topic Over charged final bill in Broadband

Over charged final bill

IanR273 — Fri, 03 May 2024 15:35:59 GMT

Hi I am leaving Plusnet as my current contract ends on the 2/05, unfortunately my new contract does not start until the 7/05 but my final bill is for the whole month through to 2/6? Surely I won't have to pay for 27 days of nothing?

Re: Over charged final bill

willcutforth — Fri, 03 May 2024 15:45:28 GMT

@IanR273 you will be refunded, we just charge the full month in case anything goes wrong with the move.

Re: Over charged final bill

Townman — Sat, 04 May 2024 10:15:42 GMT

Continuous billing ensures continuous internet connectivity.

I trust that you left everything to your new provider to sort out and did not tell PN that you are leaving? If your current ISP places a service cease on a line, no other ISP may place a new order on that line until after the cease has been executed. There will then be at lest a 5 day lead tone to activate a new service

The whole process of taking over a working line should be left solely in the hands of the new provider.

Re: Over charged final bill

IanR273 — Sat, 04 May 2024 10:44:17 GMT

Did you comprehend the question? This has nothing to do with service continuity, I am being charged a full month when I am leaving after 5 days of said month.
I was querying why as the amount being debited leaves my account 6 days after I switch to my new provider. And yes I informed them even though if expressly states on all major isp sites these days that they take care of everything including informing current service providers of the switch, so the customer doesn't have to experience any down time.

Re: Over charged final bill

Townman — Sat, 04 May 2024 11:25:03 GMT

Absolutely I did! It has absolutely everything to do with service continuity - the billing cycle continues until the provided service ceases. The only way to avoid this is to CANCEL the service in advance of the billing date - that means that the line will stopped and a new ISP cannot raise service provide orders until after the cancellation date.

When migrating, you are billed as normal a month in advance on the regular billing day until the service actually transfers. Direct debits are set up aligned with the billing cycle and by the time they hit the bank, they might well be after the actual migration date. That might mean that you are billed on what you hope will be the transfer end date, but the actual migration date could be some time later due to a multitude of issues with the new provider and BT Openreach. Thereby continuous billing ensures that your connectivity is not broken during the migration period.

When the migration happens, there will be a credit due for the period between the date of the migration and the end of the month paid for in advance. The final bill should be produced within 21 days of the migration date. That will detail the value of the credit, referral credits and any monies owed such as the cost of phone calls. If the payment method (direct debit) has been left in place any refund due will be paid by that mechanism. If the payment method has been cancelled, the refund will be by cheque which takes a little longer.

All of this is part of trying to ensure that there is no down time. Unfortunately payment in advance for these services can mean that until the refund comes through, users will find that they are paying for two services in the migration month. Such can be avoided by remaining with the same provider.