topic Re: Monthly direct debit in My Account/Billing

Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:03:18 GMT

Are the monthly DD's taken in advance or in arrears.

Thanks

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 13:07:38 GMT

You are billed in advance, the actual DD is taken slightly later.

Re: Monthly direct debit

Baldrick1 — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:33:42 GMT

To expand on @jab1‘s message. The DD is taken later than the billing advice but it’s still within a few days of the beginning of the billing month.

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:36:14 GMT

And that date is advised on the invoice.

Re: Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:29:10 GMT

Thanks all.

I am leaving so want to be sure if they owe me or vice versa

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 16:30:38 GMT

How long have you go to go, and have you arranged a new ISP?

Re: Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 05:08:48 GMT

Yes I have a new isp installed and my landline is due to be ported on Friday the 11th which I am told will cease my Plusnet account.

My contract expires on the 12th October.

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 06:43:47 GMT

OK - looks like you're sorted.

Re: Monthly direct debit

Townman — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:33:44 GMT

@jab1

Not entirely "sorted" - the move is too close to the billing date. The Change Billing Date guidance states: "You'll need to do this at least seven days before your next bill is due" which infers that the "next" bill is generated well in advance of the actual billing date.

This is what will happen for a user migrating con or very shortly before the billing date...

The next month will be invoiced in full at the out of contract rate
Payment will be taken**
When the migration completes (there is always a risk of delay) the new provider notifies Openreach, who notify Plusnet
Plusnet then closes the account and marks it for final billing
The final bill should be raised within 21 days
Any refund due will be paid to the means by which it was taken**

**Any attempt to 'take control over' this process such as cancelling the direct debit is likely to result in further difficulties - potentially DRA or subsequently difficulties in paying any refund due.

Continuous billing protects the user from the risk of a break in service arising from the failure of the new supplier or their subcontractors. Some of the industry's methods - dictated by Ofcom - are not overly helpful; if a user CANCELS service with their existing supplier to ensure billing stops on a given date, a new supplier cannot place orders on that line until AFTER the service is ceased ... thereby creating a window of at least 5 days without a working connection.

I suspect that there is an optimal point for ordering service from an alternative supplier for commencement BEFORE the last day of the existing service ... I would guess that is around 20 days - that allows an earliest start date 10 days before the end of the existing contract and 3 days before next bill preparation.

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:46:05 GMT

Fair enough, @Townman . I've been around this space long enough to know how it can easily, or unfortunately - whichever way you look at it - things can go wrong, but I was looking on the bright side, maybe not a good idea. 😉

Re: Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:04:07 GMT

To jab and townman.

I realise I may have some time at the out of contract rate. (Contract end 12th)

My billing date is the 10th (tomorrow)🥴 and payment the 18th. So I think I will be charged at the out of contract rate.

But if the cease goes ahead on the 11th the final bill should have a refund on it. Correct?

Re: Monthly direct debit

jab1 — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:07:54 GMT

@plustrev Correct.

Re: Monthly direct debit

Townman — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:09:21 GMT

Hi John,

I think that the bright side here is that the user has all of their ducks lined up.

However, I am reading between the lines of the OP's OP: "Are the monthly DD's taken in advance or in arrears". I read that as short-hand for "I have a migration date, if payment was taken in advance, I have already paid to the end of the contract and my contract with Plusnet has ended ... therefore I will NOT receive any more invoices from Plusnet / they will not take another DD".

For the reasons suggested, I do not think that the above suggested expectation is going to be met.

Broadband services migrated via the gaining provider led protocols are billed continuously by the losing provider until the migration is CONFIRMED as having HAPPENED. That practice ensures that there are no (or minimal) breaks in service ... but that could result in a further in-advance invoice / payment which will be refunded in the account closure invoice. Note that it is not until the new-provider / Outreach / losing-provider communication is complete will the user's account be closed / the contract be terminated. We have seen horrible cases of that failing resulting in months of dual billing elsewhere.

FWIW I have enquired if there might be a "sweet-spot" somewhere in the last month for a migration which might avoid post contract billing and ETCs because some people might find being billed by both gaining and losing supplier for the month post migration challenging financially.

Re: Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:17:20 GMT

townman

I am not migrating, I already have my new isp installed and working.

Plusnet will be ceased when my number is ported to a&a hopefully on the 11th.

Re: Monthly direct debit

Townman — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:17:25 GMT

@plustrev wrote:

To jab and townman.

I realise I may have some time at the out of contract rate. (Contract end 12th)

My billing date is the 10th (tomorrow)🥴 and payment the 18th. So I think I will be charged at the out of contract rate.

But if the cease goes ahead on the 11th the final bill should have a refund on it. Correct?

As @jab1 states, the final bill will have the refund on it ... but what you are thinking will be the final bill and what @jab1 has in mind might not the the same as the "final" bill. This is what I expect will happen...

Tomorrow's bill will be the advanced charge for 10th Oct to 9th Nov at the out of contract rate
The DD taken around the 18th will be for the amount invoiced
If the migration is successful around the 12th Oct (that includes proper communication of the migration) the final bill should be raised around the 2nd Nov - it should show a credit for day of migration + to 9th Nov
That will be paid back by the payment method (DD ?) if that authority is still in place
If the method is DD and the DD has been cancelled, refund will be via a cheque ... and that can take substantially longer

Re: Monthly direct debit

plustrev — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:43:08 GMT

Thanks townman for your latest post.

Yes that is exactly what I think will happen.

Re: Monthly direct debit

jgb — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:06:30 GMT

@plustrev

If you have not given notice to Plusnet then they will bill you at out of contract rates for 14 days from the date that your number ports thus ceasing your relationship with Plusnet. See this page:

About your contract length | Help | Plusnet

Re: Monthly direct debit

pjmarsh — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:58:12 GMT

Not quite @jgb. Plusnet would be notified of the pending number port which would start the notice period, though that may only be a few days before the port.

Re: Monthly direct debit

jgb — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:17:28 GMT

Yes - I should have said up to 14 days depending on when the port was notified.