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Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

markb5000
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

My contracts ended with PN and i'm now paying £42 a month for ADSL broadband + line rental.

Rang up PN's cancellation department to see if i could get a better offer and the best deal i was offered was £27.49. I haggled to get it down some more but he wouldnt budge. Was really suprised at this as i figured PN would want to keep me as a customer.

In comparison BT are offering the same service for £23.99 not to mention i can get a £100 prepaid mastercard and cashback with them. Although to be quite honest i would happily stay with PN if you could just match or beat £23.99 i dont care about the mastercard or cashback.

Already put in the order for BT but i have until 28th to change my mind so thought id just post this here as a last chance for you to keep me as a PN customer. Beat or match £23.99 for broadband + line rental on a 12month contract basis and i'll stay otherwise i'm gone on the 28th of this month Thumbs_Up

15 REPLIES 15
dvorak
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

you've already taken the correct path to get the best deal by calling customer options, you won't get any deals by posting here.
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markb5000
Grafter
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

Ok thanks worth a try Cheesy.

Will honestly miss PN but when theres a better deal elsewhere and PN wont budge on the price you just have to go elsewhere to get the better deal.

Jonpe
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

Are you seriously paying £24.01 a month for ADSL?

Come back when your BT contract ends and you'll get all the new-customer goodies.

plusmouse
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

I don`t blame you for switching Markb because for a few quid less, PN could have kept you, but BT will now get your cash. Seems silly really when there is only a few £`s of a difference. Huh Out of interest, I have a note here from when I signed up recently and it states after my 12 month contract ends, I will go from £25 a month to £27.98p at month 13. So £2.98p of a rise. But that may not account for any mid-contract rises I don`t yet know about, so it could just be an estimation.

 

Like you, I`m only paying for line and unlimited ADSL and I really can`t justify paying more for than I am now (£25 a month) for these. I don`t care about master cards or cashback either, I just want an affordable price for the services. Having to switch providers for the sake of a few £`s seems detrimental, but when your 13 month price goes sky high and PN won`t budge, what can you do?

Jonpe
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

£27.98 is £17.99 line rental + £9.99 for ADSL.  The broadband price might be the same in twelve months but the line rental is bound to have increased by £1 (it went up in September last year I seem to remember).  You know the drill:  When the time comes, contact Customer Options and ask for a better deal.

markb5000
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

@plusmouse All i will say is watch your monthly bill carefully. They have an awful habit of not informing you when the price rises or in my case it wasnt made clear until i had paid my second bill and by then it was too late for me to do anything about it.


Long story short i signed up to PN in 2015 when they had the offer on which included line rental + ADSL broadband for £16.99 for the first 12 months. First month went by as expected £16.99 came out of my account. Next month comes along and suddenly they are taking £17.49 + £16.99. I enquire with PN CS and they tell me its because i'm on a Market 1 exchange and the offer i originally signed up for was now invalidated. By then it was too late for me to cancel or do anything about it since i had already been with PN for 60 days and i was stuck in a 18 month contract.

 

I cant believe how silly it all is really. All they had to do is reduce my bill to match BTs £23.99 but the best they could offer is £27.49. Yet new PN customers can get the same deal for £20 which is exactly £3.99 cheaper than BT. Its bonkers Cheesy

ejs
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

Plusnet's £20 broadband offer is for the low-cost areas only. It's advertised as "from £20".

markb5000
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

@ejs I should hope this is made clear to new customers now. When i signed up in 2015 i had no idea i was in a Market 1 area and the offer allowed me to proceed through at the std offer price £16.99. There was no indication that i would have to pay more until my second bill shot up in price with the mention of market 1 so i had no idea. Bit late now but PN are welcome to check my account if they dont believe me.

plusmouse
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

Hi mark. According to when I checked my local exchange, I`m in a market 2 or B? area, so when I signed up, I got the offer of £25 a month for Unlimited BB and line. So like you, I didn`t see anything about any marketed areas when signing up online. There doesn`t seem to be any indicators on that, but perhaps that`s why we are asked to put our telephone number in to check, `what is available in our area`? I done this a few times and the deals came up saying `Good news, you can get X or Y deal"..

 

Isn`t it the case though if prices go up mid-contract either through universal price rises or PN changing the goal posts of the market we are on, wouldn`t that give customers the same 30 days to leave your contract agreement? Surely it would because if we sign up on a low cost area and then suddenly find that`s been changed and the price is reflected, it`s still an unwanted price change?

markb5000
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Registered: ‎13-10-2015

Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

@plusmouse you are probably fine on a market 2 exchange they have no reason to put your price up there. Not to mention my issue was from 2015 so i would hope in 2 years PN have now improved their system and issues like this would hopefully be picked up when first ordering.

If you do notice any changes you are correct, there should be 30 days to leave your contract. Unfortunately in my case i didnt realise until i got my bank statement roughly near the end of my 2nd month which by then it was too late for me to act on or doing anything about.

 

Lessons learnt and i will be watching BT very carefully now to see if i have the same issue.

plusmouse
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

Thanks Mark. I`ve just left BT after having their broadband for two years. First 12 months on Infinity 1 fibre and then wanted to join PlusNet but couldn`t as I was on a fibre product and was told by a PN chat person that I couldn`t get their ADSL broadband until BT switched me back to it, so I had to stay with BT for another 12 months on their ADSL. The recent BT price rises were my reason for making the switch to PlusNet. A year late but got here in the end!

 

Just to let you know that BT are very good and the line/broadband are stable. That`s what I found anyway and the customer services are free on 0800 too, so calls are not charged for and they usually answer quickly. So you should have a relatively good experience with BT once you are up and running. I would have stayed with BT if it wasn`t for their hefty price rises and my contract, where I got the 12 month discount was also at an end, so I had no choice but to move. Looks like I will be on the PlusNet/BT switching routine myself if I find Plusnet`s pricing goes too high. Let us know how you get on but it should only take the usual 14 days for your switch to conclude.

Jonpe
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

@markb5000  Don't you get an email on the first day of the billing period informing you of the amount that'll be taken from your account?

When I was thinking of joining PN I telephoned their sales team and asked if I was in a low-cost area, but they said they couldn't tell!

Browni
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

There's very little notice with the standard emails Plusnet send out.

For example, I received this on the 29th of March

We'll soon be taking a payment of £18.99 for your service. This will leave your account on or after 03/04/2017.

Jonpe
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Re: Leaving PN unless i get a better deal

You would have been notified of the amount of the second bill on the first day of the second billing period, which would be a month after your service (and contract) started.  However, since they'd not only failed to inform you of the correct price but also billed you incorrectly for a month, it would seem to be unfair not to release you from your contract without charge.  The fact that you didn't notice the price increase straight away and inform them earlier does count against you I'm afraid.

As far as I can tell, PN use the terms agreement and contract to mean different things.  The agreement commences when you sign up, and the contract commences when your first service is up and running.  I'm not sure from which of these dates the 30-day cancellation period starts.