Poor customer service

[#1]

Having been with Plusnet for my broadband a few years (before BT takeover) and having had a good experience I decided to take up their new mobile offer a few weeks ago.

Within my first 14 days Plusnet introduced a better offer so I called to move to that tariff. The agent I spoke to could not understand how this was a better offer despite more data, more minutes and included Roam Like Home. The initial offer I took did not include EU roaming despite it being offered after the new EU rules.

I tried to explain but the agent then said she couldn't find the offer despite my seeing it on the Plusnet website open in front of me. 

To cut a long story short I asked to cancel my contract as I was within the 14 days cooling-off period and the agent OK and tried to end the call. Uncertain my account would get closed I asked to speak to the supervisor who agreed to close the account.

Then a week or so later I got an email informing me my new bill was now online and PN would be taking the payment on 18-08-2017.

I used online Chat to ask PN what was going on and told "it looks like the cancellations request didn't go though properly" and "I'll get that put through again my end right now, and I'll also credit the account which will wipe the current bill"; I was also told "to be safe cancel your direct debit and when it bounces back it'll use the account credit."

A few days later I got another email saying "We tried to take the payment for your latest bill but we've been notified that your Direct Debit has been cancelled, so we've been unable to take payment. This means we've had to suspend your account".

Again I used online Chat and was kept on-hold for almost an hour then when I got through was transferred to the mobile division on-hold again then connected but the chat client refused to send my text. So then I tried Twitter and was told it was all now sorted.

This morning I got another email threatening to take a "£10 late payment fee" should my payment not be met by the payment due date.

It's not surprising your customer services are so busy when they or the systems in place repeatedly fail to action customers requests.

It's such a shame to see a once customer focussed company end-up like this.

[#2]

Hi IG!

I'm sorry to hear about this today! We always strive to provide a great level of Customer Service, however, it looks as though we've missed the mark on this occasion! I can only apologise for this, and I hope that we can sort this out for you!

On our 30 day rolling SIM Only deals, you have the flexibility to change your tariff every month. The great news is that most of our deals are available for both our new and existing customers! I can only apologise that the agent was unable to find your preferred deal for you, and that they couldn't understand why you wanted to move on to it. I'll certainly pass this on to the relevant department, who will be more than happy to look into this for you!

Without looking at your account, it would appear that you had taken out one of our UK only deals, and this is why you were unable to access the Roam Like At Home feature. Most of our deals now come with the Roam Like At Home feature, allowing you to use your inclusive bundle allowances while in certain European countries. 

From what you've advised in your post, it's possible that our system has automatically sent out this email as another bill had already been produced before the cancellation had been processed. This will be dependent on when your Bundle Refresh Date and bill production date are. Unfortunately, i'll be unable to confirm this without looking at your account.

If you do unfortunately wish to cancel your account with us, then a 30 day notice period will apply, unless you cancel within the initial 14 day period. You can request your PAC code from us at the same time, allowing you to take your mobile number to your new provider. This is a smooth and simple process, and should be sent to you via text and email, within two hours of your request being received.

On some occasions, you may receive an additional bill after you've cancelled your account. This bill may be to credit you for any overpayments that you had made, or to advise of an outstanding balance on the account.
We would normally advise you to keep your Direct Debit open until you've received a final bill, as cancelling your Direct Debit could incur charges from both ourselves and your bank. I apologise that you were misadvised to cancel your Direct Debit, and i'll pass this on to the relevant department to be looked into for you. The £10.00 Late Payment Fee email that you had received today will possibly have been an automatic system response, due to this.

I'd be happy to check that your account cancellation has been processed for you, as well as look into the emails that you've received in regards to your billing, so please don't hesitate to drop me a PM and i'll be sure to follow this up there! -Sean