MSE News: Plusnet to increase line rental and call charges

Former_MSE_Steve_1

Plusnet has become the latest home phone and broadband supplier to push up its prices for line rental, with customers facing a £1/month rise next month. ...

Read the full story:
'Plusnet to increase line rental and call charges - how to beat the hikes'

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Ian011

The price rise for the connection fee and for the per-minute rates for calling landline numbers, 03 numbers and mobile numbers should be irrelevant for most callers. With an anytime inclusive allowance callers should never reach the stage where they pay these rates.

One clarification may be in order regarding the call limit. Does it apply to all calls made within a plan that happens to have inclusive calls to 0845 or 0870 numbers or does the limit apply only to the calls that are made to 0845 and 0870 numbers?

The article didn't mention the Access Charge for calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers. Any change?

robin58

Thanks Ofcom.

Knew this was going to happen when they forced all the isp to show all in prices. Used to get a two part deal of cheaper landline and a cheap deal on the broadband.

Now I just work on the theory that all the providers charge £19 for the landline even though thier wholesale cost for a standard line is £7.50.

I would like to know what the providers spend the £11.50 difference per month on. Can't be the line as any problems with it are covered by Openreach.

Thanks to Ofcom the days of cheap deals are over. Good move on competition that....not!

teddysmum

MSE agents are rather slow, as their threads always seem to start a couple of days after the rest of us have discussed the topic.

phillw

Does the line rental increase affect those who paid upfront?

If they aren't allowing you to get a refund of the line rental, then it would seem a little unfair to increase it.

Ypaymore

Ofcom have confirmed that If you leave a phone company mid-contract due to a significant price rise within 30 days, you should not incur penalty charges – including pre-bought line rental."

See this article here where theguardian took the matter up with Ofcom and BT agreed to refund pre-bought line rental. So that applies to any pre-bought line rental and Plusnet are a BT Company.


https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/22/bt-refuses-refund-prepaid-line-rental-cancel-service

[Deleted User]

All the changes are listed here https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/2017-pricing-changes-new
But I'll show it here too

Plusnet Price and Product Change FAQ - New Customers

On 29th June 2017 we'll be making a few changes to our pricing, products and terms and conditions - here's a handy FAQ that covers everything you need to know.

Why are you making changes?

We're always reluctant to increase prices, but even we have to sometimes.

This allows us to continue providing brilliant service (we won 21 awards in the past year!) at great value and introduce benefits such as Plusnet Call Protect - the free service which helps stamp out nuisance calls.

Take a look at all the awards we've won over the past year here.

Which services are affected?

Pricing changes apply to Plusnet line rental, Line Rental Saver, home phone packages, early termination charges, call charges and call set up fees. They will come into effect from 29th June 2017 and you'll see the new pricing appear on your next bill from that date.

For those who opt for Line Rental Saver you will be charged the new rate at the point of renewal, or at the point of signup if you take Line Rental Saver from the 29th June onwards.*

What changes are you making to line rental?

The cost of our line rental will increase by £1 from £17.99 to £18.99 per month.

We are also increasing the cost of Line Rental Saver. This will increase by £12 from £185.88 (£15.49 a month) to £197.88 (£16.49 a month). This will be applied at the point of sign-up or renewal from 29th June.

What changes are you making to call plans?

From 29th June 2017, we will be introducing a fair usage limit on 0845 and 0870 calls of 150 calls or 1000 minutes a month (whichever is reached first) for all call plans which include calls to these numbers.

These are the changes we're making to our call plans available to new Plusnet customers from 29th June:-

Current charge (per month) Charge (per month) from 29thJune 2017
Anytime International 300 £7.50 £8.00
Anytime International 300 - new price £8.00 per month with increased call cap for international calls

Includes:

Anytime calls: Calls of up to an hour to UK landlines beginning with 01, 02, 03, 0845 and 0870 at any time (except calls to indirect access numbers (which include calling cards) and dial-up Internet access).

Anytime: 25% discount to top 35 international destinations: (Anytime international 300). Get a 25% discount on chargeable calls to all countries listed in our top 35 international destination for more information see our tariffs guide.

300 Anytime minutes: (Anytime international 300). Means 300 inclusive minutes to USA mobiles, Canada mobiles and all landlines listed in our top 35 international destinations. The call cap has now increased from 30 minutes for international calls to 60 minutes. If you hang up and re-dial before 60 minutes (local and international) you won't be charged.

Our fair usage policy applies to the Anytime International call plan.

This new price will be visible on your first bill from 29th June 2017. The fair usage policy applies to this call plan.

What changes are you making to individual call charges?

Charges have also increased to our call set-up fees (where applicable) and calls to mobiles.

Current charge Charge from 29th June 2017
Call Set-up Fee(if not included in your call plan) 19p per call 21p per call
Mobile 12.54p per minute 14.65p per minute
What other changes are you making?

Our early termination charges for line rental are increasing from £7.81 to £8.54 a month from the 29th June 2017. However these charges are reducing, or staying the same, across our broadband products, as set out in the table below.

These charges are applied if you terminate your contract within the minimum term, and are calculated based on which service you have and how many months you have remaining on your contract.

Current monthly charge Monthly charge from 29th June 2017
Plusnet Essentials (Contracted without Phone) £6.36 £6.34
Plusnet Unlimited (Contracted without Phone) £10.94 £10.86
Plusnet Essentials Fibre (Without Phone) £9.23 £9.15
Plusnet Unlimited Fibre (Without Phone) £10.24 £10.14
Plusnet Essentials (Contracted) £5.52 £5.52
Plusnet Unlimited (Contracted) £2.06 £2.41
Plusnet Essentials Fibre £7.15 £7.10
Plusnet Unlimited Fibre £8.16 £5.58
Unlimited (Contracted without Phone) £10.94 £10.86
Unlimited Fibre Extra (Without Phone) £10.24 £10.14
Unlimited Fibre (Without Phone) £8.58 £8.51
Unlimited (Contracted) £2.06 £2.41
Unlimited Fibre Extra £8.16 £5.58
Unlimited Fibre £6.49 £3.62
Privacy policy changes:-

We want to make sure that the updates you receive from us around promotions and offers are relevant to you. To help us do this we may use information about how you've used our services, see our privacy policy for more information. You can choose to opt out of this by going to Account Details in Member Centre, and changing your preferences.

What awards have you won?

Over the past year we've won over 20 awards from some of the most well-known experts in the broadband and technology industry such as PC Pro, Broadband Genie and uSwitch.

Categories that we've been nominated, and scooped winning awards, for have included Best Customer Service, Best Value Provider and Most Trustworthy Provider.

TMT Technology Awards TMT Broadband Value Award 2016 - Northern England May 2016
TMT Technology Awards Best Triple Play Internet Service Provider - UK August 2016
Moneywise Home Finance Awards Best Broadband - Most Recommended October 2016
Moneywise Home Finance Awards Best Broadband - Best Value for Money October 2016
PC Pro Excellence award Recommended Award for Best Broadband October 2016
Cable - Broadband Service Quality Awards Best Broadband Provider November 2016
Cable - Broadband Service Quality Awards Best Customer Service November 2016
Cable - Broadband Service Quality Awards Best Reliability November 2016
Cable - Broadband Service Quality Awards Best Value November 2016
The IPA Effectiveness Awards Silver for our 'Pride of Yorkshire' campaign w/ Maxus and Karma November 2016
uSwitch broadband awards Broadband Provider of the Year February 2017
uSwitch broadband awards Best Provider Customer Service February 2017
uSwitch broadband awards Best Value Broadband Provider February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Best Broadband Provider February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Best Customer Care February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Best Technical Support February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Best Value Provider February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Most Recommended Provider February 2017
Broadband Genie home broadband Most Trustworthy Provider February 2017
MoneySuperMarket broadband supers awards Best Value Broadband March 2017
MoneySuperMarket broadband supers awards Best Customer Service March 2017
* Line Rental Saver is payable in full, in advance and provides 12 months standard phone line rental. After this, you can renew for another 12 months; otherwise you'll be charged at the standard monthly line rental rate. Line Rental Saver does not provide inclusive calls as standard. Any additional call plans, call features or call charges will be billed each month. In the event of a house move, Line Rental Saver can be transferred to the new phone line without penalty. If you cancel Line Rental Saver within 14 days of your order you will get a full refund of your advance payment. If you cancel after this time, Line Rental Saver is non-refundable.

Mister_G

Ypaymore wrote: »

Ofcom have confirmed that If you leave a phone company mid-contract due to a significant price rise within 30 days, you should not incur penalty charges – including pre-bought line rental."

See this article here where theguardian took the matter up with Ofcom and BT agreed to refund pre-bought line rental. So that applies to any pre-bought line rental and Plusnet are a BT Company.


https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/22/bt-refuses-refund-prepaid-line-rental-cancel-service

So how come the MSE article says

It's worth noting if you paid for annual line rental upfront you WON'T be able to get a partial refund for the rest of the year if you decide to leave.

Come on MSE, get it right!

Ypaymore

Obviously not up to scratch on Line Rental Saver being refundable now. In another thread in the broadband section Plusnet themselves told the poster he was entitled to a refund of it.;)

Caddyman

Well my own Plusnet 18 month contract expires in 16 days time, so on Monday I'll be giving Plusnet 14 days notice and going straight online to switch to BT. There's no point in even bothering haggling with Plusnet. I want a brand new router, I want the £200 money card you get with BT and I don't want my internet speed slowed down anymore. I also only want a 12 month contract. I just cannot be bothered with 18 month contracts any longer.

Couldn't have come at a better time!

imho

Caddyman wrote: »

Well my own Plusnet 18 month contract expires in 16 days time, so on Monday I'll be giving Plusnet 14 days notice and going straight online to switch to BT. There's no point in even bothering haggling with Plusnet. I want a brand new router, I want the £200 money card you get with BT and I don't want my internet speed slowed down anymore. I also only want a 12 month contract. I just cannot be bothered with 18 month contracts any longer.

Couldn't have come at a better time!

Don't forget to go on a cashback website as I think you can £80/100 back from them as well.