topic Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers in Broadband

Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

JJO — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:25:58 GMT

This is what Plusnet is offering me as a renewal as a long-time customer:

Full Fibre 145 24 months

£26.99 but increase to £30.99 on 31/3/26 and increase again to £34.99 on 31/3/27

Apart from disadvantaging loyal customers by charging them excessively more than a new customer (see below), their annual increases (of which the first is only 5 months away) are unprecedented and immoral.

Why should I renew given the below offers (one being their own)?

Virgin M125 £21.99 rising to £28.99 PLUS a £135 CREDIT
Plusnet Full Fibre 145 (same as above) £22.95 rising to £32.99 PLUS £145 reward credits

I'm angry

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

RobPN — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:33:57 GMT

@JJO wrote:

Virgin M125 £21.99 rising to £28.99 PLUS a £135 CREDIT
Plusnet Full Fibre 145 (same as above) £22.95 rising to £32.99 PLUS £145 reward credits

@JJO

Have you worked out what the total cost / average monthly cost is over the contract period for the three offers (including your renewal offer) over the contract period?

Just curious.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

JJO — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:36:01 GMT

@RobPN wrote:

Have you worked out what the total cost / average monthly cost is over the contract period for the three offers (including your renewal offer) over the contract period?

Just curious.

Yes fairly easy sum that anyone can do
Far cheaper than renewing

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

RobPN — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:54:53 GMT

Fair enough @JJO and apologies, I'd only given your post a cursory glance, whereas I should have seen that the two offers were much cheaper than your renewal invitation.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Dan_the_Van — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:58:59 GMT

@JJO

I would suggest calling Customer Options Team (COTs) to discuss renewal prices.

They can be contacted on 0800 432 0080

Opening hours

8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
9am - 7pm Saturday
9am - 6pm Sunday

It is often possible to reduce the renewal price. OFCOM set the maximum annual price rise, the price rise is the same across the BT Group and other comms providers apply the price rise.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

JJO — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 18:01:11 GMT

@Dan_the_Van wrote:

@JJO

I would suggest calling Customer Options Team (COTs) to discuss renewal prices.

I spoke last week. "Our hands are tied. We cannot negotiate renewal prices, just suggest other packages"

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

RealAleMadrid — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 18:04:37 GMT

@JJO That can't be right, try again and hope you get a CS person who wants to help you.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

newagetraveller — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:15:07 GMT

That's exactly why I left, long term customer from the Madasafish days. CoT would not budge on the annual price rise. Not even to halve the increase. So for the sake of a couple of Quid a month I flounced off!

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

LexLex2020 — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 10:28:47 GMT

@JJO

Thanks for reaching out and sorry that you are not happy with the options presented on the website, not given by the cot agent.

I can see you created a complaint on your account, a member of the advocate complaints team will be in touch within the next 72 working hours, once your case has been assigned to a staff member.

They will discuss a resolution to your complaint as soon as they are able to reach you.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can assist with further.

Thanks,

Lex

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

CharlesCot — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 10:58:24 GMT

The the renewal prices do seem exceptionally high at £48/year extra. Almost seems like trying to wean customers out of Plusnet to close it down.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Railman1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 11:16:11 GMT

CharlesCot

'.....out of Plusnet to close it down.'..

I seem to remember that there was an article written in one of the internet / broadband mags , back in 2022 if memory serves, about BT looking at exactly that scenario, so they could make EE their new 'Flag Ship' partner..They stated that as Plusnet and EE were basically 'selling' the same thing, BT were ordering/covering the same costs twice, so would save money in the long run by dropping the 'cheaper one'...

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

jab1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 11:22:35 GMT

Their thinking has changed since then - EE is the 'flagship' all-singing, all-dancing brand, Plusnet is the bare-bones internet provider - within the BT Consumer Division.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Railman1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 13:26:32 GMT

jab1

It's certainly the 'bare bone' partner now, after losing 100 staff on the back of BT's new 'Flag Ship' EE appointment....and maybe it's starting to tell, especially in Plusnets customer service department. Could be, they let the wrong people go

But I will give Plusnet their due, their broadband service itself, on FTTC at least, is still as reliable, fault free and 'speedy' as it has always been whilst I've been with them..

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

jab1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 13:41:04 GMT

@Railman1 Out of interest, where did get the information about them 'losing 100 staff'?

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Railman1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 13:44:26 GMT

jab1

'Business News', 'Yahoo', 'Comparebroadbandpackages' and a myriad of other sites..

Just do a search.. Plusnet to lose 100 jobs..

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

jab1 — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 14:02:17 GMT

Thanks for that. As an ex-customer, I don't follow their performance as keenly as I did, but the decision by BT Groups Consumer Division to make the brand a 'low cos' internet service only provider will obviously have had some effect - if you do not need to support so many services, you don't need so may staff.

I note with interest that ISPReview, whose 'report' was the only one I read still appears to think the 'brand' is a stand-alone business - it isn't.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Batphone — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:32:41 GMT

My contract expires in 6 months, my mothers in 2. I would like to renew with them as the broadband service, up to now, has been stable and customer support generally good and with no "language difficulties". However, the lack of choice (no full fibre availability and lack of digital voice) has made for a difficult choice. Whereas I am in the countryside, mum is in the city so whereas I am not surprised by the unavailability of full fibre at my location, I was surprised by the unavailability of it at mums near city centre location. CityFibre and Virgin Media seem to have beat OpenReach to the post with fibre and yet there is still no indication of when an OpenReach provision will become available. For mums contract I no longer have the time to wait. This is hardly the fault of PlusNet, but the lack of a migration path to modern day speeds and digital voice is likely to be the deciding factor for us. Mum's PN BB with landline provision still costs around £44 p.c.m on contract. I am not keen to switch over to EE (not had a particularly good experience with them in the past) and because of their pushy ignorant/lying (could be either) sales people I am not terribly keen on Virgin Media either, but mum does have the option of any of the CityFibre providers. Unfortunately at my address, full fibre is available only via Virgin Media until Openreach get their finger out. Date still unknown according to PN.

In view of the fact that Openreach seem to be well behind their competitors in rolling out fibre, it is disconcerting to read that PN will no longer negotiate prices to keep loyal customers. I guess the profit margin has become thin. Yes, they can still offer us a continuation on FTTC, but a move to full fibre and VOIP with other providers will cost about the same or less so I don't think that PN can afford to be playing hard-ball and haemorrhaging customers to the competition.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Railman1 — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:49:14 GMT

Batphone

For VoIP, you can sign up to one of the VoIP providers, buy an adapter, Grandstream, Cisco, etc, which plugs into the Hub 2 router; a phone base station then plugs into the adapter, and 'Bobs your Mothers Brother'. Not all phones are compatible, so you may need two newish ones..

Some VoIP providers sell their own phones and adapters as a complete kit, or you can go down the route I followed and skip off to E-Bay ( life's hard on a pension 😢😢)...but it works mighty fine.

It might keep you and mom going until Openreach eventually decide they really want to install new Full Fibre broadband lines in hard to reach places ..and TOWN CENTRES in my case.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

jgb — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 18:36:04 GMT

@Batphone

If CityFibre is available at your Mum's you could check their website to see what ISPs are provisioning on fibre./ Some of them will provide fibre broadband with a digital voice service (a bit like BT / EE) so that you just plug the existing telephone into the phone port in the back of the router, with no need for new phones or adaptor.

I move to such a service with Zen provisioned on CityFibre (fulll fibre) and the cost was much less than my then PN broadband and phone service (FTTP), with no mid term price increases and proper UK support.

Re: Plusnet seems to not value loyal customers

Marksfish — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 20:32:19 GMT

Customer loyalty for anything is long gone, except for car insurance which was supposedly regulated. It didn't really bring prices down, it just meant new customers also paid more. I don't understand why it is better for any business to alienate and lose customers they have already gained and pay out to attract new ones. It must make business sense to someone, otherwise they wouldn't all do it.

I came back to PN from Sky when they wouldn't negotiate and they lost a TV customer too. Can't say I have noticed it as a non sports/ films watcher. I have an SSD plugged into the back of my TV and does the job as well, just can't record 8 items at once 🤣

Mark