Plusnet - what a rip off!

CompoundExcess

I just found out my mother is being charged over £40 a month for 4Mbps broadband (no calls) by Plusnet because her contract ended. It was more like 14Mbps when she signed up and there is no problems on her end. The speedtest Plusnet sends you to says she is getting the speed expected from her line (4Mbps!). So they really take advantage if your contract ends.

Tried to get her on the Vodafone social tariff but they would only phone once a week and repeatedly hungup when the phone was answered! I don't trust Plusnet/BT after this and previous experience. Ended up switching her to Shell Energy as that's her energy company and they offered 6 months free credit on a 12-month contract, fingers crossed that works out alright.

Neil_Jones

CompoundExcess said:

I just found out my mother is being charged over £40 a month for 4Mbps broadband (no calls) by Plusnet because her contract ended. It was more like 14Mbps when she signed up and there is no problems on her end. The speedtest Plusnet sends you to says she is getting the speed expected from her line (4Mbps!). So they really take advantage if your contract ends.

The system delivers the fastest speed the line can support or it think it can support.  Sometimes low speeds are user inflicted (such as powering off the router every night).

Also if you did the speedtest over wireless it's a false economy.

400ixl

CompoundExcess said:

I just found out my mother is being charged over £40 a month for 4Mbps broadband (no calls) by Plusnet because her contract ended. It was more like 14Mbps when she signed up and there is no problems on her end. The speedtest Plusnet sends you to says she is getting the speed expected from her line (4Mbps!). So they really take advantage if your contract ends.

Tried to get her on the Vodafone social tariff but they would only phone once a week and repeatedly hungup when the phone was answered! I don't trust Plusnet/BT after this and previous experience. Ended up switching her to Shell Energy as that's her energy company and they offered 6 months free credit on a 12-month contract, fingers crossed that works out alright.

Her contract hasn't ended, the discounted minimum term has ended and she has gone onto a monthly rolling contract at the non discounted price. The onus is on the customer to enter into a new minimum term if they wish to, continue on the non discounted price or move to a new supplier.

Vodafone and Shell are two companies you couldn't pay me to have broadband from given their levels of customer service and number of issues in migrating.

You will have exactly the same experience when the minimum term discount ends with Shell. Do they become the company taking advantage at that point?

You might get lucky on service though as Shell have sold out to Octopus I believe who have a far better reputation.

CompoundExcess

You're right to be skeptical I immediately thought it must be a fault, because that is seriously slow. I swapped her cables, factory reset the router, made sure only one device was connected and speedtested over ethernet - always 4Mbps. Anyway, only today did I dig deeper and find her out of contract:



Then used the speedtest Plusnet send you to (speedtest.btwholesale.com):



So 4Mbps is what is expected from her line!

Despite BT, NowTV and others providing between 14 and 18Mbps for 10+ years. I tested the speed when she signed up last year and it was around 14Mbps, as expected. It's only when I saw her streaming services buffering a lot recently did I investigate and find she never gets above 4 Mbps anymore. 

Simply, her contract expired so they reduced her speed by two thirds and charged her double. One or the other I sort of expect but doing both is taking advantage to the extreme.

QrizB

CompoundExcess said:

So 4Mbps is what is expected from her line!
Despite BT, NowTV and others providing between 14 and 18Mbps for 10+ years. I tested the speed when she signed up last year and it was around 14Mbps, as expected.

You were previously asked - has the router been left alone, powered on, so the DSLAM can find the best line speed? If it hasn't, and it's neen turned off regularly, the DSLAM may have interpreted it as a line fault and reduced the sync speed.

CompoundExcess said:

I ... factory reset the router

That definitely won't have helped.

CompoundExcess

QrizB said:

You were previously asked - has the router been left alone, powered on, so the DSLAM can find the best line speed?

Yes, without doubt, it has been almost permanently plugged in and turned on since she switched.

I installed it, it's right next to the master socket which is in a recess under her stairs, it's not in a position where it could be easily or accidentally disconnected. She is the type that is scared to touch any electronics so I know she would never touch it - if anything goes wrong she phones me.

Standard advice plus changing the cables had no effect on speed so I disconnected for an hour and reset the router. Today it is still 4Mbps.

I know the speeds were poor in October also because I remember seeing it buffering then.  Her 'discounted minimum term' ended the prior month.

iniltous

No ISP reduces  speed because of a contract ending , FTTC and ADSL are rate adaptive, the prevailing line conditions, and most importantly the line length dictate the sync speed , and obviously the product ( ADSL or FTTC ) and the speed profile purchased ….DLM ( dynamic line management) takes care of all that and that has nothing to do with the ISP.

If speed was much better previously, either there is a fault or the effects of crosstalk have reduced the speed ..if it’s a fault , get it repaired, if it’s crosstalk, that’s just the way it is .

dredski

To close this one down a quick update. I did cancel my DD as mentioned, Plusnet said they would send a final bill (still not arrived), I logged onto Plusnet and saw I had a £0.29 bill outstanding which I paid online....and I am 'happy with it....so be it' ;-)