I agree, they shouldn't be so quick to start removing services.

But, personally I would first contact the bank to see if there is a reason they have bounced a payment - it is possible that PlusNet won't have much more info than "bank refused payment".

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I'm surprised they don't charge more for payment by other means than DD; many places do.

I think they do ... or at least they used to.

Back in the dim and distant past when I first signed up to PN (last century !), payment by credit card was the only option available. This continued for donkey's years until some time relatively recently when they decided to try to force everyone onto DD. I think the terms were along the lines of set up a DD and pay the same amount or continue using a card but have a £1.50/m charge added for the privilege.

I too dislike DD's with a vengeance TBH and avoid them wherever possible but I went along with it in this case because it was always going to be a fixed amount. It's still my only DD

As for card payments mysteriously being declined ... it sometimes just happens for reason or reasons unknown and no one ever takes any responsibility for it ! Usually just ends up as a case of retailer claims bank declined payment and bank claims they know nothing about any payment request being made :rolleyes:

Edited by ambrougham (Thu 14-Apr-16 12:34:05)

They do charge extra - I'm not bothered. And that is not what I started this thread about.

I'm happy with the way I pay, and what I pay for it. I don't want to switch to DD, and no, I don't want or need a business account.

I've been paying this way, with this card, for almost four years. The only thing I'm unhappy about is that it unaccountably (no pun intended) didn't work today.

So have you contacted your credit card supplier and asked them why they bounced the payment? That is where I would start. If they have not seen the request then you can go back to PlusNet and ask them to retry as it is then obviously a problem on their end.

In reply to a post by TLM:

I didn't ask opinions on Direct Debit. I don't want one, and that's it. I don't agree with them on principle. That's my right, isn't it? I only mentioned it at all, in case the type of card (it's a Mastercard) may happen to shed any light on things.

People might have been aware whether there has been any issue with cc transactions recently - either at PN, or at all.

Calm down, people just wondering why you use a card and not direct debit.
I am not a fan about direct debit, but to be honest in all the years I have been using them the only problems I had was my own and that when I did not have enough money in the bank and the charges was over the top, better now.

I am surprised that Plusnet allows payment by card, I do nto think that was a option when I joined last year.

Anyway, the chance of anyone on here paying the same is pretty slim, so the chance of you getting a answer to your question is pretty slim. best to phone up plusnet to be honest.

Yes, I've sent them (the cc company) a secure message, asking if they know why.

It was definitely working fine at least as recently as yesterday afternoon, when I used it for a rail ticket, and no odd, out-of-character, or especially large purchases since then - in fact, no purchases at all.

Well, considering I do not have an income, the possibility of "not having enough money in the bank" one time is one reason to avoid DD (apart from never agreeing with them anyway).

I do have enough money overall, but it doesn't come into my current account each month by magic - I have to check how much is needed, and transfer it from elsewhere. That means that if I forgot or was late one time (not impossible, as I have a serious and unpredictable illness), DDs would start failing.

If payments go on the credit card, nothing will ever bounce because I was a bit poorly or disorganised one month. I also get loyalty points on the credit card (though they've recently become much less generous), so it's been my habit to put absolutely everything through it - even down to a single loaf of bread.

The only things I don't use cc for are things that still won't take it - like bus fares. In fact, I would say bus fares are my single biggest expenditure that's NOT met by credit card.

In reply to a post by TLM:

Apparently, I am not even allowed to browse the forums whilst there's any money owing, as I just keep being bounced back to the stupid "money owing" page.

I'm not sure why this is as I'm not even with Plusnet and I can use their forums fine.

Perhaps that is my mistake, and I should try when NOT logged in.

When I'm logged in, and try to visit the forums, I'm simply told there's money owing, and that to continue to enjoy unlimited browsing (by which I assume they mean including all areas of their website), I must pay it.

This is particularly barmy if the reason you want to visit the forum is about a problem with them collecting payment.

They've also interrupted my normal browsing (i.e. of everything) to force me to tick an acknowledgement box about the "overdue" payment - the one that isn't my fault in the first place!

They are seriously hacking me off today. Customer in good standing for literally years, ONE very small late payment - not yet 24 hours overdue - and they're already getting like this! I realise they have no way of knowing it's not my fault, and it's either their systems or Mastercard's systems, but it all seems a bit disproportionate.

Even the cc companies themselves don't get this heavy, this quickly, the same day a payment is missed. Admittedly, they will charge you for the privilege of being slow/forgetful, but if you've got a pretty unblemished record, they won't be hassling you about it three or four times on the day it happened!

I've now had two emails about it, one suspended browsing, and loss of access to the forums.

It does sound heavy handed, but I think you need to call them. This forum of course is not part of PN support and is a peer-to-peer discussion. Not actually sure why you raised the topic if you're upset about people debating the pros and cons of payment methods.