Double Billing?
I addressed this exact point in my preceding post.
Quote from: Bob If you've incurred any bank charges or similar because of the mistake then raise a ticket on your account and we'll see what we can do to redress the problem.
Quote from: Bob
I addressed this exact point in my preceding post.
Quote from: Bob If you've incurred any bank charges or similar because of the mistake then raise a ticket on your account and we'll see what we can do to redress the problem.
Quote from: rengarth Although this issue doesn't directly affect myself I would be interested to know what Plusnet's position will be for customers this affects who are sent overdrawn by this mistake. Will Plusnet accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing and offer to repay any charges incurred?
I must point out that "we'll see what we can do to redress the problem" is not the same as "accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing and offer to repay any charges incurred"
I'd also like to add that there have been a number of occasions where I myself have been billed incorrectly, and Plusnet's approach to this is to allow the overbilling to go through and then refund the overcharge.
Personally I don't know of any other company that takes this approach.
Having worked in a Finance department for an Independent Financial Advisor, a private company AND a County Council, I know that there are systems in place that allow for invoices to be cancelled, amended and manual invoices to be raised with the correct charges BEFORE any payment is taken from a bank by any payment method. It's understandable when I incur such a problem with Plusnet that I become frustrated by the excuses I am given about how this can't be done.
I would also add that I have already informed the Plusnet Customer Services Department (via a previous formal complaint) that any further errors made by Plusnet in billing or any other issues will result in my switching to another provider. Despite the current service I have from Plusnet being cheaper elsewhere, I remain as a loyal customer of almost 8 years. For how much longer depends on how Plusnet decide to perform in the future.
Quote from: rengarth
Quote from: Bob
I addressed this exact point in my preceding post.
Quote from: Bob If you've incurred any bank charges or similar because of the mistake then raise a ticket on your account and we'll see what we can do to redress the problem.
Quote from: rengarth Although this issue doesn't directly affect myself I would be interested to know what Plusnet's position will be for customers this affects who are sent overdrawn by this mistake. Will Plusnet accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing and offer to repay any charges incurred?
I must point out that "we'll see what we can do to redress the problem" is not the same as "accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing and offer to repay any charges incurred"
In which case - we accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing, and will repay any charges incurred providing evidence of said charges can be provided. That better?
Quote from: rengarth I'd also like to add that there have been a number of occasions where I myself have been billed incorrectly, and Plusnet's approach to this is to allow the overbilling to go through and then refund the overcharge.
Personally I don't know of any other company that takes this approach.
Having worked in a Finance department for an Independent Financial Advisor, a private company AND a County Council, I know that there are systems in place that allow for invoices to be cancelled, amended and manual invoices to be raised with the correct charges BEFORE any payment is taken from a bank by any payment method. It's understandable when I incur such a problem with Plusnet that I become frustrated by the excuses I am given about how this can't be done.
In this instance, it *can't* be done! As soon as we realised what had happened, the money had *already be debited* from customers' credit/debit card accounts. A refund was the only way to go. As myself and others have already pointed out, we *did* stop the Direct Debit payments from being submitted to the bank.
Quote from: Anon Whilst we are being told that DD customers are not affected in the sense that the money will not be taken, it seems to me that Plus had first of all better send out correct notifications, because under the DD guarantee they HAVE TO SEND SUCH NOTICES BEFORE taking any money and any customer who is not told the correct amount at least 3 days, with Plus though should be 10 days, is entitled to cancel any payment that is taken from their account and instruct the bank to claim the money back from plus.
We're currently working on sending out revised payment notification emails to the Direct Debit payers. The monies will then be collection three working days later (during the first week of February). Not sure what you're gettign at with the 10 day thing, as our Direct Debit Guarantee states 3 days:
[quote author="Plusnet Direct Debit Guarantee"]If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit Plusnet plc will notify you 3 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.
Quote from: Anon Much the same if they had taken the double amount then you can simply instruct your bank to reclaim the money, it's what Plus signed up for with the DD guarantee.
Theoretical situation as we haven't overcharged any Direct Debit payers.
Quote from: Anon Now plus are you going to send the correct amount of what you intend taking from my account by DD within the time BEFORE you take ANY money, or am I going to the bank and asking them to reclaim any money until you correctly advise me in the correct time that you have promised to do so?
We will be doing this. Even if we weren't though, I fail to see why you'd cause yourself all the extra hassle by claiming a chargeback when we've billed you correctly?
Quote from: Bob In which case - we accept responsibility for any bank charges incurred by this error in double-billing, and will repay any charges incurred providing evidence of said charges can be provided. That better?
An admirable approach. Thank you for the clarification. I will also concede one point: Where a customer approaches their bank and advises them that a payment taken was a mistake on the part of the payee, most banks will waive or at least delay the application of bank charges until the situation is resolved.
Quote from: Bob In this instance, it *can't* be done! As soon as we realised what had happened, the money had *already be debited* from customers' credit/debit card accounts. A refund was the only way to go. As myself and others have already pointed out, we *did* stop the Direct Debit payments from being submitted to the bank.
Can you clarify this for me please. Are you saying that, if a Direct Debit customer contacts yourselves on the same day they get their email notification, and advises you that there is an error on the bill, you ARE able to stop the direct debit and correct the matter before re-billing?
I ask this because there have been at least two previous occasions where I have been billed incorrectly, contacted Plusnet on the day I received the notification, and was told that I would have to allow the incorrect payment to go through and then wait for a refund of the difference.
Quote from: Anon Can I just remind you Mr Pullen what we signed up for when we allowed you access to our bank accounts http://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs/businesses/directdebit/collecting/pages/customersrights.aspx
Quote If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit (insert your organisation name)will notify you (insert number of) working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request (insert your organisation name) to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.
BACS used to add 10 working days because that is the industry standard and perhaps you might remember a debate on here a few years ago about the pros and cons of Plus using a non-industry standard and only allowing 3 working days for customers to be able to check that amount and have some leeway to challenge if they thought the amount was wrong, rather than simply asking their bank for a refund.
To my knowledge, each DD notification that Plusnet send out states the amount of the bill, and the date on which it will be taken. However, I do see your point about the notice period of the date on which the payment will be taken.
My telephone service used to be with BT and the period between notification and actual payment was 2 weeks. The same period applies to my mobile phone contract. I wonder if Plusnet might want to consider extending the notice period so that bills are raised, for example, on the 1st of the month, but payment taken 2 weeks later in order to give customers the opportunity to review their bills and dispute any errors in plenty of time.
Quote from: Anon I guess that many people have been quite concerned, as I was, to believe that I had overspent what I expected by over £20 and my first reaction was to trawl through my telephone calls to find the offending call or calls. Now without actually adding them all up, how do I know what amount is due, if you send me an email with a wrong amount. Even suggesting that we should allow such practice from you is shameful on your and Plusnets behalf. If you are not willing to live up to what you have guaranteed to us and you have undertaken with the Banking Industry, what hope is there for anything else you say.
In all honesty here, even though there is a huge responsibility on the part of Plusnet to ensure they bill correctly in the first place, it IS the responsibility of a customer to check their own bills. Not just with Plusnet but with any consumer service provider. And if that means checking each and every call made on a phone bill then so be it. I check all my bills monthly and I'm thankful that Plusnet itemise every single call, even those that have a Zero charge, as opposed to some providers who only itemise calls over a certain monetary amount.
Quote You do yourselves no favours, and it seems to me that you go out of your way to make mistakes on a regular basis
Thankfully this doesn't happen on a regular basis
Quote happened to me as well
Let me know if there's anything gone addressed here in relation to your account.
Quote from: _Adam_Walker_
Quote You do yourselves no favours, and it seems to me that you go out of your way to make mistakes on a regular basis
Thankfully this doesn't happen on a regular basis
