Plusnet -worth a haggle

Resourcefull_renter

I have been with plusnet for 3+ years and have never paid more than 19.99 for line rental and broadband. Some months I have received FREE due to loss of service, bad connection and they have even paid for a signal booster. When I came out of contract with them I did find myself paying their roll on roll off fees but after a quick call managed to negotiate a fixed rate of 19.99 when I said I was going to switch to a social tariff. The tariff I looked at at the time was 17.99 but for the excellent customer service and credits and refunds I have received I was willing to pay £2 more. 
More recently (this month) they overcharged me and all I did was call them and they hastily added a credit bringing my bill back down to 19.99. 
I am out of contract next month amd intend to haggle with plusnet  again although will probably go for a social tariff (looking at vodafone) but am surprised that Plusnet are not featured on MSE as I have always managed to haggle successfully with  them.
As stated in haggling tips: be friendly, be honest (if you cant afford their contract then tell them) and always have another deal to quote and in my experience they will try amd match it.
Plusnet customers service in my experience is 10/10 and the service very rarely goes down. And if it does? Expect credits and months free! 

oldernonethewiser

I was with Plusnet for a couple of years.  After first year I was advised of price rise so phoned up and ended up paying £1 a month less than the deal I was on so very happy. No problems with their service.

Next year got the notification of a price increase and also an offer to stay at more or less the price I was paying.

Unfortunately life, and a death, got in the way of me clicking the offer before its expiry.  I got in touch to ask if I could still get the offer.  No. No alternative to the increase, I had missed the boat so would need to pay £20 a month more.

I left.

Farway

I was with Plusnet and found them fine, and had negotiated offers, but suddenly it was just No Deal, take it or leave it, and so I moved on

brewerdave

Got a reasonable renewal deal from PN in December such that, with the April increase of 14.4%, I'll be paying virtually the same as pre December. Only issue is that it's 18 months contract, so won't be able to sidestep next April's rise - they weren't interested in 12 month deal, only 18 or 24 months.

jstallan

Been with PN for 21 years and moved house in that time as well...  I  always speak to then at renewal time and negotiate a deal.. 

molerat

brewerdave said:

Got a reasonable renewal deal from PN in December such that, with the April increase of 14.4%, I'll be paying virtually the same as pre December. Only issue is that it's 18 months contract, so won't be able to sidestep next April's rise - they weren't interested in 12 month deal, only 18 or 24 months.

Did that in  Feb.  Was paying £25.13 after last year's increase and got new contract at £21.99 which has increased to £25.16 (well, £25.15 now - see the wrong price increases applied thread).  So only a couple of p increase. But that was offered and not negotiated, renewals seem to be at the current new customer price. New contract price is now £25.99.

You may be able to do an early renewal before the next increase at a lower price than the current increase thus reducing the pain.

notional

Plusnet are very prone to haggling. I have done it every year for 11 years and am paying them less now than when I moved in. I ask them to match the new customer deal AND to keep my legacy free evening and weekend calls from years before, and then push them to see if they can add another discount

Always shop around, have notes handy and phone up at least 2 weeks before the contract end date so they don't think you are desperate. Phone at a time when the call centre staff are likely to be fairly fresh on shift, so like 10am, not 7.30pm on a Saturday when they all want rid of you so they can go home.

Neil_Jones

Everybody I spoke to at Plusnet refused to even entertain a new deal, and what they did offer was the same as the one on the website. So I signed up with somebody else.

Phone call three days later and not only did I get a better deal than the other provider, it was even better than I was hoping for.  Even with 10% CPI increase next year, its still less than I would have been paying had I moved provider, and I got a prepaid card as well out of it All I had to do was exercise cooling off rights.

Usual caveat applies though when discounts are applied on the phone, do check they have stuck, as the system has a habit of forgetting about them...