Plusnet Broadband + Line Rental

Ms_Chocaholic

Hi

I've just got off the phone to Plusnet and they've confused me even more than when I started.

In September 2020 I took out a 24 month contract for £20.99 for fibre extra, line rental and evening/weekend calls.  I took advantage of their line rental saver so paid the first year's line rental upfront which meant I was only paying £5.01 pcm.  When I came to renew the line rental saver they had stopped offering it so I started paying my line rental monthly.

By my calculations, if I was paying £20.99 for the whole package and just £5.01 for the broadband, then my line rental cost was £15.98 (£20.99 - £5.01).  However when they added line rental back on to my bill when the saver ended, they have added it on @ £19.99. When I rang to query this they said the increase was due to inflation increases and was correct.  That can't be correct, can it.

What stumped me was the first guy on the phone said the £20.99 was for broadband only and not the line rental so I was concerned that they had been undercharging me for nearly 2 years so I was quite relieved when they said it was correct but now thinking about it again, it can't be.

Thanks

Ms Choc

iniltous

It’s always problematic trying to split line rental and broadband components from a total bill , broadband has never been £5/month , basically ISP load the majority of the cost onto the line rental so the broadband appears cheaper than it really is , OR charge ISP’s around £7 for line rental , if PN  want to mark this up and say LR is £20 and LR and broadband is £25 that’s upto them , but you can see why someone may think BB on its own is £5.
A more reliable way to look at this is ( IMHO )
If your deal was 24 months at £20.99  that is £503.76 over 24 months
 , you presumably paid LR saver upfront £15.98 x12  is £191.76 ) plus 12 months of £5.01  , that’s £60.12 , so £191.76 plus £60.12  = £251.88 paid in first 12 months that leaves £251.88 to be paid for the second 12 months , now no LR saver but you are still committed to pay £251.88 over the next 12 months , that works out as £20.99 a month .
(£251.88+£251.88 = £503.76 )which is what you agreed to pay over £24 months, 

If you paid less than £191.76 upfront for the line rental saver for the first 12 months , that was the discount for paying some costs upfront , if you paid £191.76 then you are actually getting the same discount for the second year , even though they don’t require you to pay anything upfront, overall you will have paid £191.76 +£60.12 + 12x £20.99