BT Basic

[#1]

Hope this is in the right place to ask but as an existing (and now a new £14.99 a month FTTP plusnet customer) for our phone line, are we able and to go over to BT for this service as at the moment plusnet are charging us £18.99 a month for it, whereas the BT Basic package (for which we are eligible) is only £5.10 a month - so even allowing for any restrictions and the slightly extra cost of calls, it would mean quite a big saving for us.

PS. Also aware of that additional £2.50 per month 'penalty' charge which we presume would still apply if we moved.

PPS. Don't you just love those plusnet ninety nines.  

[#2]

That should be fine, however as you're in contract you'll need to pay off the phone side of that which is £8.49 for each month left on your contract. Likely to work out cheaper than paying £18.99 per month.

Let me know if you would like to go ahead and I'll work out the total cost.

[#3]

@Gandalf

I was sort of aware of all that however BT tells me I need to be an existing customer in order to take advantage of BT Basic but they want £22.79 a month line rental plus a £45 connection charge. Also, initially the said I would have to have my internet with them as well!

Anyways, maybe will get back in touch after some more checking. 

Cheers 

PS. I'm checking to see how long my phone contract has to run, but will there also be that £2.50 per month additional charge added to my broadband for not having a phone line with you?  

[#4]

Back to the drawing board it seems!

I've created this ticket on your account with your contract end date on it, and broadband only packages do unfortunately incur a £2.50 surcharge I'm afraid.

[#5]

@Gandalf

Checked in with my account earlier and spoke to someone about my phone contract and was told I do not have one, only an internet one - so there would actually be no £8.49 for each month to pay off on an outstanding a contract I do not have. I asked for that to be confirmed and was told that was indeed the case, no £8.49. They also confirmed that £2.30 per month surcharge as well which I think I am going to have to take issue with so can you tell me where it says that in my current internet contract for which you have created that ticket?

Not trying to be awkward Gandalf, just trying to clarify for both myself and others that may read this, but it is disappointing to see plusnet trying to claw back by way of a penalty surcharge from an existing customer just seeking to modernise his account. 

[#6]

The current different prices for broadband without taking a phone service from Plusnet are on the broadband only and price guide pages:

https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/broadband-only/

https://www.plus.net/help/legal/plusnet-price-guide-for-residential-products/

I apologise in advance, and this is probably not what you want to hear, but the broadband part of the price is so ridiculously cheap only because the line rental part of the price is so high and keeps going up every year. Plusnet's FTTP pricing is daft, if people don't take any phone service, the wholesale price for FTTP data only is £9 (ex. VAT) extra per month, so the £2.50 doesn't even nearly cover the difference.

[#7]

@ejs

Thanks for the clarification and I understand where Plusnet is coming from however, reading through some but not all of the links you kindly provided what I am seeing is 'if you opt to switch your phone service to Plusnet, we'll reduce your monthly broadband price by £2.50 for as long as you keep your phone line with us'. 

Nothing about adding £2.50, only reducing it by £2.50. 

I guess we'll leave it there as I'm more than happy with the price currently being charged for FTTP, just a bit disappointed as said with that extra bolt on should I decide (as I probably will unsurprisingly) to cancel the phone service with you once I have made alternative arrangements - which at this stage might be that SIM only deal with plusnet ,or go over to VoIP as suggested by another poster. 

As you haven't mentioned it can you confirm what I had been told about not having to pay that £8.49 for outstanding months to on a phone contract I do not have? 

Thanks again.

[#8]

It may not say anything about adding £2.50, but it says the monthly price Unlimited Fibre Broadband - broadband only is £17.49, and the price for Unlimited Fibre Broadband - broadband and phone is £14.99, not including the line rental. Under "early termination charges" it says "Customers with a phone package will switch to the 'Broadband Only' charge if they choose to cancel their phone plan".

As you haven't mentioned it can you confirm what I had been told about not having to pay that £8.49 for outstanding months to on a phone contract I do not have?

I'm not Plusnet staff nor even a special user on the inner circle, so can't confirm anything about what Plusnet want you in particular to pay, which is why I didn't mention it.

[#9]

Ah right sorry, you sounded like you were 

[#10]

Further to the info provided by ejs as per the details on the front end page on trials.plus.net before you submit the ticket to us, you'll see that you're advised the following prices for FTTP:

Unlimited Fibre up to 38Mbps - £14.99 per month

Unlimited Fibre Extra up to 76Mbps - £19.99 per month

Please note there is a £2.50 per month additional charge if you do not take Plusnet Home Phone.

That's also mentioned on our FTTP FAQ page: https://community.plus.net/t5/custom/page/page-id/_FttpFaq

As for your contract, this is for both home phone & broadband.

Early termination charges apply for both components if you choose to end one of the services within your minimum term. That's excluding line rental saver customers outside of the initial 14 day cooling off period.

The ETC for home phone is £8.54 for each month remaining on your contract, as per here: https://www.plus.net/help/legal/plusnet-price-guide-for-residential-products/#phone-price-guide

I hope this helps clarify things.

[#11]

@Gandalf

A little, but the guy on the chat line told me "you do not have a phone contract" only a contract for FTTP so there would be no charge of £8.54 for any remaining months and as said he confirmed it.

Where are we going wrong or what am I not understanding as it seems to me plusnet are trying to lock me into some sort of golden handcuffs with regards to my phone as a consequence of my new FTTP contract.

[#12]

Unless I've missed something when I've checked on Friday and a new contract was incorrectly applied when your account was changed to FTTP I'll be passing feedback on. If you weren't in a contract before the FTTP completed, then there'll be no ETCs.

P.S. my previous post was my 1000th post

[#13]

@Gandalf

Cheers, and if you can get back to me on that by way of confirmation at your earliest either here or as a private message it would be most appreciated as obviously, I'll be less than a happy bunny if the ETC's have been incorrectly added and applied.   

[#14]

Thanks for your patience, I was off work yesterday.

I've investigated this and updated the ticket on your account. You can view that here: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=view_question&id=153204870 Apologies for the confusion caused earlier.

If you'd like to go ahead, let me know on here and I can arrange that.

[#15]

@Anoush

@Gandalf

Thanks for that but it's still not clear from what has been said on that ticket where Anoush writes;

"It looks like my colleague applied a new 24 month contract by mistake whilst changing the account type to Fibre, I'll pass feedback on regarding this for you. I've looked back at your previous contract before the upgrade to FTTP happened.

As per Ticket: 130993342, you agreed to an 18 month contract on the 6th August 2016. That would mean your home phone & broadband is still in contract until 6th February 2018.

After that date, you will be out of your minimum term contract and no further minimum terms can be applied as FTTP is a trial service.

If you cancel your home phone service before the 6th August 2016, the early termination fee will be £8.54 multiplied by 6 = £51.24. We may also owe you a pro rata refund depending on the exact date the service is ceased"

And my reply;

So just to be clear, you say "If you cancel your home phone service before the 6th August 2016" - so does that mean I can cancel without penalty, or are you referring to 6th August 2017, and and what exactly is the "pro rata" refund and how/when if any can I apply for it?

It really is most confusing as I am more than happy with, and to pay for, the FTTP (which is working perfectly by the way) but do not want to be penalised for cancelling a contract I might not have had as I was only agreeing as far as I was to aware to that side of the deal and not the phone.

Maybe I'm missing something and sorry to be like a dog chewing on an old bone, but it's still not clear to me if I will be penalised for something I was told I did not have.