Billing's lost the plot again

[#1]

Quote from: Mand

Depends on the problem, but the actual refund from the point of us issuing it can take up to 14 days.

20 days and counting . . .
Not getting at you Mand, but Finance/the system.
A

[#2]

Quote from: Mand

Depends on the problem, but the actual refund from the point of us issuing it can take up to 14 days.

There is no system I know of that takes 14 days for a refund, so I can only assume that most of that is to allow for delays your end in Finance or whatever - which I feel is entirely inappropriate if it's a Plusnet cock-up. 
Many bank transfers now use Faster Payments (depending on the sending and receiving banks) which clear almost instantly.  The majority of those that don't use Faster Payments clear in 2 working days with very few taking 3 days nowadays.  A refund onto a credit or debit card should at least show as a footprint on the account virtually instantly even if the settlement doesn't occur for a day or two.

[#3]

@Liam "There is no system I know of that takes 14 days for a refund,"
There's Plusnet's system:- " the bean counters preferred ploy of raising a cheque, getting it signed, leaving it in the FD's drawer for a few days, then sending it out second class when someone complains . . . AND THEN there's still the four/five (Nationwide Flexaccount - 5 days) day wait for the cheque to clear."
Alastair

[#4]

@Original Design, at the risk of sounding like a cliche, your cheque is in the post
We had a problem with issuing cheques over the Christmas period, due to admin problems. They all went out first class yesterday, so should be with you today/tomorrow.

[#5]

Thanks Mand - as yet it hasn't appeared. Will advise when it does.
They all went out first class yesterday, Really? It would be interesting to know how many . . .
But the question remains - WHY does PN insist/persist in issuing cheques - you have customers' bank details, and cheques probably cost you more than BACS.
A

[#6]

In your case it's because we hadn't billed you for more than the amount we needed to refund (our billing system will only allow us to refund an equivalent amount to the amount taken). Anything above this needs to be issued by cheque.

[#7]

Given the amount of aggravation these billing/finance problems are causing PN, what steps are being taken to upgrade/modify/replace the billing system.
Is it a 'homegrown' system that has been tweaked beyond its effective capabilities, or some kind of proprietary program?
What do other ISP's use?
Alastair

[#8]

Thomas,
I can assure you that there has been much activity on the PUG forums about this issue, with some interesting discussion.
But as yet no PN staff member has responded, but good to see Mand's answer here - its already been noted on PUG froum - I found out about Mands reply by a link over there.

[#9]

Thanks Mal. Do let me/us know if anything transpires.

[#10]

We're looking at various changes to our billing systems soon (in the next 3 months), though they are mostly surrounding credit card payment processes.
We're also kicking off a failed billing project next quarter.
I've raised the question internally about notification times, and have a few more ideas (confirmed/backed up in part by this thread), which I'll be raising with the necessary people over the next few days.
We are working on the issues guys, and we do listen to feedback, but in almost all cases changes to our billing system are not one or two line code updates, so they will take time.

[#11]

But that's the thing Mand: Plusnet and successful billing have been antitheses for a long time now. So, realising that sorting out the awful billing system would take a long time, why wasn't such a project started much earlier?

[#12]

Quite! It's not as if concerns about billing are anything new: http://usergroup.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,6596.0.html

[#13]

Quote from: Be3G

Thanks Mal. Do let me/us know if anything transpires.

Good to see Mand's comments here - but just to say that on PUG forum we are now in dialogue with senior management and i can assure you and others that PUG members are being very forthright ! , and in return we have a some good responses from PN. Can't say more but Mand's comments allude to some of it.

[#14]

Could everyone reading this topic please vote in the poll I've created to find out how common billing problems are: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,82628.0.html
If you've had no problems in the past year you just vote for option 1.a only.

[#15]

I'd like to thank Mand for her taking the time to resolve my issues.
The reason I couldn't see it, is because a helpful CSC agent had done a refund to my credit card (as a previous payment) had been taken from there recently so it allowed them to do a refund against that one but it wasn't explained thats what they'd done.
So, initial problem resolved.
I took the time to chew Mand's ear off a little (only joking  ) and I do have some understanding now of the issues that PN face with their billing systems and changing them - I also made my thoughts pretty clear and offered some suggestions that I hope are acted upon, such as extending the DD period by at least a day (gives a customer 24hrs to sort a misbilling out). and I wouldn't have thought it would punch your cashflow "too hard".
Personally, I feel that it should be an extremely high priority for PN to resolve the billing issues, even though I can appreciate some of the issues from PN's direction - after all, bearing in mind the large majority of users probably NEVER come on the community forums, the scale of the problem is probably huge.
And it was good to have confirmation, that if I had gone to my bank and used the DD Guarantee, my account would have been shoved into "Failed Billing".
All credit to Mand for resolving it to my satisfaction, and Mand, please accept my thanks.

With regards to the PUG group, if anybody would like any input - please do let me know, I'm an IT techie, and more importantly an engineer who has some input on (Foolproof) user friendly systems.
Finally I've been assured that it won't happen again, I'll take Mand at her word on that.