Cannot cancel or change contract

[#1]

Hello. My original broadband contract ran out last month and I have been billed £42 when it was £24 previously.

The issue is I have no way to cancel it or renew the contract on the "My Account" page... all it shows is the following:

"You can't change your products for the moment, you have an order which is currently being processed. Please try again later."

I have not ordered anything and have not changed any products. Frankly, this seems like an incredibly poor practice (potentially illegal?) and I would like to just cancel my contract entirely and change to another provider at this point.

[#2]

Hello @Jeton 

A warm welcome to the forums.

Be assured that there is nothing sinister here, but there are gremlins in BT's B2B processes regarding telephone service configuration settings.  There are circumstances where BT's systems appear to not successfully confirm that requested phone options have been processed successfully and thus they sit as "outstanding" on the Plusnet end of things.

The SUs have been discussing this with Plusnet and I will add this case to those already cited.

If you want to change suppliers, then that would be a choice for you to make - there is no need to cancel with Plusnet, you just ask a new supplier to take over your existing line.  That said, generally speaking to Plusnet COTs will generally deliver a better deal than renewing online and they will be able to deal with the "outstanding" change issue on your account.

Contact Customer Options Team (aka COTS)

COTs is the place to go to if you want to find out anything to do with your contract in respect of leaving, renewing or simply enquiring about early termination charges (ETCs). They have their own number and tend to answer quicker than the general customer service number.

Direct dial numbers

• 0800 013 2632(from within the UK)
• +44 330 123 9197 (from abroad)
• Available...
  • 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
  • 9am - 7pm Saturday
  • 9am - 6pm Sunday

[#3]

Superuser citation

This topic has been cited by one of the Superusers; the purpose of which is to provide a note for information which might help to focus continued discussion (but might not result in a staff response).

[#4]

Hello.

Thanks for the reply, however I have decided to go for another supplier. To be honest, this seems to be a very common issue and has happened for at least the last few months, so I am not convinced there isn't something more sinister or an indifference going on as this wasn't an issue with the last two suppliers.

Seems like it is essential that Plusnet would prioritise the issue, but I assume most of the profit is made on preying on contracts that have run out. Having an issue which prevents contract changes without a phone call only works in Plusnet's favour in this regard, but it doesn't matter anymore. I am out of pocket this time but I will not be looking at Plusnet in the future.

[#5]

This does need a staffer touch and I have escalated the case previously.

That is a sad take on matters, but I do understand that is your perception and prerogative, but that doe not make it the truth.  There are known issues with the BT B2B interface and I am not convinced that all of the issues are on Plusnet's side of the fence.

There is something quite perverse here - if it had not been for the issue under discussion, the on-line renewal price would probably have been more than what might have been squeezed out of COTs with a telephone call!!  Contract renewals are usually best done over the phone.

Agents sometimes have deals / options not available online.  Such is the nature of virtually everything everywhere these days.  I recently pushed back on my RAC renewal - I got 15 months of cover for a pro-rata rate much better than the price for 12 months.

[#6]

Hiya @Jeton,

I'm really sorry you are unable to change your deal online and for the hassle this has caused, which has lead you to move to a new provider. 

This was not a sinister move on our part and I can assure you that the case of the issue is that the automated system that placed the order did not close the order correctly on the account, even though it was closed on all other systems. 

This has prevented any changes being made via the self serve  option and it is not something we would be aware of until it has been brought to our attention as you have done currently. 

I have fixed this for you and you should not have any further issues. Please get back to me if you need any further help.