I'm sure you still need to make a payment by some other means.

I was talking today to someone who is organising the "leaver's hoodies" for our kids as they leave primary school this year... They're rightly royally sick of the people who are chancing their arm: "I can't afford that, can I get one anyway?" or "I want an XL size, but I only want to pay the price for the XS. Can I?" etc.

That's a bunch of volunteers getting together for the benefit of the kids. No other gain involved.

Why can't people follow simple instructions? Why do they believe that the system can be twisted for their personal benefit? Why do they refuse to believe when they're told the answer is "no, it can't be twisted"?

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

Ironic that, given all the back-and-forth today on this thread, the answer to the current situation was given on day 1 on the other thread, near 2 weeks ago:

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

Perhaps the thing you are missing is that, even when the DD is set up, this particular payment won't go through it. I'm sure you still need to make a payment by some other means.

I was talking today to someone who is organising the "leaver's hoodies" for our kids as they leave primary school this year... They're rightly royally sick of the people who are chancing their arm: "I can't afford that, can I get one anyway?" or "I want an XL size, but I only want to pay the price for the XS. Can I?" etc.

That's a bunch of volunteers getting together for the benefit of the kids. No other gain involved.

Why can't people follow simple instructions? Why do they believe that the system can be twisted for their personal benefit? Why do they refuse to believe when they're told the answer is "no, it can't be twisted"?

In the terms of the points that you make, I have to agree with you.

However, since a Direct Debit is, effectively, "any-amount, any-time" there really is no technical reason why PN could not take the payment via a one-off DD - other than PN just haven't set up their systems that way!!

Of bigger concern to me (had I been the OP) is the continued comments by PN that numerous Credit Cards had been stopped by the Bank. Had that been me, I would have demanded much more clarification (from PN) & then been onto my CC Company demanding to know what was going on!!

I'm sure the DPA prevents a Credit Card issuer telling PlusNet the reason for refusal, so there is no more detail that PN could give him in that respect. It is up to the card-holder to take the matter up with the issuer.

Edit - Having checked with PN that the details they have are correct.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 19-Jun-13 23:12:53)

What on earth is a "leaver's hoodie"? !!!

In reply to a post by johnjburness:

However, since a Direct Debit is, effectively, "any-amount, any-time" there really is no technical reason why PN could not take the payment via a one-off DD - other than PN just haven't set up their systems that way!!

You are probably right - that PN's systems are just not set up to work in the way that the OP desires them to work.

But once a response of "we can't do it that way" is given (as has happened numerous times), it should be enough to get the OP to ask for, and follow, a way that PN does support. Arguing that PN ought to work in some other way isn't going to change what actually happens (although it might get added to a future wishlist), and isn't going to change the fact that he needs to fit in with the system that is currently in place.

Of bigger concern to me (had I been the OP) is the continued comments by PN that numerous Credit Cards had been stopped by the Bank. Had that been me, I would have demanded much more clarification (from PN) & then been onto my CC Company demanding to know what was going on!!

I agree. But a public forum isn't the place to be having *that* conversation.

The kids, on leaving school (in this case a primary one), all enjoy the kind of status that comes with being a bit more grown up, and like to identify as being part of the group (I usually liken it to a clan).

In this case, it's a hoodie (the standard clothing garb for teenagers), but imprinted with name/school/year stuff, so they get a personal kick out of being in their clan - a bit like the patterns for a particular Scottish/Irish clan's tartan.

They see previous years go through their leaving process, and want to do the same when it is their turn.

You have to be a (near-) teenager, I guess Or the parent of one

Ah .

Yet another example of a symbol of rebellion and/or individual expression becoming a sine qua non.

If I had given slightly wrong card details (as is distinctly possible in this case) I'd be far happier knowing my bank would refuse the request with no further information. To give a reason would give a fraudster trying to extract money from my card a better idea of what to try next!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I'm sure the DPA prevents a Credit Card issuer telling PlusNet the reason for refusal, so there is no more detail that PN could give him in that respect. It is up to the card-holder to take the matter up with the issuer.

Edit - Having checked with PN that the details they have are correct.

I would agree that the info that PN would receive from the CC Company is minimal, but it is still useful to try to obtain that limited info.

IIRC, PN "might" have been advised that it had been "Declined" or "Not-recognised" (or other possibilities) - even that provides a basis of discussion with the CC Company!

Anyway, regardless (& assuming that his CC was declined by his own CC Company), I would definitely be discussing the situation with my CC Company!

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

the answer to the current situation was given on day 1 on the other thread, near 2 weeks ago:

https://www.plus.net/apps/paymentdetails/manage/ :-

"You have card details stored for your account. This isn't your primary payment method, however:"

So your suggestion wasn't ignored as you presumably think. I believe I acknowledged you helpful suggestion, if not, I apologise.

My point all along was that plusnet say one thing on their website and another on here and/or their "question" system.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

follow, a way that PN does support.

https://portal.plus.net/support/customer_service/bil... :-

"You can then choose to try again with your normal payment method"

https://portal.plus.net/apps/paymentdetails/manage

"Current payment Method
You are currently paying by Direct Debit:"

https://www.plus.net/apps/paymentdetails/manage/

"If we can't take your normal Direct Debit we'll use these details for payment"

So what, in your understanding, are Plusnet saying?

Was I wrong to read Plusnet's website as a guide to what they did?

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

You have to be a (near-) teenager, I guess Or the parent of one

I am neither but I understood.

As I've already posted a few times.

Your *usual* payment was the original direct debit, which is cancelled. Therefore we cannot take payment from it.

We've tried to take payment by the card a few times but this did not go through.

I see you called in and spoke to someone last night and we've now managed to take the payment with the details you provided him.

As per one of our comments earlier in one of the multiple other threads, I've added a discount to your next month bill to cover the £1.50 non-dd charge that you've paid this month.

That's an end to this saga.

Edited by chrisparr (Thu 20-Jun-13 08:12:19)

In reply to a post by hk11:

My point all along was that plusnet say one thing on their website and another on here and/or their "question" system.

A situation that I recognise from an experience that I had with PN (just over a year ago).

In reply to a post by hk11:

So what, in your understanding, are Plusnet saying?

Was I wrong to read Plusnet's website as a guide to what they did?

No, you are right to read the website in the first instance, and right to resort to posting here in the second instance. There is no problem with that.

My initial understanding, on day one and from reading the website, would be the same as yours, and my actions would likely have been the same - although I'd have chosen to post on Plusnet's own community forum rather than here.

Where everything went wrong was in not listening to, or acting on, what was being said on here, both in generic advice, and the advice being given by one of PN's head honcho support guys.

I suspect that the root cause was that you continued to prefer what the website said, rather than adapting to the information provided by @chrisparr.

So it is probably best to understand a few points
- The website can get out of date, as procedures change, but historic webpages don't, or where webpages try to be fairly generic, but can't respond to an individual's tricky situation

[In your case, some confusion came about because of what different parties - you, PN and the website - believed about the "current" direct debit.]

- The support guys answering tickets will have a standard level of training to do the job, and should be more up-to-date than the website. They may be able to take into account your own individual situation, and be able to apply a known trick to deal with it, but they may not.

- The "Digital care team" - the guys who post on the forum (both their own community one and here) - tend to be the better support guys, who generally can offer the best advice, most up-to-date advice, and the most focused advice on your personal situation and account details, and have more remit to take personal ownership.

The easiest route to the solution, once you posted here, would have been to forget the website, forget the questions/tickets, and to focus solely on acting on what Chris said/asked.

Yes, there were inconsistencies. Those can be focused on after the initial problem has been solved.

It will be interesting to see if we get an admission from hk11 as to why Plusnet's previous attempts to take payment by card failed!

I'm guessing that as there is no apology in the post by Chris it wasn't Plusnet's fault.

Edited by jelv (Thu 20-Jun-13 10:03:09)

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

We've tried to take payment by the card a few times but this did not go through.

Have just come back from seeing the manager at my bank and he is going to look into it. He did quite correctly point out the problem must be your end as other merchants were getting authority: I'd just paid my latest bill.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

I see you called in and spoke to someone last night and we've now managed to take the payment with the details you provided him.

The same details entered on your system when I put my card details on and again to your operative on Fri 14-Jun-13 22:29:01!

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

As per one of our comments earlier in one of the multiple other threads, I've added a discount to your next month bill to cover the £1.50 non-dd charge that you've paid this month.

Thank you.

In reply to a post by johnjburness:

A situation that I recognise from an experience that I had with PN (just over a year ago).

It's a pity such an otherwise excellent company doesn't listen a bit more.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

I'd have chosen to post on Plusnet's own community forum rather than here.

Did that before, but was a waste of time. You get a better class of insult on here. :b

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

the advice being given by one of PN's head honcho support guys.

Might have had a bit more confidence in the guy, if he didn't insist "How do I contact someone about my account?" is a duplicate of "Why can't I see my useage anymore?"

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

Yes, there were inconsistencies. Those can be focused on after the initial problem has been solved.

I don't think anyone has any intention of dealing with these, going on CP's final word and my previous complaints. It would be nice to be proved wrong in this case though.

In reply to a post by jelv:

It will be interesting to see if we get an admission from hk11 as to why Plusnet's previous attempts to take payment by card failed!

I will keep you informed.

We don't know at the moment what the problem was, as the bank refuse to tell Plusnet why their attempts failed and so far haven't told me!

Were the bank not able to provide an explanation either then? If the details were all correct then you would imagine it was the bank rejecting it but they seem to be saying they weren't? Did the bank have any record of a failed transaction?

It is also possible that whoever Plusnet use to process their payments were having some sort of glitch that has subsequently been resolved.

Isn't the difference that when they do it over the phone they take the 3 digit number from the back of the card and that allows discrepancies in the details to be overridden but the details of the card you put on Plusnet's system don't include that number?

In reply to a post by hk11:

He did quite correctly point out the problem must be your end as other merchants were getting authority

Banks are renown for not accepting responsibility.

How you can say "correctly" when the facts are not yet known and he is only surmising?

In reply to a post by jelv:

Plusnet's system don't include that number?

I seem to recall a separate box popped up "verified by Visa"? and I *was* asked for this number then.

In reply to a post by ian72:

Were the bank not able to provide an explanation either then?

Different department.

I'll give them a day or so to come back to me.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

[How you can say "correctly" when the facts are not yet known and he is only surmising?
[/quote]

The facts are other merchants haven't had a problem and their entries appear on my statements. So I consider the manager correct in pointing this out, but yes he is only surmising ATM.

That would only appear when you make an actual payment, not when you put the card details on to Plusnet's system.

I'm closing this thread as the issue has been trashed out over and over.

hk11 - if you have any further issues, might I suggest you send a PM to Chris Purvey on here.

seb