Plusnet - change in T&C after i've joined up!

Surfer

I joined Plusnet about 5 months ago on a monthly basis at £9.99 however if I have to pay a £20 fee to cease my broadband at the end of a 12 month period I would not be very happy. I will be ceasing my broadband as I am having my BT line disconnected and will be moving over to mobile broadband. As I am ceasing now due to the T & Cs changing can I assume that I am not liable for paying the £40 get out fee only the current cease fee.

Quentin

brodev wrote: »

Has Plusnet complained to OFCOM about this charge imposed by BT?

I know you didn't really expect an answer - but Plusnet won't dare complain about BT as they are wholly owned by them!

Which makes it all the stranger that bt don't yet charge their own customers this £20 (nor do madasafish). How is it plusnet need to profit out of the cease charge and the others seem able to absorb it?

Plusnet_company_representative

Hi Surfer,

The £40 activation charge would still be owed.

The main difference would be that if you had signed up on a 12 month contract, you wouldn't need to buy out the remainder of the 12 month contract.

judosteffer

Just ot this mail from Madasafish (with very poor grammar included) - they are now going to charge too!!!

Dear ****

This email is to let you know about a small change to the terms and conditions of your broadband service.

Our supplier, BT Wholesale, has introduced a cancellation charge which applies if you stop or ‘cease’ your broadband service. This may mean you’d get charged if you cancelled your broadband service with us. Examples of where the charge is payable can include moving house, or changing supplier. From the 29th October 2008, if you cancel your broadband service, a £20 fee may be payable.

Please note: this fee will NOT apply if you migrate to another provider using a MAC key - only if you decide to cease your service altogether.

= Where to find these changes =

The changes will be reflected in sections 10.6 and 10.7 of your terms and conditions for the Madasafish broadband service, found at:
http://www.madasafish.com/terms-and-conditions/broadband.shtml

The amendment will read as follows:
10.6 You may terminate this Agreement within the first 12 months after the Commencement Date if you agree to pay us all the costs that we have incurred in setting up your Broadband Service. This will include an installation fee of £40.96. You must also pay the cessation charge detailed in 10.7, and the full retail price for any free or subsidised hardware that you ordered from us.

10.7 If you terminate this Agreement at any time, and choose not to transfer your Broadband Service using a MAC code, you will be required to pay a cessation (cancellation) fee of £20.00 to remove the Broadband Service from your telephone line. This charge is applied to us by BT.

This change will not affect your service from Madasafish and you do not need to do anything, we just wanted to inform you of the changes that we have to make.
Kind regards,
Carol Axe
Customer Support Director, Madasafish

Surfer

James_PN wrote: »

Hi Surfer,

The £40 activation charge would still be owed.

The main difference would be that if you had signed up on a 12 month contract, you wouldn't need to buy out the remainder of the 12 month contract.

Yeah but if I terminate after the end of October Ii have to pay a £20 cease fee and this was not in the original T & Cs. I have no beef with Plusnet except this charge. This seems an unfair term. I am happy to pay half but not the full amount of £40!

macminiuser

this is my unimpressed face, Plusfish/Madasanet:



This is what I wrote to Madasafish:

With regards your recent e-mail entitled, "Update to your terms and conditions," sent today, Monday 29th September 2008 at 2:58PM.

My understanding from your communication is that should I ever decide to discontinue your broadband service at my property, either altogether or as a result of moving house (to a location perhaps served by an exchange not currently broadband-enabled for argument's sake, or abroad) from the 29th October onwards, you propose to charge £20 over and above the charges initially agreed when I entered into a contract with you in 2006. It is described in Clause 10.7 of your revised terms and conditions as follows:

"10.7 If you terminate this Agreement at any time, and choose not to transfer your Broadband Service using a MAC code, you will be required to pay a cessation (cancellation) fee of £20.00 to remove the Broadband Service from your telephone line. This charge is applied to us by BT."

However, I am delighted to see that Clause 10.8 goes on to say:

"10.8 If we have made a change which is to your material detriment, you will not have to pay the charges set out in paragraph 10.6 above if you decide to end your Agreement early. However, once we have told you about such a change, you must let us know that you want to end the Agreement within thirty days."

Clearly, you have made a change to the terms and conditions, which I'm sure you are aware is to my material detriment. If I were to continue subscribing to your service I would effectively be agreeing, albeit indirectly, to these new terms as per Clause 11.2:

"11.2 We may change the Terms and Conditions at any time by notice on the Website or email prior to the change becoming effective. You will be deemed to have accepted any such changes by your continued use of the Broadband Services. Changes to your material detriment, including changes to fees, are covered by paragraph 6.1 and 10.8."

Therefore, it is with regret that I must give you the requisite amount of notice to cancel our broadband agreement because I categorically do not accept or agree with the changes to our agreement and I am prepared simply to go without broadband on principle. I would not have subscribed to your service had this clause been in place at the "Commencement Date" of our agreement.

I note that you have already processed my Direct Debit Instruction for the sum of £XX.XX to be debited from my account on or after 1st October 2008 as payment in advance for the month of October 2008 - you may take this as full and final settlement of my account and cease providing your service at any point between now and the 29th October 2008 at your convenience, without expectation on my part for any period of unused service to be refunded. Consider it a tip for excellent service to date; the faster you resolve this issue, the more raw profit for you.

I have also noted the somewhat arbitrary Clause 10.1:

"10.1 If you wish to terminate this Agreement you must do so by telephone."

I am giving you formal notice in writing (which is my preferred mode of communication and that of the legal system). I would appreciate formal acceptance of my cancellation request in writing also. However you may call me on XXXXX XXXXXX at your convenience to discuss this matter further if you really do conduct your business via the medium of casual conversation, providing that English is your first language, you have the word "Manager" in your job title AND either a) any topics discussed during the conversation are confirmed in writing within 24 hours (e-mail is acceptable) or b) a copy of the call recording is provided in MP3, AAC or WAV format by e-mail within 24 hours.

Following a telephone conversation with a native-English-speaking Manager, I will take failure to provide either a) or b) as set out above, or failure to respond adequately or reasonably to this e-mail as your acceptance of my request and your irrevocable agreement to cancel our broadband agreement without any further liability on my part.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and swift cooperation with regards this matter.

I invite you to do the same. Not happy. :mad:

Plusnet_company_representative

I'm afraid that I don't have the word Manager in my job title, but I'll be happy to give you a call if you PM me your username.

AndysDad

macminiuser wrote: »

this is my unimpressed face, Plusfish/Madasanet:



This is what I wrote to Madasafish:

I invite you to do the same. Not happy. :mad:

That's a real angry looking dog you have there but he writes a very informative letter.Look after him.

brodev

It would appear that Plusnet (and others) are saying that if someone took out a contract with them less that 12 months ago then they,Plusnet, can change the T&Cs to virtually anything that they want and if the customer decides that they don't like the change then they will charge for setting up the account and charge for any equipment which they supplied FOC because the customer has chosen to terminate their contract early. Somehow I don't think that this would stand up in court.

Plusnet_company_representative

I'm actually pretty certain that it would.

Basically, we've given you a router free of charge and we've paid the activation cost (£40.96) on your behalf under an understanding that you stay with us for a year, otherwsie that amount becomes owable.

We're obliged legally to inform our customers of any detrimental changes to their terms and conditions and give them 30 days notice. Under the 30 days notice, they are able to leave without incurring any fixed term contract payments. Deferred charges are not included under that remit.