Price issues and change in policy

[#1]

When I signed up with plusnet, the internet usage was unlimited. Today with faster speeds, I can understand the need for a fair usage policy. Someone downloading 24/7 with an 8mb max dsl connection would surely create an inbalance in the fair usage of the network resources. I have a premier 1 account and pay £23.00 - £0.50 for referrals. I am interested firstly at the legal part that allows plus to change the conditions of my service without asking. I am sure there is a legal clause somewhere that allows for it, but I am interested in the exact clause. So with that, I have a 20gb usage limit these days: I was informed of a 30gb limit at one stage, but never heard anything about the 20gb limit nor did I know the 13gb restrictions even existed. In my personal opinion, the 13gb restrictions are terrible. In effect, I wonder what exactly am I paying extra for in comparison with today's equivilent package? I think it's probably £2 difference as I am paying for a domain monthly (that I no longer want and there is no option to remove until it expires by itself). £2 doesn't seem like a lot, but that's an extra month's service over a whole year.

[#2]

Thanks for pointing the times out, it does make all the difference!  When peak times are 08:00 - 00:00, it doesn't even seem like a peak time at all. My peak time is half the duration, resulting in twice the amount of bandwidth available per hour, costing £2 extra rather than £10 extra on the £29.99 plan. (20gb / 8 hours = 40gb / 16 hours). If it changes again though I will be inclined to move services.

[#3]

Hi there,
When you signed up on your 'unlimited' product, looking at when this was, I'm guessing that this was probably on a 512Kbps product and hence we were able to offer that kind of product.  the maximum that you could download in a month would be roughly 150GB.  Now you're looikng at potentially 2400GB per month on a maxed connection (rough estimates).  Because we are charged for capacity, we have to offer a realistic amount in our usage allowances and we allow you to download for 'free' during off peak times of the day.  Feel free to have a read of our blueprint:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/blueprint.shtml
Lots of information about Broadband Your Way:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/broadband_your_way/
Going back to your legal concern, I'm afraid that you don't have a case.  Changes to terms and conditions were communicated out in (I believe) July 2005.  Would you be able to use a scheduler to perform your larger downloads between midnight and 4pm on Premier or midnight and 8am on Broadband Your Way?  You can download an awful lot during that time!
I do fully appreciate that our products, old or new may not appeal to everyone, but I would be hopeful that you would have a good look at our new product line and see if you feel that this would be applicable to you.
Feel free to drop me a line if you would like to discuss this further.

[#4]

I wasn't with PlusNet when I first signed for a 512k connection, in March 02, but seem to recall that, in those days, the ISPs were charged per connection.
Actually usage didn't really become a factor until higher speeds came in and the way ISPs were charged changed.

[#5]

With regards to a legal case, I really don't have that much time on my hands to wish to construct one  I was just intrigued with the clauses that allow an isp to change the conditions of a service contract even if the customer is informed of such changes. Yes I did have a 512kb connection at the time, but surely it would have made more sense to give users the choice to upgrade to a faster connection with usage restrictions or stick with a slower connection with unlimited usage. At least that would have been a user-based decision.
My main concern is that my peak usage amount is less than the stated 20Gb restriction, yet I am having restrictions imposed at my inconvinience before the level is reached. Personally I don't come near the limit, but a user on my small home network has discovered the world of video streaming, and can download a lot of data in the peak hours of 4pm - 12am. Also for some reason this data registers as WEB data, not video streaming, so regardless of your usage restrictions after 13gb, its purpose is not being served since the usage type is incorrectly detected and therefore imposing restrictions on services that are not the main culprit. I fully understand that not all data can be correctly detected, but then to add extra restrictions based on a volatile detection mechanism seems flawed to me. If you decided that 17gb was the start of level 2 restrictions, I would be in full support of such restrictions.

[#6]

Hi there,
In terms of what you download, this is irrelevant to us. The only reason we restrict P2P/Usenet is because it can be very bandwidth hungry, and will just take as much bandwidth as is available.
It is possible for traffic to be misidentified, depending on a number of factors including the program used, the port, the signature of that traffic, encryption and a whole host of other things. The actual amounts are verified though, so I can assure you that they are correct, and it is this with triggers management, not the type of traffic you use.
Your peak time allowance is 20GB, with level 1 management at 13GB, and level 2 at 17GB.
We have moved away from this method with the Broadband Your Way products, but as Premier is no longer sold I wouldn't expect there to be any changes to it at all.

[#7]

On the contrary, p2p may certainly constitute to the largest portion of data transfer overall, that is simply  due to the nature of files shared on p2p networks, but it has to be said, it's fairly limited if you consider single file downloads. However you are more likely to find that downloading consistently from a dedicated server on a 10mbit backbone is likely to max out the connection to it's highest potential, and when this kind of data transfer is placed in a prioritised category I really can't see what the level 1 or level 2 management is achieving other than forcing older customers onto new options.
*addition*
Just something I noticed whilst re-reading "We have moved away from this method with the Broadband Your Way products, but as Premier is no longer sold I wouldn't expect there to be any changes to it at all." - I thought plusnet strived to provide a reliable and quality service. Does this only apply to users on current plans? 

[#8]

That actually makes some sense though you will probably find that your mobile phone network won't change the conditions of your contract at any point in that case. In this case, plusnet has made changes to the service without asking permission to do so,  not that I suggest they need to, so is it any wonder such customers are going to have questions on the service they are paying the same price for? I am just concerned as to why plusnet are imposing restrictions based on an uncertainty. Now regardless of wether they think I am right to have such concerns or not, it appears the only way such concerns are going to be rectified is if I surrender my current plan. Not my idea of ethical business conduct.

[#9]

Hi there,
When we changed the Premier product we emailed all customers to advise them of this change, giving the usual 30 days opt out.
As this was some time ago, it's possible that people will be unaware or have forgotten, but the product has been as it is now for many months.
We will not be making any further changes to the old products, but by the same token we won't be forcing anyone to change to the new product set either.

[#10]

It's a shame I like plusnet too much
In terms of forcing, I don't suggest plusnet is going to make anyone move to a new service. All I can say is, I see restrictions starting from 13gb that aren't guaranteed to work properly. I am not happy with this at all so seek resolution. The only resolution you can give me is a different plan. Now convince me that I am not in a corner on this one.

[#11]

There's not really a lot that I can tell you that hasn't already been said.  We've explained the product design on both old and new products and it's up to you to make a choice as to what you want to do.
We can only give you the information.  We can't make the decision for you

[#12]

Mobile phone companies would have to notify the users of a change in their policy, as do PlusNet.
O2 recently decided to remove the ability to use monthly included minutes to dial 0845 and 0870 numbers, bringing them in line with all the other networks.
They had to give notice of this change, which will take place at the end September and if it's to the users detriment they can cease the contract with only the 30 days notice to pay. (I found it to my detriment and gave notice.)
A similar e-mail would have been issued from PlusNet when changing the terms of the Premier product and it's up to the user to review how the changes would affect them.

[#13]

On a side note, I was never notified by Orange when they changed their text prices while I was on my previous plan; they just did it.
But as has been said before by staff, an e-mail would have been delivered to you.

[#14]

I don't think you could argue an unfair case with O2 if their policy is being applied to everyone on the network, they aren't going to mistake an 07 number for an 0845 number, and they can at least be 95% sure you are going to read the notice. I seem to think highlighting the Orange case is a slight attempt to make any indication of a service change seem generous. I guess in reality there is no suitable product. I just like the technical support. I won't be changing plans I know that much. I will just have to decide if I can live with the current situation or not. Despite my seemingly negative attitude towards the situation, I really do like plusnet and want to avoid changing ISPs, hence my attempt to perfect the current service.