Can Plusnet restart my account?

[#1]

Hello,
I have been a loyal Plusnet customer for 6 years. Always paid my bills on time, and always been happy with Plusnet.
I moved house a few months ago, so phoned Plusnet to move my account to the new address. The service advisor created a new account, and took my bank details for setting up a direct debit. I then cancelled the old direct debit.
The router arrived but didn’t work. Then I received an email about a missed payment. I had intended to contact plusnet to sort this out, but I’ve had a very busy couple of months (new job, house move, family stuff). Anyway, by the time I got around to contacting plusnet, I was told that my account has been closed, a contractual fee of £170 has been added to my 2 month outstanding payments, and it’s been passed to debt collection.
I’ve asked plusnet if there’s anyway my account can be restarted and I can set up a new direct debit, but I’ve been told no, once it’s with debt collection there’s no way on this earth plusnet can take the debt back, allow me to pay, and reopen my account.
I fully accept that I should’ve contacted plusnet sooner to sort out the missing payment, but was I wrong to assume they would have set up a direct debit after taking my bank details? Is there really no way my account can be restarted? I never missed one payment in the previous 6 years, and have just had a busy couple of months, like most of us do sometimes. It seems a bit severe to pass it to debt collection so quickly, and refuse my offers to pay my bill to date and set up a new direct debit for my account.
Is there anything I can do here? Or do I have to pay the £240 to the debt collection agency, and set up a new broadband account (with a different provider of course).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you

[#2]

HI @sam127, thanks for your post.

I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you've had over the past couple of months, with your house move and new job (congrats!) taking up most of your time.

I'm afraid that the advice given over the phone is correct - As the account is closed, we are not able to re-open it and cannot recall any debt as it's been sent over correctly and in line with the terms of service.

I'm sorry that I'm not able to assist further in this regard.

[#3]

I would suggest that you speak to Citizen's Advice about this.

Do you have any documentation (e-mails, chat transcripts, etc) about your new contract and the Direct Debit details you provided? You can check with your bank to see whether Plusnet  tried to set a DD up, and if so whether it was rejected for any reason (if they didn't attempt to set one up, or it was rejected because they got something wrong then it would weaken their case considerably).

It may be within the terms of service, but it seems very quick to pass it on to a debt collection agency. This will affect your credit rating! I haven't paid Plusnet anything for my service for a year (billing issues), so it isn't particularly equitable treatment.

Incidentally, I assume your broadband never actually worked?

[#4]

Hi @corringham, thanks for your input - it's appreciated.

Whilst @sam127 is of course within their rights to seek advice, it wouldn't change the fact that we do not have the facility within our system to reactivate the account once it has the status that it has.

[#5]

@OskarPapa, I accept that your system may not allow an account to be reactivated, but it is Plusnet's system, and was presumably deliberately designed to behave in a way that is inflexible and alienates customers. It doesn't quite match up to the claims of great customer service does it?

[#6]

I understand, rather than it being a deliberate choice it's part of how our systems interact with each other which means we can't re-open a closed account. I am sorry for the inconvenience though.

[#7]

Thanks for your reply Corringham.
I haven’t got WiFi at home (obviously) hence my late response.
Re the setting up of the direct debit - this was all done over the phone, so no chat transcript to confirm that the advisor said they would set up another direct debit. I will speak to my bank and find out if PN tried to set one up, but I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t have worked if they did. I’ll also speak to CAB.
I’ve now had further contact from PN saying that the amount I owe is now £284! 😱
I’ve been thinking of approaching PN to ask if, as a good will gesture, they could do me a good deal on a year’s broadband. I would pay the ‘fine’ and pay for broadband at a reduced rate. Am I dreaming? Or do you think they might go for that? It would mean they would keep a customer of 6 years, and I wouldn’t be quite so out of pocket..