Clarification required re call out charges when Plusnet-supplied equipment is declared faulty.

[#1]

Last year I had a broadband fault which the Openreach Engineer reported back as being caused by my Plusnet-supplied router,  the result being that I was charged the £65 call out fee.

The ticket response explained that because the router was outside its 1 year warranty, it was now 'my equipment' and therefore my responsibility if it was faulty rather than Plusnet's. I wasn't happy of course, but it appeared that those were the rules and I just had to lump it.

Now I'm not so sure though: 

This very recent thread leaves me confused - this involved a faulty STB rather than a router, but in both cases the call out fee was charged because the Plusnet supplied piece of kit was out of warranty and therefore no longer their responsibility. 

w23 was very lucky only having to wait 'nearly 4 weeks' to find out he was going to be charged - my engineer visit was 1st December 2016 and I was advised of the charge on 20th January 2017, this being the first occasion the term 'outside of its warranty peiod' was used.

From the T&C's, giving the circumstances when the call out fee will be applied:

8.2.4. you report a fault, an engineer attends your premises and discovers the fault was not due to our services or equipment or, the reported fault was not present.

Reading that, most people with a Plusnet-supplied router could surely be forgiven for regarding it as an item of Plusnet equipment, but in reality if it's more than 1 year old, not only is it now your responsibility, but also the onus is on you if you have a broadband fault to know that, because Plusnet won't warn you of the possible consequences.

Good luck to w23 for securing his waiver, but having coughed up my £65 in similar, albeit not identical circumstances, I would like to hear a definitive statement from Plusnet as to when the charges will and won't be applied when equipment supplied by them is declared faulty.

[#2]

I would imagine (though could be wrong on it) that the broadband and TV T&Cs and the circumstances of them would both be quite separate and so the rules around them could be different.  I don't think (though again could be wrong) that the TV engineers are from Openreach as the Phone/Broadband engineers are.

Usually before Plusnet (or any ISP for that matter) will book an engineer you agree that you have tried a number of troubleshooting steps including using the test socket and another router.  If you'd have tried another router and still had the issue then it would have been unlikely (though not impossible!) that it was the router at issue.

I say "usually" at the beginning of that last paragraph as if you raised it over the phone, its always possible that the agent forgot to ask you that, so in those kind of situations then it would be difficult to say always.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

Hi @JayG,

Thanks for getting in touch. I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused by the engineer charge.

Without being able to go into too much detail, the engineer charge was waived for the OP on the linked post as there was  conflicting information given to them about when the Youview engineer charge would/wouldn't apply,

As per @pjmarsh's response, for broadband issues, we ask customers to try an alternative router and to try connecting directly to the test socket, as this rules out the vast majority of internal wiring/equipment issues. However, having said that, I've had a look into the history of your fault and can see that - prior to the engineer appointment- you had advised us that you had tried another router and that it hadn't resolved the problem. It's unusual for both routers to be faulty, but not out of the realms of possibility. As a goodwill gesture, I've taken the decision to send you a refund to cover the engineer charge. You should receive this refund within 5-10 working days.

[#4]

Thanks for the reply @EmilyD.

Yes, I didn't want to over-complicate the point I was trying to make by mentioning that I had indeed experienced the same fault using my spare TG582n. Unlikely as it seemed that they could have both developed the same fault at the same time, the fact that they were both out of warranty seemed to leave me without a leg to stand on all of a sudden.

Your response on behalf of Plusnet is very fair - thanks,

I hope this thread will at least provide a cautionary warning to those unaware of the implications of their equipment being out of warranty when a fault occurs.

[#5]

No problems at all.
Please let us know if you need any further help in the future.

[#6]

Coming back to this...

I would like to hear a definitive statement from Plusnet as to when the charges will and won't be applied when equipment supplied by them is declared faulty.

Here's current statement we have to advise you of before we book an engineer visit for phone/broadband faults.

If the engineer finds the problem is with your internal wiring, your equipment, the condition of your property or the Openreach network has been damaged within the boundary of your property by things like building or garden works or if no fault is found, you will receive a charge of £65 to cover the cost of the engineer. This charge will also apply if you miss the appointment or you cancel without giving us 2 working days' notice.

my engineer visit was 1st December 2016 and I was advised of the charge on 20th January 2017

We'd add the call-out fee to your account within 90 days as it'll take time for a charge to come through to us and for our billing team to review the charge before passing part of it on to you if applicable.

Reading that, most people with a Plusnet-supplied router could surely be forgiven for regarding it as an item of Plusnet equipment, but in reality if it's more than 1 year old, not only is it now your responsibility, but also the onus is on you if you have a broadband fault to know that, because Plusnet won't warn you of the possible consequences.

Should you be using a router we provided, which is still under its 1 year warranty/you're still within the same contract where we supplied you with the router, and it is deemed faulty by an engineer, we wouldn't pass a fee on to you.

If the router is out of warranty/you're not in the same contract where we sent you the router, we *should* be asking you to try a different router to avoid us having to pass a call-out fee on to you should the router be found faulty by an engineer.

I've not checked your account, but it sounds like you've been unlucky in that two routers have gone wrong.

But I'm glad to see we're refunding the charge as a gesture of goodwill for you.

I don't think (though again could be wrong) that the TV engineers are from Openreach

The TV engineers we arrange are from Qube.

Hope this helps explain things a bit.