Billing Issues

I renewed my Plusnet broadband a few months back and managed to get a similar deal to what I had been paying. I was paying £27.50 while the new 18 month deal was for £28.50. Unfortunately I never got this in writing and when the contract was sent it was for £29.99. I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and let it go.
However, each month I am charged around £40 and have to contact them to get the "discount" applied. How long do I have to put up with this before I can cancel my contract with them, if such a thing is even possible?

Anybody else had these billing problems. Wish I'd stayed with Zen now. You get what you pay for..

In reply to a post by dercoss:

I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and let it go.

and

In reply to a post by dercoss:

You get what you pay for.

don't fit together well to my mind.

When yourenewed your contract you subsequently received an email setting out the agreed terms. If it were me I'd post on the Community Forum quoting from the email what was agreed and what has been debited. There's no need to argue when you have clear evidence to support what you are asking for.

I did get an email . It's pretty much gibberish...

"Unlimited fibre extra broadband service: £11.00 per month for 18 months then £20.99 per month
Line rental: £18.99 per month

Total £29.99 per month for 18 months on a new 18 month contract"

That's a direct copy and paste from the email...

It seems they are still charging me an extra £10 this month and will refund it next month, even though I haven't paid this month yet. That's just what happened last month. They call the refund a "gesture of goodwill" rather than apologizing for overcharging me again..

I'll have to try and get through on the phone. I prefer the chat option but they don't seem to be able to do much despite what they say at the time. The actual broadband service is really good and well worth £29.99 if they would only get the billing right..

#longedge has summed it up. The community forum has its own thread on billing issues, take your pick at
https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing and join the many who struggle with PN's billing disaster.

When other utilities such as gas, electricity, even BT manage to bill efficiently why on earth has PN been struggling this past two or three years? They will sort your a/c eventually but why must PN customers put up with this?

Agreed the service is excellent apart from the billing which is a total shambles. The forum carries a link to the Daily Mail reporting on how PN screws up the billing of its customer John Lewis as well ...

Corrected link: https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing/bd-...

FWIW I have had no problems at all with Plusnet's billing system.

In reply to a post by kasg:

FWIW I have had no problems at all with Plusnet's billing system.

I have but they were sorted out 8^)

I have now been overcharged for 3 months on my contract and have lost all confidence in Plusnet. Instead of a bill of £29.99 I am charge around £40.00 and can't seem to get it put right. If I don't pay it they restrict the service in a couple of days despite their website claiming they will only do this after 14 days.

I know I agreed to an 18 month contract but after 3 months of complete incompentency on the billing side surely I should be able to cancel the contract with a months notice. Does anybody here have any suggestions or experience in this area as I assume Plusnet will just refer to their t&c's if I ask to cancel?

I'm an idiot, I should have stayed with Zen.....

You previously said, "The actual broadband service is really good". Are you in danger of throwing the baby out with the dirty water? Have you posted in the Plusnet Community Forum yet?

It's the billing that is causing the problem. They just continue to overcharge despite promises to put things right. The poor sods in the chat feature do their best but nothing happens..

As I said, I was looking to save a few bob so left Zen. Now I seem to be paying a similar amount to Plusnet. Anyway, I doubt I'll ever get out of my contract. Seems like the odds are stacked in the ISP's favour.

Why so defeatist? Have you posted in the Plusnet Community Forum yet?

The other way would be to raise a complaint via https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=wizard&page=22909&wiz...

That would be dealt with by a higher level team.

Agreed, what's certain is that nobody here is going to resolve the issue.

"Have you posted in the Plusnet Community Forum yet?"

Why should they have to do this. After 3 months of errors someone at PN should have sorted it out.

The best companies are those that sort issues out quickly.

He shouldn�t have to. But as nothing he has tried seems to have worked, what do you suggest? Other than what has been repeatedly recommended in this thread, but apparently ignored?

Or were you just having a rant that doesn�t help the OP at all?

In reply to a post by broadband66:

Why should they have to do this.

There's no "have to" about it. Based on my own experience, a firm and polite, well reasoned and documented post there works whereas posting here is unlikely to. If that is, the object is to get a resolution.

Edited by longedge (Mon 15-Apr-19 11:45:56)

Can anyone remember when we last had input from an Plusnet ISP rep. on here? The only one I could find was about a year ago.

I don't think the PN staff have any time to post outside the PN community forum, they're all too busy dealing with billing queries. When I sympathised with one he told me that he would far rather be helping people with tech queries but it was a case of all hands to the pumps. I would agree that the best way to deal with billing is to post on the PN forum, the staff will deal with it but it takes a while.

I cannot understand why PN's new or renewing customers should encounter such problems, as I myself have done with every change, while my billing and viewing thereof has been faultless during each contract period. As I have said before other utilities seldom have such problems, and it's a great pity as otherwise I consider PN service is excellent.

I have every sympathy with the OP. PN have made a massive amount of billing hassle for themselves.

I've got the opposite problem. PN are applying far too much discount to my bills! I have no ultimate objection but it's bound to cause trouble one day. I have an open ticket for billing problems (they were previously overcharging and generally fouling up) but they don't seem to be able to give a coherent explanaiton of what's happening.

As for electricity and gas, I've been having a dispute with Tonik over incorrect billing. And they are meant to be one of the better energy companies. That one is close to going to the energy ombudsman though I think they have seen sense and will settle on something reasonable. I await their promised repayment.

Edited by ppppenguin99 (Mon 15-Apr-19 19:44:54)

In reply to a post by jelv:

Can anyone remember when we last had input from an Plusnet ISP rep. on here? The only one I could find was about a year ago.

There have been postings much more recently than that, but probably not for a couple of months.

I didn't have a rant at all, just making a point.

The OP has already contacted PN so it should have been sorted after the first or second month at the most.

Customer satisfaction is usually based on no issues or issues that are sorted quickly.

Too many people seem to rate suppliers on whether they have had problems and give them a full rating if they have had none.

I take that view that at some stage, something WILL go wrong. It's how suppliers react and deal with issues that really matters.

I had my own opinion of Plusnet in that regard and voted with my feet.

As did I . (As you know, but background info for others). I went to Pulse8broadband for my line, previously BT Retail, and AAISP for broadband.

I think that�s the definition of a rant, seeing as I previously commented you didn�t make any useful suggestion . You simply rubbished the one that has been made.

Which ISP are you with, by the way?

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 17-Apr-19 09:52:22)

In reply to a post by broadband66:

The OP has already contacted PN so it should have been sorted after the first or second month at the most.

Nobody could take issue with that statement. Having had some billing problems myself in the past, it seemed worthwhile to say what had worked for me.

What remains unclear is what the required outcome is, either to get the account billing sorted out or to return to ZEN. Neither of those objectives will be resolved here.

If the OP really has given up trying, as he stated, "I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore and let it go." and he just wants to have a moan and leave it at that then this is as good a place as any to do it.

Edited by longedge (Wed 17-Apr-19 13:15:48)

I finally got my recent bill sorted out even though they insist on calling it a "gesture of goodwill". They also gave me 2 months free service. However, what are the chances they'll overcharge me again next month??

I'll let you know how it goes.

In reply to a post by dercoss:

However, what are the chances they'll overcharge me again next month??

Not many of us are able to predict what is going to happen in the future unlike the seer in this thread 8^).

I feel that the fact that PN have been overcharging me since last October gives me a decent insight into the future.

I'd say the likelihood of it continuing for you (and me) is quite high.

I seem to be a victim of incorrect billing this month albeit not the fault of PlusNet.

I've got 5 calls to 123 charged at 50pence per call showing. You'd think that this idiotic behaviour by engineers could have been sorted out after going on for so many years. I wonder why they don't disable 123, could it be that it's a nice little money spinner because lots of people don't spot it.

I wonder if they have ever considered just charging their customers the same amount for the same thing?

Maybe part of the reason they same to be incapable of fixing their billing issues the complexity of charging long-term customers so much more than the new ones? And then recompensing people for the overcharging them, and tying up staff to patronise their customers on the service line?

Just a thought. Trying to be too clever can be pretty expensive, not least in goodwill.

In reply to the poster who questioned whether we can predict the future - well I'm off to buy a lottery ticket as just as I expected Plusnet tried to charge me again this month despite already being given 2 months credit by the complaints team.
As per usual they turned my internet off (restricted it as they put it) before they even alerted me they planned to do it.
The result is that the complaints team have offered me another free month (that's 3 now) and will personally monitor that the credit is applied next month. However, I think they know just how awful their billing systems are because they also told me that if it happens again I am free to leave Plusnet. I'm having my 3 months free first though..

Absolutely useless. What is the use of the regulatory body if they do nothing in the face of so many examples of this failed billing procedure? "Oh, it's owned by BT, so what can we do?"

I was right. They are still getting it wrong.

Hopeless.

3 days until my next bill. Will Plusnet get it right for once or will it be another overcharge and restrictions on the service? I know where my money would go if I were a betting man... I'm currently £60 in credit so there shouldn't even be a charge this month...

Another month. Another incorrect bill. Another phone call.

My billing still ongoing issues with no fix yet since October 2018. No bills yet since October 2018. Have to say this is the worst I ever been with PN. How on earth they went 9 months with no fix yet?

At least Plusnet will only collect up to 90 days of back-payment on affected accounts.

Did plusnet metion this?

Yes, it's been stated several times in their community forum.

I have not had a bill since December 2018 , Plusnet still insist its only a small number of customers ? but everyday some posts on Forum and all they get is the generic SORRY i am surprised Ofcom has not fined them again

An interesting thought . Fine an ISP for providing free broadband and perhaps phone service too.

Some people are being overcharged every month (discounts not applied correctly etc). That would seem to be the more serious issue of the two.

Yes, I'd forgotten that. Unforgiveable for that to go on for months.

in 2017 Plusnet was fined £880,000 by Ofcom for Billing Failures , they said " Plusnet has also made clear to Ofcom the steps it has taken to prevent any future billing errors of this kind."...
well the steps it took have made the billing worse , for nearly a year now this present debacle has been going on with No end in sight .
How can any ISP allow customers free internet and phone for this long ? and how come they are unable to fix the problem ?

Being overcharged because discounts not applied. that is my problem with them, ongoing since October 2018.

A couple of phone calls ago they said they were going to carry on charging me the, almost double, incorrect price until their system was fixed, whereupon they would refund me the overpayment. I declined their offer for me to lend them money for an indefinite period and they said they would charge me nothing until it was fixed, then I would pay the arrears. I agreed to this, but they just carried on charging me wrongly as before.

The internet service has been fine, but the billing department is utterly hopeless.

There's no accounting for it.

There can be no excuses for continuous overcharging. If Plusnet's billing mistakes put them at a financial disadvantages then fine, but putting the customer at a financial disadvantage is completely unacceptable.

If it were me I would be raising it with the CEO Office and requesting penalty-free migration, via the Ombudsman if necessary.

Ho Ho

Another month of being overcharged. Another phone call to Plusnet.

I was overcharged when my negotiated discount was inexplicitly removed. One phone call was all it took to have the excess refunded to my bank within 4 working days.

Post back in 4 days ,, lets see if it actually appears . i cannot believe that this has been going on for a Year , and they are no nearer to a fix

Just seen this post ,,https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing/Seems-Plusnet-don-t-do-refunds/m-p/1660205/highlight/true#M42884

In reply to a post by sneekyhen:

Just seen this post ,,https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing/Seems-Plusnet-don-t-do-refunds/m-p/1660205/highlight/true#M42884

Nice touch sending the bar of chocolate.

In reply to a post by sneekyhen:

Post back in 4 days ,, lets see if it actually appears . i cannot believe that this has been going on for a Year , and they are no nearer to a fix

The refund was in my bank a/c before I posted ..

In summary, they sent an email to notify me of impending d/d transaction. The amount was more than I expected, so I phoned to query the reason. By end of phone call they agreed to refund the overcharge within 5 working days. 4 days later, the overcharge amount was credited to my account.

But -- it seems the problems persist. The d/d has been triggered - for the discounted amount! I wonder if they will claw back the refund.

When I worked for a mobile phone company they would send some high end posh chocolate to customers after a complaint was closed down. They stopped doing this after a dog decided the post looked exciting and decided to wolf down the full bar. This caused severe problems to the dog and cost an arm and a leg in vets bills.

Sometimes even innocent and nice gestures end up biting you in the backside .

Edited by gary333 (Fri 16-Aug-19 15:39:34)

Logged into my account yesterday where my bill for this month was for about 10 quid.. It should have been £29.99 but I thought I'd try and pay it and stop them from restricting my service the next day when payment was due. No such luck. There was no way to pay online. Today, I went to pay and the correct amount was shown. However, when I went to pay it a shortwhile later my account had already been restricted. Finally managed to get through to somebody on the phone and pay it. What the hell is going on with Plus Net? Have they got 1 bloke and a spreadsheet to work the billing out?

I was asked if I wanted to setup a DD but having done so in the past I was overcharged every month until I cancelled it.. I've even had 3 months free as a gesture of goodwill which was fine but I just want pain free broadband..

I really want to get out of this contract without penalties and go back to Zen. I was a fool to leave in the first place to save a few quid.

Would you believe it. PlusNet have agreed to let me end my contract 9 months early with no penalty as they have been unable to sort out my billing issues.. I didn't think anybody ever managed to escape these one sided contracts.

Looking at going back to Zen..

Glad you have escaped Plusnet, or rather its accounts non-system. I really can't understand why PN has these endless billing problems because otherwise my service (and those of my friends) has been excellent.

In reply to a post by dercoss:

Would you believe it. PlusNet have agreed to let me end my contract 9 months early with no penalty as they have been unable to sort out my billing issues.. I didn't think anybody ever managed to escape these one sided contracts.

Looking at going back to Zen..

I don't understand why peoples want to leave PN to join other ISP who will billing you but PN are remain free until they fixed the billing issues (I doubt they ever will fix it) and PN will let peoples cancelled their contract for no penalty charge because it a win win for PN as they know u will lose these free broadband and line rental (once the bill has resolved it only go back to the last 90 days)

I staying with PN and carry on with free broadband because it their own fault and I will NOT move to other ISP who will want the money! And if peoples want to leave PN (They will still billed u final invoice bill of 90 days) but u lose all these free broadband line rental while the billing isn't fixed yet)

Edited by adslmax (Wed 09-Oct-19 11:31:53)

Of course we don't know how many PN customers in total this affects. There are quite a few of us without any problem with billing at all. Myself and 3 of my friends are with PN.

I don't doubt it but it seems an awful lot of customers do have a problem, me being one of them. And I'm not talking about one simple billing mistake, any company can mess up. It's that Plusnet seem incapable of putting things right when they go wrong.

As I've said before, the actual broadband has been good, it's just he payment that has soured things for me.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

Glad you have escaped Plusnet, or rather its accounts non-system. I really can't understand why PN has these endless billing problems because otherwise my service (and those of my friends) has been excellent.

They are 1 of the few providers who allow customers to stay on legacy products when they close.
Most throw customers on to whatever alternative is available.

With so many legacy products, billing promotions, referral discounts, the new billing system didn't go as planned obviously.

Personally I've never had a single billing issue with Plusnet, but I'm a more recent customer with a fairly standard bill.

In reply to a post by dercoss:

I don't doubt it but it seems an awful lot of customers do have a problem, me being one of them. And I'm not talking about one simple billing mistake, any company can mess up. It's that Plusnet seem incapable of putting things right when they go wrong.

Its the downside of internet forums, most people only post when they have a problem. It is impossible to tell if this is 0.01% of the customers, or 80% of the customers. Only Plusnet will know.

Point taken, but the PN forum has been full of complaints for a long time now. My monthly billing runs fine but every transaction with PN -- initial transfer from BT and every subsequent contract renewal -- has been screwed up somehow. The service is excellent and great value and the PN reps have been apologetic and helpful, such a pity the accounts system causes them extra work, not to mention hassle for the customers.

It's got to be a lot of customers, certainly more than the lower figure. It only seems to happen when something changes with your contract that the billing problems seem to arise and then can't be put right.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

Point taken, but the PN forum has been full of complaints for a long time now. My monthly billing runs fine but every transaction with PN -- initial transfer from BT and every subsequent contract renewal -- has been screwed up somehow. The service is excellent and great value and the PN reps have been apologetic and helpful, such a pity the accounts system causes them extra work, not to mention hassle for the customers.

I take your point, I've been with PN since 2014, and do read the tbb forum. But it is very hard to tell on internet forums.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I don't understand why peoples want to leave PN to join other ISP who will billing you but PN are remain free until they fixed the billing issues (I doubt they ever will fix it) and PN will let peoples cancelled their contract for no penalty charge because it a win win for PN as they know u will lose these free broadband and line rental (once the bill has resolved it only go back to the last 90 days)

It's taken me a year to get PN to stop incorrectly charging me, by not charging me at all*. I have no intention of leaving at the moment.

*apparently I will still have to pay the first 3 months at some point, but nothing thereafter. I am fully expecting them to stuff this deal up somehow as well though.