Supenet price increase

leon103

I have been with Supanet for a number of years and haven't really had much issues with them. A couple of billing problems which they sorted out. I am in a area that misses all the good deals and can only get a BT line which means I pay more.

In January 2013 I had a little moan about the cost and I was given a deal for £17.59 I got broadband with 20GB allowance, line rental and free calls all day everyday, on a 18 month contract. I was really happy. But I have just noticed that over the past two months this as gone upto £23.03. Still a good deal in my eyes but a massive increase of just over £5.

I had no confirmation that they would do this. I rang up and after 15 mins (free number) someone actually told me that my new bill was here to stay because they had put their prices up because BT were charging them more. They said it was in my contract that they could put prices anytime. I asked why wasn't I informed and they said they put something out on their website. I am not sure if anyone as viewed their website but it is !!!!!, just a load of adverts. Well I searched their site and google etc and found no news article. I made another call and got told I would be sent the link for the article and my terms and conditions.

Well the article was just a price tariff for calls and not what I wanted and the terms (below) make no mention of price increases.

I am just wondering if this is a breach of contract and what I can do about it.

Here are the terms I was just sent:

leon103

independent which gives us greater flexibility in how we operate and allows us to
pass on significant savings to our customers. We are able to react quickly to the needs of our customers and
deliver world class service at market leading prices.
Supanet has the same high quality infrastructure as BT, enabling us to deliver all of our internet and phone
services on the same network as BT, but without the overheads of a huge faceless corporation.
By choosing Supanet, you will enjoy the best value for money and service available in the UK. As a Supanet
customer, you deal directly with our UK based customer support teams, not off shore call centres.
Please retain this welcome pack as it contains important information regarding your account.
Nadeem Ali
A member of the Supanet Team
Managing Your Supanet Account
Your account can be viewed and managed online at any time using 'My Account' and 'Show My Bill'. Simply log
on through the Supanet portal at www.showmybill.com and access your account using your username and
password given below.
You are able to change any of your passwords through this portal. Please keep a note of your username and
password. You should not divulge your password to third parties. If you have reason to believe that your
password has been compromised you should contact us immediately. Forgotten usernames and / or passwords
can only be provided to the account holder.
** Please Note : Changing your broadband password will result in a loss of connection until your password is

updated on your router. Updating the router with the new password has to be done manually.

We advise you

do not change the broadband password unless someone from our technical team advises you to do so.
Page 1 of 7
Important Information Relating to your Supanet Account
What happens next?
Line Rental
We will shortly contact your current telephone service provider to transfer your line to Supanet. The transfer
should be completed within the next 10 business days. You are not required to take any action. When the line
transfer is complete we will advise you. You will no longer receive a telephone bill from your current provider. All
telephone line related charges will be listed in just on bill, together with call charges as per your chosen tariff.
You will receive a letter from BT shortly; This is standard practice and is for your information only. You will not
be required to take any action.
Broadband
Non-Fibre products do not require an engineer to enter your property.
If you have ordered a Fibre product, please follow these steps:
1. We will contact you shortly to arrange an installation appointment.
2. You will recieve a fibre ready router by recorded delivery. It will arrive before the installation date.
3. At this appointment a BT engineer will install a fibre broadband socket in your home and set up the
router.
Note:

Should you need to re-arrange the installation date, we require at least 2 workings days notice. Please

note that re-arranged appointments could be as long as 7 working days away as appointment slots do get
booked up days in advance.
Router Information
When you receive your router please follow the set up guide (leaflet) included with the router. If for any reason
you would like to use a third party router or need to reset the router please find your broadband username and
password below:
Broadband Username : Password :
Wireless Security Key : servicepoint
SSID : smartrouter
We would encourage you to change your wireless security key to something memorable. This can be done
through the 'Show My Bill' tool which is outlined on the bottom of page one of this order confirmation
Email Information
We have created an email address for you. Your email address and password are below :
Email : Password :
Products and Services
If you wish to discuss your order or any other Supanet products or services, please contact our dedicated
customer service agents on 0845 120 4473. This line is open from 9am - 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Page 2 of 7
We're Here To Help
Our UK based support team are here to help. Full contact details for all departments, including sales, billing and
customer support, are available by visiting http://www.supanet.com/help/contact-us/.
Our details
Supanet is the trading name of Supatel Limited, a company incorporated and registered in Cyprus under
company number 267725. Our headquarters address is at Stadyl Building, Corner Theis, Dervis-florinis Street,
CY - 1065 Nicosia, Cyprus.
You can also write to us at:
Supanet Customer Care Centre
Time Technology Park
Blackburn Road
Burnley
Lancashire
BB12 7TW
All correspondence sent to this address will be handled by Total Care and Support Ltd, whose dedicated
customer service agents will be delighted to assist with any question or queries that you may have.
Cancellations
If you wish to cancel your Supanet services, please contact our Cancellations Team on 0800 915 8183. This line
is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm.
Page 3 of 7
The Direct Debit Mandate

Name(s) of account holder(s)
Bank / Building Soceity account number
Branch sort code
Name and full postal address of your Bank or
Building Soceity branch
To: The Manager
Bank / Building Soceity
Address
Postcode
Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen
and send to Intouch Investments Limited, Time
technology Park, Burnley. BB12 7NQ.
For office use only
Our ref.
Originators identification number

account number

Customer order number

Instructions of your Bank or Building Soceity
Please pay Intouch Investments Limited Direct Debits
from the account detailed in this instruction subject to
the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit
Guarantee.
I understand that this instruction may remain with
Intouch Investments Limited and if so, details will be
passed electronically to my Bank / Building Soceity.
Signature(s)
Date
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Direct Debit Guarantee
This Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme.
If the amount to be paid or the payment dates change, Supanet will notify you 10 working days in advance
of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request Supanet to collect a payment,
confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
If an error is made by Supanet, or your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate
refund from your branch of the amount paid.
If you receive a refund you are not entitle to, you must pay it back when Supanet asks you to.
Page 4 of 7
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing to your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a
copy of your letter to us.
Page 5 of 7
ORDER CONFIRMATION
Order Ref:
Customer Ref:
Order Date: 7th January 2013
Date of Order Confirmation: 7th January 2013
We are pleased to confirm that your order has been placed with Supanet. Please take a minute to read your
order confirmation as it contains important information regarding your purchase and use of the service(s)
ordered. Please check the listed details are correct. If you find any errors in this order confirmation, please let us
know as soon as possible by contacting us on 0845 120 4473.
Accompanying this order confirmation are Supanet's terms and conditions, which apply to the Service(s) you
have ordered. Our terms and conditions are also available at http://www.supanet.com/info.
Services Start Date
Line rental should be live within 10 working days upon receiving this order confirmation.
Broadband will then go live 5 days after your line rental is live.
Order Summary
Service Code Service Description Initial Price
Fixed Services
8003-030-50000 SUPANET TALK CPS & WLR SERVICES
Talk300-500036 £1.00 per month
8003-030-00027 Supanet Broadband Value S and Line Rental
WLR-LineRental-5100054 £13.80 per month
Broadband Antivirus £0.00 per month
Broadband 8Mb 20GB £2.79 per month
Usage Allowance: 20GB per month
Payment Terms
You are required to make an initial upfront payment of £0.00.
Initial Charge: £17.59
Monthly Charges: £17.59
Annual Charges: £0
Excess Charges:
If you exceed your usage allowance in any given billing month you will be charged £0.99 for every 1GB of data
downloaded in excess of your Usage Allowance. This excess will be rounded up to the nearest 1GB. Your
usage can be tracked in the "Show My Bill" tool.
Minimum Contract Period:

18 months

Upon the expiry of the Minimum Contract period you may terminate the contract by giving Supanet not less than
1 months prior notice. You also have the right to terminate the contract prior to the expiry of the Minimum
Contract Period. However, if you do so early termination charges may apply and you may also be required to
pay the Delayed Payment referred to above, if any.
Page 6 of 7
Method of Payment
Our collection agent, Intouch Investments Ltd, will collect all payments. Payment will be taken on or around the
1st of the month.
The reference for this collection is SU0000066385 and this should be quoted in case of queries. The Originator
Identification Number (OIN) being 694756.
Cancellation Periods
Your contract with Supanet has been concluded at a distance, which means the Consumer Protection (Distance
Selling) Regulations 2000 ("the Regulations") apply. You have the right to cancel your order for the Service(s)
and equipment at any time during the seven working day cancellation period by giving us notice in writing (see
below on how to give notice). The period begins the day after you receive this order confirmation. However, we
have agreed that Supanet can start providing the service before the usual cancellation period ends. The
Regulations provide that once we start performing the Service(s) your right of cancellation will be lost.
Returning Goods and Equipment if you cancel
You are required to return all equipment and goods supplied to you under the cancelled contract (including any
free goods or promotional items) at your cost. You are under a statutory duty to take reasonable care of the
goods and equipment and we would ask that when returning them you use the original packaging or, if not
available, packaging that offers equal protection from damage in transit. If you do not return the goods within a
reasonable time , or you fail to take reasonable care of them, you will have to pay the fee outlined below.
If we supply equipment to you (i.e. Router) and you cancel at any time a fee of £99 will be charged to your
account if you decide to keep the equipment (unless purchased initially by you). If you return this equipment at
any time a restocking fee of £29 will be applied to your account.

Page 7 of 7

mirimunchkin

Their T&Cs do give them the right to increase prices. I'm not a legal professional but I don't think that you have grounds to cancel for breach of contract.
I'm intrigued that you found a free-call phone number as the contact number they advertise is an 0845 and that charges at just over 3p per minute.
It's worth noting that their complaints go through Sales, not Customer, Support.
NOTE if they call you and offer any kind of upgrade/extention this constitutes the commencement of a new contract, although they probably won't mention this at the time.
Since trying to move to Plusnet in mid-July I've been told that I would have to pay a cancellation fee of £118 on the outstanding term of my current contract so if you try leaving them you'll probably be told the same.
Since then I negotiated a new deal with them of £17.49 per month. They emailed a new contract the following day for £17.59 a month and then invoiced for £17.69 at the end of the month. They also took another 15p on a separate DD the same day. So at least I've got grounds fro breach of contract.
Phoning them achieves nothing as you'll be given flannel and they'll charge you for the call.
Google "supanet" and you'll find their "How to complain" pdf. Might be worth a try, but don't hold your breathe.
Commiserations.

shazbots

hi i had the same thing happen..i got a phone call in oct 2012 and was persuaded to change to a lower priced deal..they then took two months money off me in november ( £60+) for advanced paymet of line rental....then paid £24 approx till june when they hiked up the price to £30 a month..this was queried and i was told it was because BT line rental had increased. the operator told me to write a letter of complaint to supanet ( he even sent me a copy of my contract out so i could highlight and include in ) that was in june....still waiting for a reply. it may take a while i guess.........

mattyprice4004

If it was in June, the letter will have been lost or mis-filed. I'd send it again.

macman

leon103 wrote: »

I have been with Supanet for a number of years and haven't really had much issues with them. A couple of billing problems which they sorted out. I am in a area that misses all the good deals and can only get a BT line which means I pay more.

In January 2013 I had a little moan about the cost and I was given a deal for £17.59 I got broadband with 20GB allowance, line rental and free calls all day everyday, on a 18 month contract. I was really happy. But I have just noticed that over the past two months this as gone upto £23.03. Still a good deal in my eyes but a massive increase of just over £5.

I had no confirmation that they would do this. I rang up and after 15 mins (free number) someone actually told me that my new bill was here to stay because they had put their prices up because BT were charging them more. They said it was in my contract that they could put prices anytime. I asked why wasn't I informed and they said they put something out on their website. I am not sure if anyone as viewed their website but it is !!!!!, just a load of adverts. Well I searched their site and google etc and found no news article. I made another call and got told I would be sent the link for the article and my terms and conditions.

Well the article was just a price tariff for calls and not what I wanted and the terms (below) make no mention of price increases.

I am just wondering if this is a breach of contract and what I can do about it.

Here are the terms I was just sent:

No. Your contract, like almost all telcoms contracts, mobile and landline, is not a fixed price contract. They can increase the price any time they like, by as much as they like. Equally, if this detrimental to you, you can give notice now and leave without paying an ETC, even you are still in minimum term.