topic Re: Price Changes December 2019 in Plusnet Feedback

Price Changes December 2019

jgb — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:08:17 GMT

I noted the impending price increases on this page

https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/2019-pricing-changes-existing

Apologies if there is already a forum topic on this but I do not recall seeing one.

The penultimate section deals briefly with customers on fixed price contracts but I would like some amplification/clarification.

I have just started a new 18 month fixed price contract therefore, if I am correct, I would not expect to be affected by any increase in broadband or line rental prices until that finishes in April 2021, but would expect to have to bear the increases in call plan prices, call rates etc. as stated.

However, I will be paying line rental for the first 12 months of the contract using Line Rental Saver, am I correct in saying that the monthly line rental after the LRS expires will still be the contract rate of £18.99/month rather than the new rate of £19.99 per month (or whatever the line rental cost is at that date)?

If I renew LRS after 12 months, what rate will apply - will it be the current rate of £197.88; the new increased rate (unspecified in the above link which only says it will "increase to reflect the monthly line rental cost" - i.e. £12 increase?); or will it be an amalgam of the old lRS rate for the remainder of the 18 month contract with the new LRS rate for the balance of the period?

Re: Price Changes December 2019

VileReynard — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:56:19 GMT

I'm on an old contract which matches none of the prices on that page.

So I'm clueless as to whether my price is to be increased at all...

Re: Price Changes December 2019

jgb — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:05:31 GMT

We need an official response from Plusnet to clarify things.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

billnotben — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 08:49:49 GMT

"We're Changing Our Prices"

Shouldn't that be we're turning the thumbscrews, hiking up our prices and getting rid of broadband only. Obviously room for more profit if more customers are forced to take line rental as well.

It's laughable, and a shoddy practice, how its become standard for companies to justify price hikes as somehow doing a favour for their customers.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

dvorak — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:17:04 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Everything Else to Feedback

Re: Price Changes December 2019

jgb — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:23:28 GMT

@dvorak

Is this topic likely to be more visible to Plusnet staff now that you have moved it as there has been no response to my request for clarification so far?

Re: Price Changes December 2019

dvorak — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:54:21 GMT

it's no more or less visible.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

jgb — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 13:45:49 GMT

Well, I have just found a new Service Notice on my account which says, rather cryptically:

"This is a fixed price contract customer. This customer will be sent PR19 on 09/10/2019"

I wonder if PR19 stands for Price Revision 2019 (or perhaps Price Reduction 2019 )

Re: Price Changes December 2019

OllieC — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 17:55:21 GMT

Hi @jgb

You are correct that your pricing will remain the same regarding line rental and broadband services when taking out a fixed price contract. If your LRS expires before your 18 months is up, you can take out LRS again at the original rate of £197.88.

The notification added to your account stands for Pricing Refresh 2019. This is a notice that shows you are protected from an increase.

Hi @VileReynard

We will send out any specific pricings regarding increases which will allow our customers to assess how or if they will be affected.

Hi @billnotben

Whilst we can appreciate your comments regarding how you feel that providers are putting thumbscrews on their customers, when costs go up, it requires price increases to allow a continuation of growth and investment for businesses. We have held off from any increase thus far whilst other providers have increased. If customers want better technology and infrastructure the prices must go up to allow businesses to be competitive and provide the service customers are searching for.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

billnotben — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 18:16:08 GMT

@OllieC wrote:

it requires price increases

Then just say it plainly and clearly. Please don't hide behind "improvements" especially as you've seen fit to include billing in this. And the "services you deserve" don't you mean the services that customers are paying for?

I've also no doubt that like the last rise it will be followed by some super cut price bargain offers for new customers.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

ScottStorey — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 19:57:28 GMT

@OllieC when you say "when costs go up" what are you referring to exactly?

Looking at BTW, prices haven't changed for ADSL since 2010 and for FTTC Jan 2018. OR line rental prices went up 26p in April.

There is no transparency over the price rise and an attitude of "well we did it later than the competitors!" doesn't fill customers with confidence. The billing system has been used as an excuse for years of price rises (over a decade?) now. I'd dread to think how much that system has cost.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

Optimatts — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:22:42 GMT

@ScottStorey costs go up for many reasons. Supplier costs, infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, along with business improvement tend to require us to increase our pricing.

I understand your frustration but regrettably, it is not something we in the support team are able to disclose in further detail.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

billnotben — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 11:36:45 GMT

@Optimatts wrote:

it is not something we in the support team are able to disclose in further detail.

That goes without saying. It's hard to defend the indefensible. Reality is, rises are expected even when not warranted.

What gets most peoples goat though are virtually all companies attempt to put a gloss on it. As I said doing the customers a favour.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

VileReynard — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 14:17:41 GMT

Somebody has to pay for all those special offers to "new" subscribers. Churn costs money.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

Townman — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 08:44:27 GMT

Whilst avoiding churn, turns butterflies into loyal customers, will in the long run cost far less to maintain market share.

It is difficult to see what investments are / have been made which deliver user benefits when the actual service offering is seen to diminish over the years.

By all means an organisation should seek to be good at what can be done and not attempt to do those things they don’t have the capacity to do well. However any organisation putting up prices whilst reducing the service offering claiming they are making it better is going to sound hollow.

As Scott points out wholesale prices have been fairly static. Is the cost base driver here the all you can use at a fixed price madness? Surely somewhere along the way PlusNET is paying for the consumed bandwidth?

The debates held years ago about unmetered services still holds true. No one would expect to get unlimited electricity consumption for a fixed price, so why is it expected with broadband?

I suspect that the truth about pan-user price rises is that some users are using vast volumes of bandwidth ... paid for by everyone else.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 09:23:22 GMT

My guess is that prices are having to rise to make up for the accounting black hole created when the "New Billing System" failed to take payments from customers over a considerable number of months, and then only clawed back the accumulated debt for a maximum of 90 days. I'd also suggest that the wages cost in emergency software developers overtime for correcting the billing system failures, and increased customer support agents, must have been considerable, as the problems started more than a year ago and are only starting to get back to normal now.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

VileReynard — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 15:33:19 GMT

I had a quick look at Zen - who appear to offer better (cheaper) than Plusnet - although it may be necessary to investigate the fine print.

Re: Price Changes December 2019

zxcvbnm — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:47:56 GMT

Hmm well 40 minutes on the phone (mostly on hold) to the suggested number. First he said my price was not going up, then when I queried this he double checked with a colleague and said my call package was going up by a pound.

However after much more checking he said I was free to leave without penalty and get my line rental refunded if I declared I was leaving because of the price rise (how?) within 30 days. But as I am on a new customer deal they have no interest in price matching competing providers....

So I will look around. 43 days since joining plus.net this could be a record short contract deal...

Re: Price Changes December 2019

zxcvbnm — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:10:17 GMT

A little odd that the email made no mention of the right to leave my contract early penalty free and when I asked the man what my options were he made not mention of it until I brought it up and pressed? But he confirmed I could so I suppose I must believe him?

Re: Price Changes December 2019

VileReynard — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:38:52 GMT

You would need to check the exact wording of "within 30 days of a price rise notification" - maybe this doesn't kick in until 30 days prior to 2nd December.

Get any notification in writing (or at least in email).