Gaining provider led process - who's right to charge for the switch date?

Jabba_flabba

I switched from Plusnet to PO Broadband at the beginning of August, using the gaining provider led process, and noticed that both providers applied service charges for the date of the switch. I have been switching every year for the past five years and never noticed this happen before (though it could well of been that I just didn't notice!).

The charges applied by both providers were for a full day's service, i.e. they weren't pro-rata'd or anything like that. As it's just one day the charges amounted to very little, but it got me thinking; if this is happening all the time, across the board, that's plenty of money that consumers ought not to be paying.

Does anyone know if the gaining provider led process has any guidance around this? My assumption would be that the gaining provider is entitled to charge for the switch day, not the losing provider, even though both providers will likely have provided service for part of the switch day.

I queried this with both providers and got garbage responses from both; with the switch day charges still standing for both providers.

Speedbird676

I don't know what the rules are, but to me it makes sense that both providers charge for the day of the switch since they both will have provided some service for part of that day.

Even on the most expensive packages this is only likely to be a couple of quid.

iniltous

You shouldn’t be charged for the day of changeover by both the old and new provider , on the day of the changeover Openreach move you in the exchange, in effect from the old providers kit to the new providers kit , and book the job off, the wholesale system that all providers use, effectively tells the old provider the last day of service ( so your old provider bills you for this date ) and the new provider although providing service for part of this day, conventionally bills you from midnight , so if the changeover is on the 24th, that date is on the old provider bill , and the 25th is the first day of the new provider.
As the date given by the new provider when you ‘sign up’ is only a target , it’s possible that OR could resource the job ‘late’ ,so it’s the date they actually do the exchange work that dictates ( or should dictate ) the end of the old providers billing
Because of the dates your bill is produced, if the changeover date is also the billing date , it’s possible it may look like you pay twice, but you should get a pro rata refund for any day you paid for , after the changeover from your old provider.
It’s possible that if you have paid for the same day, one or both of the providers has made an error, but it doesn’t mean there is a systemic problem and every migration generates duplicate costs

Jabba_flabba

Thank you very much for your thorough reply, iniltous. It sounds like you're very familiar with the process. Do you work in the industry? Presumably the arrangements for billing that you describe, where the losing provider bills for the switchover date, is something that all ISPs should observe. Is this something that OFCOM require of ISPs, or is it the industry's standard practice? Just trying to understand who writes the rules on such matters.

I've checked my first PO Broadband bill again, and it's printed as follows:

Unlimited Broadband 02 Aug '19 - 01 Sep '19 £25

(2nd of August being the day on which I switched - there were no delays in changeover)

PO Broadband's reply was as follows:

As per to your query I have investigated into your account and can confirm the transfer of your services from your previous supplier, successfully took place on the 2nd August 2019. On this date your account with your supplier would have ceased, leading to you receiving a final bill for your service.

Unfortunely if you have been charged after the 2nd August 2019 with your previous supplier, when your service had ceased, this is something you would need to query and raise with them.

Your Post Office® Telecom services were charged from the 2nd August 2019, as this is the date your services were activated and were supplied to your property.

Anyway...thanks again for your very helpful reply