Hey,
I am writing because I can't seem to get anyone through customer service to understand my confusion and frustration at their miscommunications in December. I am hoping one of the really helpful people on here (hopefully Gandalf) can help get this read by someone at Plusnet that can help me and not keep ignoring my request for answers to my questions which i'll get to after the timeline. I want to state I want to resolve this with you directly and hopefully do not need to take further action with the regulators which I believe I have a strong case for based on the transcripts and mis-communications I received by Plusnet:
Timeline:
1. left Plusnet in Oct/Nov after 14 months of an 18 month contract due to ADSL (non fibre) line issues that had not been a problem for the previous provider Sky for the previous 5 years.
2. Nov i recieved an additional invoice to be paid in Dec on the 9th clearly for cancellation charges of £35.55. I ignored it as I am pretty sure on the initial call with the provider on several occasions I asked them if I would get charged for cancelling 4 months early, mainly because if I was then I would just let it run out and not bother cancelling. I recall the customer service member stating there would not be a cancellation charge so thought this invoice was a mistake...
3. Alas Dec 9th rolls around and I am informed "Payment for the invoice failed and I had 14 days to pay the outstanding balance" or the debt would be passed to a debt collecton agency. I am trying to get my first mortgage and have never missed a payment so this scared the hell out of me as it can have serious implications on getting a mortgage. I rang Plusnet immediately to resolve the issue. I stated that I believed the cancellation charges were a mistake because I has faults on my broadband line over the 14 months and when I spoke to their colleague they had said they would be waived. She was lovely apologised and said she will add a credit to my account so that the invoice is paid in full and that as a result I do not need to worry about us passing anything to debt collection. I felt this issue was resolved at this point but definitely kept a close eye on emails to make sure i got confirmation of the credit as i have heard horror stories before.
4. Dec 18th finally i get the clarity i wanted.
Our Support Team have passed Question 209207445 to you with the comment shown below.
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| | Dear Mr XXXXX,
I have issued a credit in the amount of £35.55 which will be reflected on the account as balance and will appear on the next bill generated |
This was within the 14 days i had to pay and I was so relieved.
My first unresolved question to Plusnet support is. If you were a customer and you received this that stated a credit HAS BEEN ISSUED would you believe that you are in debt to that company still?
Alas three weeks after this Plusnet decide to send this to me.
Our Support Team have passed Question 209207445 to you with the comment shown below.
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| | Dear Mr XXXX,
Management has looked into this account and confirmed that the charges stand - we will not be recalling them from the debt collection agency or sending out a cheque to cover the balance.
We emailed you on 29/10/2020 and 01/11/2020 informing you of the charges due to you cancelling the account early therefore they are valid. |
This raises several questions that no one is answering when I have spoken to several advisors.
1. Why was I told after the 14 days had passed that the credit of £35.55 has not been applied? Also as a result why is it my fault in this situation and why would you not just request payment and apologise for the mistake and miscommunication made by Plusnet.
2. Why when you clearly lied to me about a credit being applied would you refuse to recall the debt when I request to pay the debt in full to you.
3. Why do you think its fair to pass this onto a debt collector when I have throughout this process been proactive in trying to resolve the issue with Plusnet support and you never bothered to tell me the credit hadn't been applied within my 14 day window?
4. This one is crucial to me even if the three above cannot be resolved. Will this debt affect my credit rating in anyway? It states it might in your email and I am not sure and this point is giving me sleepless nights as it could prevent me getting a mortgage. This as you can imagine hurts twice as much when it clearly wasn't my fault in this situation as I was told incorrectly my debt had been cleared.
5. Looking back at the transcript of 209207445 why is there such a big delay between my opening the case and finding out the credit had been denied on 11th Jan? Also if you read it you can clearly see customer service reps confirming what i have stated above so why wasn't this resolved immediately and an apology sent to me for the miscommunication and confusion caused by plusnet?
Summary
Advisors despite not being able to resolve my issues have been really supportive and I appreciate there isn't much they can do as this is really an issue for a manager however I don't really appreciate the lack of any admission of fault by plusnet in this situation. You have labelled me someone that cannot pay their bills while at the same time clearly messaged my saying my debt has been credited. This is unacceptable and I do not feel is fair especially when you make no attempt to contact me to resolve the issue once you realised a credit cannot be applied. It has caused me undue stress and countless hours on the phone trying to resolve only to get non-specific generic emails back every time I try and get answers. Please can someone help me get this resolved and cleared up so the debt is recalled. I don't even care at this point if you still want the £35.55. I care about the chance of this appearing on my credit file and preventing me from getting a mortgage. I believe there is no way this should even have been passed to a debt collector when Plusnet were at fault and had stated to me clearly there was a credit being applied and I also believe I should have been informed within the 14days if this wasn't possible to allow me the opportunity to pay the charge which i definitely would have done and I am still willing to do.
