Credit Report being given a negative due to Plusnet incompetence

[#1]

This one takes the biscuit, my credit report is being hit with a negative this month due to Plusnet's inability to sort out their billing system.

Long story short - we have 3 mobile accounts, having sacked them on home phone & broadband already, and the one (in fact all and always have been with no defaults even when they screwed up) in question has been paid (bank DD records shows this to be the case) but it doesn't show the last 2 payments in billing history, so I suppose they're being vigilant and reporting non-payment to credit reference agencies.

Here's where it will get good, and I really hope a Plusnet staff member will pick this one up as i really wouldn't have the will to live doing this over the phone.

Will Plusnet correct their mistakes and correct the credit reference agency error in a timely fashion?

Will they look into why this has triggered in the first place due to their systems?

Will they inform ALL those effected by this type of error so there are no credit application rejections due to this error type?

Hopefully a great reply from Plusnet on this, but in the meantime I'd suggest everyone with a Plusnet account check their credit reports, (mine alerted on Equifax, Clearscore is the free site to access the basics of that one, I won't post links to either just google and sign up for the free report/alert stuff).

[#2]

Hi @rickief

I'm really sorry to hear about the issues you have encountered with your billing.

We sent out emails to our customers affected by this outlining we would be manually amending credit files that may have been effected. In these emails we provided different codes at the bottom.

Are you able to please provide these codes via PM including the mobile numbers they correlate to?

Kind Regards

[#3]

Hi Ollie, I received no email relating to this, a couple about the billing being delayed/changed/messed up but nothing referring to credit files and definitely nothing with a 'code' in it.

I can't seem to PM you the account/mobile number either so - Account Number: [Removed]

I won't include the mobile number here and I'd appreciate the account number being removed from the post as soon as you can take a note of it, thanks.

[#4]

Hi @rickief,

I'm sorry for any inconvenience that this issue is causing you. Thank you for confirming your account number.

We'll need to run through some DPA checks in order to access your mobile accounts and look into this for you and I would very strongly recommend that this is not done via the post here as it's likely that a member of the public would see your details before we have the opportunity to flag these to the moderator for removal.

Please can you try and send me a private message with your full name, your full address including the postcode and the mobile numbers for the accounts in question? If it allows you to do this, please then drop us another message on here so that we can make sure this is picked back up for you.

If it won't allow you to send me a PM, you'll need to give us a call and pass the DPA checks on the phone, I'm afraid. Our customer service team are available by calling 500 from a Plusnet mobile or 0800 079 1133 from any other phone.

[#5]

Hi Emily, PM sent (it worked this time).

[#6]

Thank you for letting me know that you've sent a PM, I'm glad to hear that it's worked this time. I've sent you another PM, please drop another message on here once you've replied so we can make sure this is picked back up

[#7]

Replied Emily

[#8]

Thanks for providing that information, @rickief - that's great.

I've checked your account and we can't find any reason that your credit file would be negatively impacted.

If you have a copy of this information via Experian, could you please provide it via a PM (as a screenshot) and we'll raise this with our credit team on your behalf to be rectified?

Best wishes

Dave

[#9]

Hi Randall, PM sent with report information.

[#10]

Thanks for that, @rickief

I've raised this with our credit team and will come back to you as soon as I know more.

Best wishes

Dave

[#11]

Hi @rickief

Thanks for your patience whilst we investigated this. I've spoken to our credit team and they'll be removing the information you've highlighted from your credit report.

Credit agencies update their reports once a month, so don't be concerned if this doesn't update straight away.

My apologies that this was placed in error and thank you for your patience whilst we resolve this for you.

Best wishes

Dave

[#12]

Lucky I wasn't applying for a mortgage this month then as this goes on my credit file in 1 day, on the monthly update.

This is going to effect my credit rating for the interim amount of time until it is not only removed but scrubbed from my file.

Should we need to apply for credit this month for example we are royally stuffed due to PN incompetence, and banks don't accept a print out of an email or forum post from a company that screwed up.

Really bad timing as we are moving home and are utilising our credit leverage this month, therefor I do require an official response from your 'credit team' on paper regarding this, at the very least they should see it as their duty to apologise for such a mishandling of a persons information under GDPR.

Or will it be a referral to the I.C. under the laws regarding data misuse and information storage systems failure?

Basically PN have their coats on a slack nail on this and it is totally unacceptable as this is not just an extra 50p charge on a phone bill it is a failure in managing data held on customers, as data custodians, which fortunately does now carry proportional penalties, large ones.

A stock apology on a post is not acceptable, a timeline from the 'credit team' is required as I know only too well this type of information can take several months to 'settle' to what it actually should be, having worked on a number of finance systems over the last 35 years.

[#13]

Hello @rickief

I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused by this. We forward the report once a month to the following three credit agencies - Experian, Equifax and Call Credit.

This then takes the companies 30 days to update the error on their system. Therefore, as we have requested this record to be removed, it should be amended by the end of May.

If you wish for the process to be carried out sooner, you will have to get in touch with the credit reference agencies and make them aware you are disputing the 'non-payment' charges. They in return contact ourselves and the issues are resolved a lot sooner.

Unfortunately, as we are a paperless company and will not be able to issue you a letter from our credit team in regards to query. In addition to this the team this task is raised to, work in administration and are not customer facing.

Should you require any further assistance, please feel free to get back in touch with us.

Kind regards.

[#14]

I am very aware of how this works, and Plusnet have clearly been negligent in customer data handling.

As for contacting the agencies this is a long and frustrating task I wouldn't wish on anyone, don't forget they managed to hide their actual presence for some years they are not good at co-operation.

As for being a 'paperless' company are you saying no Plusnet offices have a printer?  Don't be patronising.

As for - "Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. This then takes the companies 30 days to update the error on their system."

It's not their error it is Plusnets, they will handle the default procedure as they always do, Plusnet needs to ensure ALL errors like this are addressed as a matter of urgency and not a hand off to customers after a weak apology.

I would hope the credit team are now on overtime getting down to checking if any more errors like this have been made so no one else has a nasty surprise coming!  Or are they enjoying a holiday weekend...

[#15]

Hello @rickief

I will pass on your feedback to the relevant team.

In terms of the actions we have taken, this is the process we follow and will not be able to speed up the timescale.

In addition to this, we will not be able to issue you with a letter that you have requested. As the credit team are not customer facing.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Kind regards.