Please help, nearly in tears

Red_Elle

Hi everyone, I really hope that someone can help here.
In July 2006 I set up a broadband account with Plusnet at £29.99.
I have been paying that since then and not thought anything about it.
This week I had a look at their site to compare cost for business accounts asa am about to move into an office, and noticed that there isn't a £29.99 option. There are £9.99, £14.99 and £19.99.

I have just called to query why I am being charged so much. The guy said that looking at my usage it should be £14.99. My questions are why on earth haven't the told me or changed me to a more suitable option.

They said that I opted out of receiving sales emails. Surely that wouldn't be 'selling' to me though (to tell me that I am being overcharged). Surely it's just customer service to let me know if a more suitable product is available. By their own admission, the product that I am on no longer exists as an option, so how can they justify charging me it.

I know that some people will say I should have spotted it sooner, but I never look on their website and only noticed because I was looking at business options. Otherwise I would have carried on paying it.

If I order something from a shop and within a certain amount of time, that same product is reduced, am I not entitled to take it to the shop and ask for the difference? I seem to remember that you can do that, from something I read on here.

They have clearly mislead me and have been overcharging me for a product that they no longer have and are using me not wanting to be inundated with selling emails as an excuse.

The reason I am so upset though is the way that they dealt with it. The person I spoke to was reluctant to let me talk to a manager and I had to really insist. He called back, was rude, arrogant and basically said 'we're not giving you a refund' and said it was my fault. He was intentionally awkward when I asked for the name of the MD and just really appalling at customer service.

Not sure if I have a leg to stand on here, but surely a court would consider them to be misleading? It's around £400 extra that I have been charged for a service that I don't need and they've known about it. Someone please help. Thanks

Red_Elle

I really want to cancel Plusnet after this incident. From 29th I will be charged a £20 fee - they've just changed their terms (managed to email that to me).
So I want to do it before then, but can I change suppliers and get an almost uninterrupted service and can anyone recommend another supplier?

DatabaseError

you have been perfectly happy with plusnet for 2 years, why not just accept a lower tariff? broadband prices have fallen since '06, it really is up to the user to find the best deals, not the provider.
if you really do want to change, check the samknows site to see which LLU providers are available to you, and post back the results, with a brief description of your web usage

Red_Elle

Thanks, but the site appears to be down.
I hear what you're saying, but you're missing the point of why I posted.

AndysDad

I know it may sound abit harsh but not knowing what BB costs these days and not checking what they are taking out every month does seem a little naive.Anyway you probably won't make the same mistake again and 'no' you don't get a refund from a shop if the price goes down unless they have a 'Price Promise' guaranteeing this.Likewise if the price went 'up' would you offer them the differance a couple of weeks later!.:rolleyes:

duncansby

I think everyone has been a bit harsh on the OP, as the point was how rude they had been to them. I would also expect that if you are paying for something monthly , then if the price goes up or down then your monthly payment goes up or down.

I think if the OP was to cancel now the £20 would be waived if the t&cs have been changed within the last 30 days to the users detriment.

You could also try sending a PM to MattTaylor via the madasafish thread as I am sure he would be very helpful. (Plusnet and Madasafish i think are now owned by same company)

Red_Elle

AndysDad wrote: »

I know it may sound abit harsh but not knowing what BB costs these days and not checking what they are taking out every month does seem a little naive.Anyway you probably won't make the same mistake again and 'no' you don't get a refund from a shop if the price goes down unless they have a 'Price Promise' guaranteeing this.Likewise if the price went 'up' would you offer them the differance a couple of weeks later!.:rolleyes:

Yes, does sound a bit harsh. I've had a lot going on in the last few years: divorce, house sale falling through 3 times, bad accident, changing jobs, setting up in business. I guess that this wasn't top of the agenda and everyone doesn't know what BB costs these days - I didn't.

robnye

i had an IFA receiving commission on a mis sold endowment policy for years, he had even changed company - which is why my claim failed, and manged to transfer the policy commission over......

my point is, sometimes things appear to be done behind our backs, when in fact whoever they are , havent done anything illegal, just not notified you,

as mentioned, accept the lower rate, or even check out other prices, at the end of the day, companies dont like customers walking away..... certainly not in the current financial climate

MattTaylor_2

Hi Red_Elle,

If you PM me a username I'll be able to check on what options would work and even make the change for you - give me a shout and I'll see what we can do.

I'm concerned that the site was down - what time was this at and if you can remember, what was the website address that you went to? I'll need to raise a problem for our developers if there's any issues like that.

You should be able to see it at http://www.plus.net - please let me know if there's any problems, but like I say if you drop me a PM I can see what we can do about the account type change.

Hope that helps,

Matt

Red_Elle

Thanks Matt. They've changed it to the lower rate from now on, but thanks for the offer anyway. Nice to know all of the people at Plusnet aren't so unfriendly!
It was the samknows site that was recommended to me that was down, not Plusnet btw

MattTaylor_2

Very glad to hear it, on both counts - thanks for letting me know and also thank you for stopping with us

Cheers,

Matt