Bad Practice by Plusnet Advisor

[#1]

Hello Guys,
Last Month I renewed my yearly line discount by paying in advance and in full as it was drawing to an end. I spoke with the advisor who took all my card details and ensured that payment was successful. At the same time I  enquired about my unlimited calls and broadband which was also on a discounted rate.
I asked one simple question,
"As i have paid for my line rental upfront, will I continue to get my other discounts on my phone calls and broadband, or would i need to cancel and start again?
Advisors answer: "No everything on your account will continue as it is and you don't need to do anything else as nothing will change"
Obviously not as I have just been billed for the full amount and when i called to ask why i was told that I should have cancelled and started again!!! And should wait another twelve months.
Now I’m losing out. Either there was an error made by the first advisor or they thought I would not notice if they overlooked it. 
Can anyone advise as I would be more than happy to cancel and start again as this is an account i pay for my pensioner mother. 
This is unreliable advice, as I wouldn't have got the discount on the line rental and ignored the other.

[#2]

Scoprion - you made the mistake of speaking to only one call centre operative.  Did you ask for his/her name and make a note of the date and time?
PlusNet will now tell you that the original advice was wrong, and that the second advisor was correct.  Alternatively, PlusNet may come up with a completely new perspective.
Whatever happens, you will have no way of proving what was said in either of your phone conversations.  It's called the 'Call Centre Culture', and it works to the advantage of the call centre operators - it's time for a major investigation similar to the rip-off practices of the energy suppliers - the privatisations of the 1980s were intended to put an end to these monopolistic practices.

[#3]

The first advisor was almost certainly correct - everything would continue without change
You wouldn't enter into a new contract for broadband so your existing deal would continue until it ran out
So if you signed up for a discounted broadband contract that would continue until the discounted period ran out
Line Rental Saver is completely independent of your other contracts/discounts

[#4]

OldJim - it is not good enough to say that a PlusNet advisor was 'almost certainly' correct - there should be no room for doubt.

[#5]

As I am just a customer who has zero access to a users account I can only make suggestions as to the situation from my general knowledge of how things work
You also should be aware that all calls are recorded and can be checked so your supposition in your first post isn't right

[#6]

I have twice needed to refer to recorded phone calls.  Once with a major bank, who took two days to confirm that my version of events was correct, and once with a local council, who took ten minutes to confirm that their equipment had failed to record my phone call.
The promise of recorded phone calls is as unreliable as the information which is so easily denied.

[#7]

Hi scoprion,
I've had a look into this for you and I can see that your broadband discount was outlined and agreed to by yourself on Ticket: 67752200.
As Oldjim stated already: arranging Line Rental Saver is separate to any existing discounts for broadband on your account. By taking out LRS this will not apply further discounts to your broadband. The advisor was correct in saying that everything would continue on your account as normal.
To explain this in more detail I have created Ticket: 82782903 on your account.
I'm sorry for any confusion caused by this.

[#8]

@LinnK - if the original advisor was correct, then why was the customer sent an incorrect bill, followed by a wrong answer from a different advisor?

[#9]

KK, I'm not able to discuss this customer's bill publicly as this is breaching the Data Protection Act. This has been explained to the customer on their account and if they choose to post an explanation on here then this is up to them.

[#10]

@LinnK - the customer is anonymous - Data Protection does not apply.  There is no reason for you not to explain why your customer was given two different replies by two different advisors, and was sent an inaccurate bill - you are free to say that the customer has not told the truth (if that is what you believe).

[#11]

I think its fair to say that discussing customer discounts/bills/transactions in an open forum is generally avoided by any company regardless of any DPA implications, if any. As should goading staff for answers when they have already said the case is being dealt with directly with the customer.
Without prying for any further details, The OP said...

Quote from: scoprion

Last Month I renewed my yearly line discount

which meant he had done this already around the same time last year...
Now the OP might not have realised at the time, but the BB discount is separate to any agreement on the phone package. I would guess that last year, The OP agreed a discount with PNET which was placed against the cost of the BB. 12 months later called up and renewed the phone payment and asked if the BB and calls will change. Since the adviser has not made any changes to  them has confirmed nothing will change...
Yes the Pnet staff member could have done a bit more to check if anything else was changing such as discounts, but whos to say discounts were mentioned at all during this conversation? 
Eitherway,...this..

Quote from: KK

Scoprion - you made the mistake of speaking to only one call centre operative.  Did you ask for his/her name and make a note of the date and time? PlusNet will now tell you that the original advice was wrong, and that the second advisor was correct.  Alternatively, PlusNet may come up with a completely new perspective.

Sounds more like call centre scaremongering than actual help which the OP was looking for.

[#12]

Indeed - I've always found PN Staff on the forums to be honest and admit if they've made mistakes.
I've also never known them not to be able to find a telephone recording of a conversation / offer etc.

[#13]

If a customer chooses to post his/her issues onto a public forum, then it seems reasonable to assume that he/she is interested in a more general discussion than is possible with a poorly-trained, poorly-informed, poorly-paid call centre operative with a poor attitude.
The correct response from PlusNet staffers to people who are looking for a specific response to a specific problem would be to tell them to follow the usual channels, and ring the call centre.

[#14]

Quote from: DomS

I've always found PN Staff on the forums to be honest and admit if they've made mistakes. I've also never known them not to be able to find a telephone recording of a conversation / offer etc

Most people deal only with the Call Centre, and never make contact with PN staff on the forums.
How many times have you needed to find a telephone recording of a conversation/offer etc?

[#15]

I work for a major financial sector business, we have a very high spec call recording system in all its call centres that records every conversation both for fraud monitoring and training, I would expect PN to have a similar system installed which has the ability to lookup every conversation via name, customer number, phone number etc.
I do have to agree with what Linn and others have said, the customer was told the correct information and PN shouldn't be discussing their case in a public forum in detail as it is in breach of DPA.
PN don't just do what other lazy representatives on forums do, and tell everyone they have to phone up, they actually help and where DPA is concerned they will quickly and helpfully take all discussion to the ticket system.