Plusnet - what a rip off!

dredski

Plusnet - my contract expired on the 4th of December ('23) and I'd decided to switch providers. All fine, so far, I then received a final bill from Plusnet covering 4th of December to 3rd of January - why? I've no idea and to rub salt into the wound it's at the "I don't want to extend my contract rate"; i.e. double what I was previously paying.

Can I , legitimately, cancel my DD (due on 11/12) and not pay this? 

Penguin_

You moved onto a rolling contract, as a result you have to give 30 days notice. If you wanted to leave on the 4th December, you should have made provisions to switch in the first couple of days in November.

TheMilkmansDad

your contract has expired so you are now on a rolling contract and need to provide them with 30(?) days notice of cancellation - have you done this yet?

iniltous

If you cancel your DD you potentially wreck your credit rating and any refund will be impossible to be made automatically.
PN haven’t done anything wrong , depending on who you are migrating to ( if it’s an Openreach based service ) any days paid for after the changeover are refunded, calculated on the actual date the changeover takes place ( if you are out of contract ) the days PN are suppling services between you moving outside the minimum term and the changeover date are charged at the appropriate rate , and that’s the out if contract price.
As stated , if it were your intention to leave PN , any not pay any out of contract price you needed  to be signing up with the new provider around 14 days before the end of the PN minimum term , but a few days either way ( a little earlier than ideal or a little later ) will not amount to much ….as an example if your inside contract was £30 a month and out if contract is £45 , that’s 50p a day more , 4 days late is £2, or a few days ETC will be a couple of ££ , but to do that you needed to be doing that around 12/13 November, if you have just signed up and the change takes place 15th of December, that’s a month at the out of contract price , as said you may pay for more days  and then those days refunded 

400ixl

How did you move, did you sign up with a new provider to let them deal with the transfer, or have you given notice to Plusnet directly?

The former should then mean you only get charged for the number of days in that month that you are with them, but will be at the rate at the time. If the latter then you have to give 30 days notice as per the contract you signed. They may refund the unused days in that month when you migrate.

Ideally you find a new supplier and initiate the transfer through them around 14 days before your contract is due to end. This way typically you leave at the end of your contract with minimal cost.

Plusnet have done nothing wrong and you would have giot the same from any ISP. You have not managed your migration in the most optimal way unfortunately, but that is not their fault.

Cancelling the DD and not paying the bill is the worst thing you can do.

Neil_Jones

dredski said:

Plusnet - my contract expired on the 4th of December ('23) and I'd decided to switch providers. All fine, so far, I then received a final bill from Plusnet covering 4th of December to 3rd of January - why? I've no idea and to rub salt into the wound it's at the "I don't want to extend my contract rate"; i.e. double what I was previously paying.

Can I , legitimately, cancel my DD (due on 11/12) and not pay this? 

Don't cancel your direct debit.

The billing arrangement is normal, you always pay in advance and if you are leaving halfway through you will get a pro-rata refund in due course.

It is not a "rip off".

dredski

OK, to be clear, I signed up with another provider then told Plusnet....bearing in mind I was about to be out of contract. I am not leaving without giving notice because my contract was ending so I'm afraid it is a rip off regardless of any refund because they have my money & I don't. The 4th of December was Plusnet's date and not mine or the other provider. This just doesn't fly I'm afraid it's a ruse at best and whether it's considered 'normal' isn't justification.
 
I have zero days use out of contract so my bill should be zero!

iniltous

PN are only doing what everyone does , whatever ISP you have joined doubtless will do the same if you leave them at some point in the future, it’s just the way it is , you pay in advance for service, and because bills are produced way before they are issued , it’s always going to be the case that you pay for some days you can’t use ( because you have joined someone else ) and then are refunded later , it may not seem ‘fair’ , but it’s just the way it is .

Neil_Jones

dredski said:

OK, to be clear, I signed up with another provider then told Plusnet....bearing in mind I was about to be out of contract. I am not leaving without giving notice because my contract was ending so I'm afraid it is a rip off regardless of any refund because they have my money & I don't. The 4th of December was Plusnet's date and not mine or the other provider. This just doesn't fly I'm afraid it's a ruse at best and whether it's considered 'normal' isn't justification.
 
I have zero days use out of contract so my bill should be zero!

You pay for your internet in advance and you always have done.

If you have Pay TV (Sky, Virgin, Now, BT, whatever) you pay for that in advance.

If you have Netflix/Disney+/Prime you pay in advance.

You pay car insurance in advance.

You are invoiced for council tax for the forthcoming year.

You pay household insurance for the forthcoming year.

If you have a mobile phone package you pay in advance for that.

Water bills are generated in advance for the forthcoming year.

So this is definitely not unique to Plusnet as there are great swathes of life that you pay for stuff in advance, and I don't see you complaining about any of those...

dredski

Update; against everyone's advice I cancelled my DD. I rec'd an automated email from Plusnet advising me of such. I then called Plusnet, fully expecting a dressing down from them but no. I was told that 20 days after my contract ended I would be sent a final bill - this would be, at most, for 1 day of use. I then said I would pay in full when that bill arrived - they were happy with this. From Plusnet's end of things there was never a hint of this being an issue.

Other than a very laboured security process this was a surprisingly good experience, I've not paid double and they won't have to provide a rebate. 

To pick up what Neil_Jones said - yes, you pay for things in advance but when a contract ends I still don't see why on earth you should expect to pay for a service you didn't receive and then get refunded - sounds like a highly inefficient process to me. 

If this goes pear shaped I will update you all - bet you can't wait!

Neil_Jones

dredski said:

To pick up what Neil_Jones said - yes, you pay for things in advance but when a contract ends I still don't see why on earth you should expect to pay for a service you didn't receive and then get refunded - sounds like a highly inefficient process to me.

With respect, what you "see"/think should happen and what actually does happen are two entirely different things.

And your contract never ended, it doesn't until you move away.  And you wouldn't have paid double anything anyway.

I think you've applied a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" approach to this, but if you're happy so be it.