topic Re: Billing Problem in My Account/Billing

Billing Problem

Pete27 — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:44:47 GMT

Thank you to the people that tried to sort my bill out last month. I had incorrectly been charged Line Rental.

My new bill has just been issued (and I've renewed my contract for unlimited fibre extra).

This new bill shows i had a refund of £21.77 but this was then taken back.

I wasn't charged for my new Unlimited fibre Extra but was charged £26.53 for line rental.

I think I should be charged for Unlimited Fibre Extra but not Line rental (which should be included in the unlimited Fibre extra package).

Could someone look into this again for me please.

Regards Pete Brooker

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:33:13 GMT

Forgot to give my Account Number 00003644042

Re: Billing Problem

MisterW — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 07:35:41 GMT

I wasn't charged for my new Unlimited fibre Extra but was charged £26.53 for line rental.

I think I should be charged for Unlimited Fibre Extra but not Line rental (which should be included in the unlimited Fibre extra package).

Whilst the package does include line rental in the overall price, the invoice will show charges for both line rental & broadband and then a discount to bring the total cost down to the agreed price.

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:27:40 GMT

Thanks for your reply. As you can see on the attached, after all the additions and deductions, I have not been charged for Broadband but have been charged for line rental. Also my refund has been recharged on this bill.

Re: Billing Problem

Gandalf — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:45:43 GMT

@Pete27 wrote:

Also my refund has been recharged on this bill.

On the first page of the bill, do you see a credit amount for the refund? If so then all that's happened here is the refund that would've been sent (either to your bank or by cheque) has been recorded on the bill.

Re: Billing Problem

MisterW — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 08:52:29 GMT

@Pete27 I appreciate that the invoice does look confusing, but an initial glance would indicate that it looks to be correct.

Unfortunately I have to go out shortly, before the snow arrives! I'll be back later (hopefully?) and give a full explanation, unless someone else does so in the mean time...

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:21:47 GMT

Thank you Gandalf, I've just checked my bank statement and yes my refund was paid into my bank account.

It's just the broadband and landline charges that don't make sense to me now.

Pete

Re: Billing Problem

Gandalf — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:32:56 GMT

Sounds like your overall monthly cost is below £26.53 which would mean the broadband element is free of charge and all you would be paying is line rental.

I'm guessing £13.20 isn't the usual monthly cost unless it's an exceptionally good deal, so did you by any chance renew your contract close to the 22nd?

If so then we've provided extra discounts to effectively start the new monthly rate straight away.

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:52:41 GMT

Thank you once again Gandalf. I renewed my contract on 24th January (althought the bill would suggest 22nd Jan).

The previous month before I renewed I was incorrectly charged for Line rental - hence the refund into my bank.

The summary at the top of the bill looks like I'm getting several promotional discounts. That's why I looked further down the bill to see the breakdown. Then I really got confused.

As you say, the amount this month is very good especially as I was refunded £21.77 into my bank account. I'm sure I'm not overpaying, it's just that I didn't want to be charged for line rental next month. I'll wait and see.

Thank you once again for your time. It's much appreciated.

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 09:59:07 GMT

Thank you MisterW, I think it's starting to make sense now. The summary at the top of the bill looks like I'm getting several promotional discounts, so I looked further down the bill to the breakdown - then I really got confused. Gandalf has clarified things for me. So I'll wait and see if line rental is charged in error next month (as it was in January).

Thank you again for all your help, it's much appreciated.

I hope you didn't get caught in the snow!!

Pete

Re: Billing Problem

MisterW — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 11:36:58 GMT

@Pete27 Hi Pete,

Yes, we got back just as the rain started to turn to snow!. We're near Nottingham so are on the bottom edge of the Yellow warning area and the Amber warning is about 20 miles North.

Ok, so back to your bill. Sounds like you're happy with how the refund is shown and has been processed after @Gandalf 's explanation. It's slightly confusing that the adverts for the products say 'Line rental included' and people wonder why there is a charge for line rental on the invoice !
Yes, the line rental IS included in the overall monthly charge but is still required and as such is shown on the invoice.
The overall monthly charge therefore includes two components , one labelled Unlimited Fibre Extra (which is really just the broadband bit) and Line rental.

So going forward from the picture of your invoice, it looks like your monthly cost is £25.99. I'm basing this on the charges & discounts showing for the period 07/02/24 to 06/03/24, which is the next complete billing cycle month.
This is broken down as a charge for the broadband (Unlimited Fibre Extra) of £27.86 , a discount of £27.86 off the broadband cost, a charge for line rental of £26.53 and a further discount of £0.54 , giving the effective total cost of £25.99.As to why there are 2 discounts and not just one! well that's historical in that traditionally discounts were only applied to the broadband component, but now in some cases (like yours) the total discount exceeds the monthly broadband cost and due to the way the billing system works! ist not possible to apply a single discount that is greater than the monthly braodband cost.
So the discount is broken in two, one against the broadband component (equal to the charge) and a further one against the line rental component. Daft isn't it!, but the end result is correct, it just confuses.

As to the entries on your breakdown for the period 22/01 to 06/02 , they relate to the previous billing cycle. It looks like you recontracted on the 22nd, so the billing system needs to adjust for that. Because you have paid in advance for the period to 06/02 , and the contract price may have changed from the 22nd, it needs to refund (pro rata) any charges at the old rate and re-apply then at the new rate for the period 22/01 to 06/02.
The fact that the new and old price MAY be the same, the billing system still goes through the motions!. Of course, what makes it even more confusing is that, if there were any discounts applicable during this period, then they show as a charge!
Since a discount is in effect a credit, when its reversed of course, it shows as a debit!

Actually, looking at your invoice , I think its slightly wrong in that for the period 22/01 to 06/02 (for the broadband component) you have been credited at the old price ( with the reversed discount charged ) but then not charged at the new price but still given the discount!
So I think you're actually £14.38 up on the deal this month! (I'd keep quiet about it if I were you and hope Anoush doesnt notice!)

Sorry about the dietribe! but once I started to explain, I thought it was best to make it as complete as possible.

I just hope that clarifies things...

Re: Billing Problem

Pete27 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 12:01:48 GMT

Hi MisterW,

Thank you so much for explaining everything, that is very helpful.

As you say best to close this thread now.

Pete

Re: Billing Problem

Longliner — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:04:30 GMT

Well done PN staff, this is a classic even in the wacky world of PN accounts software!

Re: Billing Problem

MisterW — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:46:25 GMT

The mechanism that the billing system goes through is quite logical. It's just that what appears on the invoice isnt that 'friendly' as far as the user is concerned.