Thinking of leaving - SSE / Cancellation Fees?

I am considering leaving Plusnet.

The current deal that SSE has at the moment for their 80/20 product is cheaper than Plusnet and with £120+ cashback makes this a great offer. Also you are not tied in as long and none of this line rental saver rubbish.

I have received an email regarding the price increases - not long left to make my mind up.

If I look at Account Summary in Member Centre I do have a value listed saying £50 upon cancellation.

Do the price increases mean I can move both phone and broadband without cancellation fees - I am on a combined Phone and BB package but Phone is paid for with Line Rental Saver? I guess I will also loose any remaining Line Rental Saver months.

Does anyone know what network SSE use to provide their broadband? e.g. BT, TalkTalk?

Thanks

In reply to a post by think26872:

Do the price increases mean I can move both phone and broadband without cancellation fees - I am on a combined Phone and BB package but Phone is paid for with Line Rental Saver?

Yes.

I guess I will also loose any remaining Line Rental Saver months.

Plusnet say so. One person contacted Ofcom about this and Plusnet changed their mind. (Then they accepted a part refund also for that person's parents). I think at least one other person has had a part-refund. But PN are continuing to say no unless you refuse to accept that.

In the same position. 6 months left on my BB contract (£14.99), one month left on LRS.

Checking SSE they don't quote upload speed on the 40Mbps product. I read posts that they are a wholesaler on BT and others that mention Daisy. Also if you have to cancel their get out fee is greater than the product itself. Very few posts about SSE on this forum.

So rather then taking the unknown risk with SEE I've taken the known risk (usless callcentre) of going back to BT.
Some pretty decent quidco (if it works) and a £125 JS card makes it a no brainer. Also 12 month contract.

In reply to a post by think26872:

I am considering leaving Plusnet.

The current deal that SSE has at the moment for their 80/20 product is cheaper than Plusnet and with £120+ cashback makes this a great offer. Also you are not tied in as long and none of this line rental saver rubbish.

Minimum contract length is 18 months for SSE but you actually have to stick with them for the full two years -

You must remain with us for your phone and broadband for the 2 year period to benefit from the 2 years free broadband or the 2 years half price fibre broadband offer.

https://www.southern-electric.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Co...

The price with cashback is good but two years is a heck of a long time and SSE have no track record.

In reply to a post by Spud2003:

SSE have no track record.

I'm with them for my Gas/Electricity - to say that I'm not happy how they have managed my Personal Data (call it mismanage) would be a massive understatement!

I'm not happy how they have managed my Personal Data

Care to share your experience please.

Ian

In reply to a post by Spud2003:

Minimum contract length is 18 months for SSE but you actually have to stick with them for the full two years -

Have SSE told you that, or is that your own interpretation of the term quoted? I understand it differently to you when I read it.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

In reply to a post by Spud2003:

Minimum contract length is 18 months for SSE but you actually have to stick with them for the full two years -

Have SSE told you that, or is that your own interpretation of the term quoted? I understand it differently to you when I read it.

What do you mean my interpretation? I'm giving you quotes straight from their official terms and conditions. Here's the 18 month minimum reference -

SSE Superfast Fibre broadband / SSE Ultrafast Fibre Broadband: D411 product range

Products description

Our fixed term broadband packages, part of the D411 product range, provide access to the internet from a fixed location.

They are only available to domestic customers with an active BT line for which a monthly line rental will be charged and are provided for domestic use only. The fixed term contract duration for these products is 18 months.

https://www.southern-electric.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Co...

I am asking specifically about "You actually have to stick with them for the full two years", which is not a quote from the official terms and conditions. I read the terms and that was not my understanding.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

I am asking specifically about "You actually have to stick with them for the full two years", which is not a quote from the official terms and conditions. I read the terms and that was not my understanding.

You have to stick with them for two years to qualify for the two year discount -

Terms & Conditions

2 years free broadband or 2 years half price fibre broadband with our Phone and Broadband offer

1. 2 years free broadband offer is only available when you purchase SSE Everyday Broadband with
any phone package. 2 years half price fibre broadband offer is only available when you purchase
SSE Superfast Fibre Broadband or SSE Ultrafast Fibre Broadband with any phone package. All phone
packages include line rental. The applicable discount will be credited to your account each month for
the 2 year period

2. You must remain with us for your phone and broadband for the 2 year period to benefit from the 2
years free broadband or the 2 years half price fibre broadband offer

3. Existing phone and/or broadband customers who are still within their fixed term contract may be
charged an early termination fee if they end their existing contract early in order to take advantage of
the 2 years free broadband or 2 year half price fibre broadband offer

4. The phone and broadband contract will be 18 months in duration in most cases. Depending on your
geographical location in the UK or if you buy online, your phone contract may be 12 months.

5. Offer available from the 16th of April 2015 until 16th September 2015, is subject to availability and
cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

6. Offer is subject to our General Terms & Conditions for the supply of the fixed line phone and/or
broadband service (combined where applicable). All can be found on our website at
sse.co.uk/phoneandbroadband

7. No cash alternative

8. Offer not available to business customers

https://www.southern-electric.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Co...

What is your interpretation of point 2?

Edited by Spud2003 (Mon 03-Aug-15 10:52:34)

"You must remain with us for your broadband for the 2 year period to benefit from the 2 year discount" is pretty poor wording. It could either mean:

- Customer leaves after 18 months, and the 18 months discount already paid is wanted back

- Discount is no longer paid to customer since they are no longer a customer (stating the obvious)

It can be read 2 ways I think.

1) If you don't stay with us for 2 years then we will not give you the discount for any of the period

2) To get the full 2 years discount you have to stay for 2 years but the contract is only for 18 months. If you leave after the 18 months then you won't get the discount for the remainder of the 2 years as you won't be taking a service from us

I suspect it is probably number 2 as can't see them clawing back the discount after 18 months. However, number 2 seems blinding obvious as you aren't going to get a discount on a service that you no longer take.

Or I have just thought of a 3rd. The contract is 18 months. If you move your phone at the end of the 18 months then you will no longer receive the discount on the broadband.

See my 3rd option after your post. I think it is that you take phone and broadband. You must keep both with them to keep the discount. If you move your phone at the end of the 18 month contract then you will stop getting the discount on the BB and it will revert to full price.

Until there is official clarification from SSE I'll stick with the plain English reading of term 2.

In reply to a post by ian72:

See my 3rd option after your post.

I considered that. However the same clause is present on the broadband-only section of the terms, where line rental is not relevant.

Term 1 says the discount is applied each month. Term 4 specifies the minimum term for broadband as 18 months. Any other term which means you have to pay money back for ending the service after 18 months would be a direct contradiction.

Therefore, my interpretation: in order to get the advertised 2 years free/half-price broadband, you must keep your phone and broadband with SSE for 2 years. This doesn't mean you can't stay for 18 months and get 18 months free/half-price broadband. The phone contract ends after 12 or 18 months, but you must keep that active to keep getting half-price broadband. And if you switch broadband provider, SSE will not pay for someone's elses broadband and you cannot rejoin SSE and claim the remainder later.

I have rung SSE and was told with certainty that this is exactly what it means.

I hope you definitely spoke to someone there with the proper contractual knowledge, I've had SSE customer service state numerous times, they categorically don't supply static IPs - simple question - turns out they apparently do.

I've also spoken to Plusnet retentions who are quite familiar with people using the SSE offer to strong arm them into offering lower prices, if you bring up the 18 month minimum term they will counter by telling you there are penalties if you leave before the two years are up ...

If you managed to get this clarified in writing/e-mail then good for you.

In reply to a post by Spud2003:

I've also spoken to Plusnet retentions who are quite familiar with people using the SSE offer to strong arm them into offering lower prices, if you bring up the 18 month minimum term they will counter by telling you there are penalties if you leave before the two years are up ...

Sounds like Plusnet FUD.

Plusnet retentions said so huh? Oh well, it must be true!

Of course I got it in writing (from an SSE manager):

This e-mail is to clarify some information with regards to the 2 Years Free Broadband or 2 Years Half Price Fibre Broadband Offer Terms and Conditions.
 
You would be entitled to full discounts if you remain on the package up until the contract term of 18 months.
At 18 months, we will ask you in writing if you would like to continue in which you have the option to say no and still be entitled to full discounts as this is part of the deal.
 
This is in line with the current Terms and Conditions for 2 year discount on stand-alone broadband tariffs, 2 years free broadband or 2 years half price fibre broadband with our Phone and Broadband offer.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

Plusnet retentions said so huh? Oh well, it must be true!

Of course I got it in writing (from an SSE manager):

Erm, this thread has dragged out because various people have given opinions on the contract terms, why didn't you post SSE's official comment in the first place?

EDIT:

Actually, now you've cleared this up I'm going to have to reconsider my migration to BT and look again at SSE.

Edited by Spud2003 (Mon 03-Aug-15 21:50:08)

I couldn't post it 'in the first place', because I only rang SSE today after the discussion.

In reply to a post by vimto_girl:

At 18 months, we will ask you in writing if you would like to continue in which you have the option to say no and still be entitled to full discounts as this is part of the deal.

That's odd. I can't see why they'd write to you to ask you if you wish to continue with a contract which is open-ended.

In reply to a post by think26872:

I am considering leaving Plusnet.

The current deal that SSE has at the moment for their 80/20 product is cheaper than Plusnet and with £120+ cashback makes this a great offer. Also you are not tied in as long and none of this line rental saver rubbish.

Does anyone know what network SSE use to provide their broadband? e.g. BT, TalkTalk?

Thanks

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