Hi ppppenguin99,

Apologies that your aunt is unhappy with the service received and for the wait times. If you can send a message to me with the username I'll happily take a look at that to what could have been done better and see what I can do to rectify the situation.

Kind Regards,

I would have thought the best course of action was given in the first reply.

I doubt if reps are authorised just to override the clearly stated prices on request in a third-party or even in-house forum That is what retentions are able to do, in fact what they are for, if they consider it appropriate. The reps exist to sort out misapplication of the system, failures of it, and cockups.

I can understand reps wishing to be seen to do the latter, and also understand not wanting to put their name, however politely, to a "Sorry can't help". I expect they can't even suggest you ask retentions.

Though I have not said so here, as soon as I made my original post I emailed my aunt saying:

a: That I had made the post, not that she's likely to see it
b: Suggested that she phone retentiions
c:Reminded her that if she wishes to switch to another ISP she will need to phone retentions anyway and that they might be very hepful
d:Reminded her that contacting BT support might be rather less than pleasant unless you like talking to support staff in India

At least I don't think she will go to Sky or TalkTalk.

You should be glad you didn't succeed in joining Plusnet, the way they behave when you try to leave is even worse. After what seemed like a straightforward move to Talktalk after my Plusnet contract expired, I found I was still getting Plusnet bills, for broadband but not for phone services. I then spent well over an hour on the phone talking to two of the most arrogant patronising people I have ever encountered.

First they tried to insist that they were still supplying my broadband services, and I would be surprised how many people choose to get phone from one company and broadband from another. Even if this is true, which it isn't, Plusnet's broadband at the time was over £15 a month more than Talktalk's, so it would have been an idiotic choice. When I pointed out that the Talktalk router had begun working on the day of the transfer and the Plusnet one had stopped, they claimed the Plusnet router must have suddenly developed a hardware problem. Then presumably realising how ridiculous this was, they admitted Talktalk was supplying both my phone and broadband, but said the transfer hadn't been properly processed and I was therefore liable for a £30 cessation charge. They were prepared to refund what I'd paid for unused services, but this would not be actioned unless I paid the £30 there and then by debit card, and if I refused to pay it the matter would be referred to a debt collection agency. My refund would be for £18.38 for one billing period and £16.99 for a second, which totalled £25.37 meaning I owed them a further £4.63. When I pointed out the arithmetical mistake they agreed that the total was in fact £35.37, but simply would not accept that even if I paid the £30 this would mean they owed me money, and not the other way round.

Eventually I terminated the conversation with the second of the people I spoke to after asking whether he thought I was now likely to recommend Plusnet to people I knew. He said it didn't matter to him at all because he was in Customer Services, not Sales.

I then filed an online complaint and encountered a similar obstructive and delaying attitude. Eventually, without notifying me, Plusnet officially cancelled my services and refunded £5.37 into my bank account, thereby ignoring the fact that I had challenged the £30 cease charge. They said I could submit any further queries via their online ticketing system, which was untrue because they had closed my account and my sign-in details no longer worked. I couldn't reply to any emails they sent because they all came from an unmonitored email address.

I decided to cut my losses and cancelled my direct debit to make sure they didn't take any more of my money. I then got another email from an unmonitored address saying my direct debit had been cancelled, and telling me how to set up a new one.

I intend to send a written complaint about this sorry story, but am not holding my breath that this will fare any better. Either Plusnet's employees are receiving poor PR training, or none, or they are actively being schooled to behave like this from further up. Friendly broadband from Yorkshire? Aye right.

My aunt has moved to another ISP.

PN's Chris Purvey has been in touch me privately.

I think we can say this thread has reached its natural conclusion.