topic Billed after switching isp in My Account/Billing

Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:00:27 GMT

I think I've been with plusnet exactly 12 months but I have got a 13th bill of 33.46GBP that will leave my bank account on the 8th.

I am tempted to cancel the direct debit just in case, but I guess it would be better if someone from plusnet could take a look and fix it.

Re: Billed after switching isp

jab1 — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:04:07 GMT

@gydnftc Welcome to the forums. Is this bill marked as 'Final' and is it the same value as your normal monthly bills?

Re: Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:18:59 GMT

Thanks for your reply,

no, the bill looks exactly the same as the previous ones, not marked as final, and the amount has increased by more than 10GBP.

Re: Billed after switching isp

jab1 — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:22:30 GMT

That sounds strange. can you post screen shots of page 3 of that invoice and the previous months?

Staff support on the forums is a little thin at the moment, so some Community members try to help out.

Re: Billed after switching isp

Mustrum — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:31:24 GMT

@gydnftc you don't say when you left. However, bills go in cycles, if the bill is on the usual date then it probably just means your final bill has not yet been produced. Your final bill will include any rebate for any extra payment due after you left.

If you cancel your DD it will mean that the rebate cannot be returned directly to your bank, and you will end up having the payment delayed via a cheque.

Re: Billed after switching isp

Townman — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 14:37:45 GMT

Billing for the broadband service is done in advance. Therefore, if you arrange a transfer close to the end of the minimum (discounted) term, the following will happen...

An invoice will be raised for month 13 (or whatever is N+1)
There will be no discount on this invoice
Around 21 days after service migration a final bill will be produced
Any over payment will be returned via the means that payment was taken originally

As mentioned above, terminating the DD will cause complications, notably DRA which could "kick in" before the final bill cycle is run.

The reason that service is delivered in this manner is to protect the continuity of service and smooth the migration process. The only way of obtaining a final bill on the target end date is to have made a direct request to terminate the service on a fixed date. Such does not afford flexibility in the event that the new provider's orders fail, or BT cannot do the work on the target date. Further, a service cease order placed on a line totally inhibits another ISP raising orders until after the existing service has ceased - such would ENSURE that you'd be without any service for around 2 weeks.

Re: Billed after switching isp

willcutforth — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:44:05 GMT

Hey there @gydnftc can you pop me over the username please via DM and I will look into it for you?

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. We've been super busy recently.

Re: Billed after switching isp

Townman — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:48:29 GMT

Send a Personal Message

Support staff might ask for private information to be sent via a Personal Message (PM) (aka DM in other environments) which new users might not know how to do. Further to that, new users might not have sufficient ranking (Just Browsing, Interested and Newbie) to send PMs:-

Have made 5 or more posts
Have logged in (and out) at least twice and made 3 posts

Having attained the (Hooked) ranking a PM is sent as follows:-

Click on the staff member's name in the left panel
Click on SEND PRIVATE MESSAGE on the right

Note that PMs sent to one staff member are visible to all staff members to provide support continuity across working rosters.

Re: Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 00:36:02 GMT

does not seem like i can send pm when i signed up i associated my plusnet username. if you could see my full profile, it's there

Re: Billed after switching isp

Townman — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 00:36:57 GMT

Send a Personal Message

Support staff might ask for private information to be sent via a Personal Message (PM) which new users might not know how to do. Further to that, new users might not have sufficient ranking (Just Browsing, Interested and Newbie) to send PMs:-

Have made 5 or more posts
Have logged in (and out) at least twice and made 3 posts

Having attained the (Hooked) ranking a PM is sent as follows:-

Click on the staff member's name in the left panel
Click on SEND PRIVATE MESSAGE on the right

Note that PMs sent to one staff member are visible to all staff members to provide support continuity across working rosters.

Re: Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 00:39:24 GMT

also used the same email address. I still don't think it makes sense to be billed a 13th time. i guess i will soon see if this is fixed in the morning

Re: Billed after switching isp

Townman — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 00:45:49 GMT

If you do not want to risk being without internet if the new provider / BTw / BTOR cannot do the migration on the end of contract date the continuous billing ensures an uninterrupted service. Until Plusnet receive the service termination advice from BTw / BTOR, it is business as normal ... for your own protection.

Re: Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:28:43 GMT

Plusnet stopped service on the 2nd, the day the new service started. The 13th bill is for the full 13th monthly period, but I have not had plusnet service any day of the 13th period.

Re: Billed after switching isp

jab1 — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:44:05 GMT

That is because the invoices are raised a little before issue - your final invoice will no doubt be a full credit for that one, assuming your billing period starts on the 2nd.

Re: Billed after switching isp

Townman — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 22:54:57 GMT

@gydnftc wrote:
Plusnet stopped service on the 2nd, the day the new service started. The 13th bill is for the full 13th monthly period, but I have not had plusnet service any day of the 13th period.

Hindsight is wonderful.

If the order had slipped due to issues with your new provider or BT Openreach resources, the service might not have transferred on the target date. If that had been the case, I doubt you would be best pleased if Plusnet had simply stopped the service because that was the plan / what had been paid for.

Re: Billed after switching isp

gydnftc — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 17:56:42 GMT

I see your point, thanks, but plusnet had 6 days since the transfer date for issuing the cancellation bill before charging my account. I hoped the bill would be cancelled before taking the money but that's not been the case. I can imagine that if I had had problems with the new provider the service would have stopped for as long as those problems had taken to resolve with the new provider. Plusnet just stopped the service on the transfer date and that was it for them. Additionally, I got the "your bill is ready to view" email 2 weeks after receiving the "Leaving Plusnet" email, and the latter stated that "You'll receive a cancellation bill with the charges you need to pay.", it did not say that I will get billed for an additional month and then billed again a final bill.