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Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

alct
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎14-02-2020

Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

My broadband contract and line rental both expire on 18th February 2020. I have successfully renewed my contract at £3 per month, however now am unable to renew my line rental. When I rang to speak to an operator today I found out that apparently 'I have done it the wrong way round'.

Now I am unable to renew my line rental until 19th February - when the price increases by £12.00. There was nothing on my reminder email to indicate that I had to do things in a set order.

Needless to say I am not impressed with this, the person I spoke to on the phone tried to renew it for me too but was unable to. Surely there should have been something on the email I received to tell me I had to the contract first and the line rental after.

Any help gratefully received!

13 REPLIES 13
jgb
Champion
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Unfortunately this a the result of a shortcoming in Plusnet's systems in that you cannot have more than one pending order in place at any one time. It is a very poor show that this limitation is there and that customers repeatedly are seen on these forums to fall foul of it. It happens in circumstances such as yours and also if you want to change your call plan at the same time as a recontract etc. Plusnet have said that you did things in the wrong order but in the past doing it in the reverse order has resulted in a similar but opposite problem - perhaps they have solved that one!

It is abouit time that this shortcoming was addressed and negated. As I said, it has been raised before on these forums.

It should not be beyond the wit of Plusnet to ensure that in this instance you are not financially disadvantaged by their systems and their inability to advise customers clearly about the consequences of proceeding with renewals etc., in a particular order. Assuming you spoke to the Customer Options Team to negotiate your new contract it seems obvious that they should have advised you of this and ensured that you were not put in your current position.

It is particularly important to be aware of the implications of the timing of LRS renewals with the advent of fixed price contracts as, if you get it right, when renewing LRS mid contract you do so at the previous price (the contract being a fixed price one for line rental as well as broadband) and if that renewal takes you over the next recontract, the subsequent LRS renewal will still be at the old price...ad infinitum, until Plusnet change the rules.

Baldrick1
Moderator
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

I nearly fell into this trap. I rang to renew my broadband contract with the intention of sorting out a new LRS on line. I fortunately told the Plusnet agent this and he pointed out this snag. I therefore renewed the two together, which 'the computer' does allow.

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jgb
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Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

@Baldrick1 

Sounds like it depends on who you get at the COT. Possibly an opportunity for some staff training to ensure the right questions are asked and the options etc., explained correctly to the customer.

Baldrick1
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Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

@jgb 

Maybe, but also maybe @alct  responded to the email and renewed on line rather than ringing in?

I suspect that this might be key in that you may not be able to renew the two together without calling Plusnet.

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alct
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎14-02-2020

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Yes that is correct, I had my own diary note to renew (both contract and line rental), received the email reminder too, so logged in and did it online. I only rang when I realised that the system wouldn't let me proceed to renew the line rental.

If plusnet systems do not allow this then the least they should do it put a message on their internet pages and on any emails advising customers about this, then we could ring to check with an adviser how best to proceed. Or stop sending messages tempting me with discounts only to have it ripped away before my eyes!

Thank you all for your replies, they are really helpful and I appreciate it 👍

Strat
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Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from ADSL Broadband to Accounts/Billing.

 

 

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Gandalf
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Thanks for your post @alct and renewing with us. What I'd normally do in these situations is if you pay line rental saver when you can after the new contract goes through, presumably on your billing date, I'd be happy to refund the line rental we generate in that bill back to you then shorten the line rental saver by 1 month. 

This should in effect keep your contract and line rental saver end dates sync'd up, obviously this will only work if you've signed up to a 12 or 24 month contract. 

Let me know if you do end up paying line rental saver and I'll be happy to arrange this for you.

Appreciate the feedback raised in this thread though and I'll pass this on to the relevant team.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
esgesp
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Registered: ‎04-01-2020

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Dear team,

 

I am on a Fixed price - Unlimited (Contracted 12 months) due to expire on 15/04/2020.

Both Line Rental Saver contract and Broadband and Home Phone contracts end on 15/04/2020.

 

-when could I start a switch to another provider with no penalty? anytime from now? only in the last 14 days of contract?

-what does cessation charge activated mean exactly?

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Gandalf
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Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Hi @esgesp If your contract ends on 15th April then as long as your new provider's transfer order completes after this date, we won't charge you an early termination fee. With regards to the cessation fee, we used to charge this if a broadband service wasn't transferred to another BT-based provider however as of 1st September 2018 we no longer charge a cessation fee. 

Would there be anything we can do to help keep you as a customer? Smiley

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
esgesp
Dabbler
Posts: 16
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎04-01-2020

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Thanks @Gandalf for you quick reply.

 

I think I understand what you explained therefore there is a fee if I request a switch and my service with the new provider goes live before 15/04/2020, is that correct? How much would be that fee?

At the moment I am paying £0 a month since I paid my line rental in advance on a single payment and broadband is £0 on my Plusnet deal.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gandalf
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Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Thanks for getting back to me @esgesp 

I'm not currently in the office however our early termination fees can be worked out from Here.

Let us know if you've got any further queries.

[edit]
Based on what you've said, if you leave today, the termination charge should be £7.32 if you've got 2 months left and have paid line rental saver until the end of your contract term. 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
acs51a
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎03-04-2020

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

This is exactly my issue. My timeline:

 

Email March 1st Line Rental Renewal reminder. Ends 30 Apr 202. Link to price of £197.88

Email March 3rd Personal Account Review: Reminder will be out of contract 30 Apr 2020

 

Followed online renewal of contract first. Problem with loss of month on existing Broadband contract through early renewal which was resolved by phone and recorded on Help Assistant. With that in place tried to renew Line Rental Saver through on line account. 

 

If you find you can't add Line Rental Saver again, let us know using the Help Assistant.
"Line Rental Saver is the cheapest way to pay for your home phone line rental.
Pay for 12 months line rental up front for £197.88, equivalent to £16.49 a month, compared to our usual line rental price of £18.99 a month." When will this be available?

March 23rd Posted the above on Help Assistant  - Question #200254604

March 27th Help Assistant reply: "Thank you for getting in touch. Please contact our customer support team

to discuss the line rental saver"

 

On line account says Customer Support cannot renew. Then cannot renew until next bill (April1st). Still

quotes price of £197.88!!!

 

Apr 3rd 2020: On line account lets me buy Line Rental Saver at £209.88.

 

I replied on Help Assistant Question #200254604

"My email "Line Rental Saver - renewal reminder" dated 1st March 2020 gave a link to renew quoting the price of £197.88 as shown above. It referred me to the Help Assistant if that was not possible and I replied with the screen copy of the message shown above. Now I can proceed with the Line Rental Saver the price has gone up! This is very poor customer relations and dubious under Trading Standards. PlusNet should honour their quoted price or make sure it is correct on their system at the outset."

 

My question remains open on Help Assistant but maybe Plusnet can help me through this post. I also look forward to a refund.

 

 

 

 

molerat
Grafter
Posts: 47
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Registered: ‎11-11-2018

Re: Line Rental Saver Renewal Issue

Had the renewal e-mail this morning.  Current contract ends 4 Jun at £3.51 and paying LR monthly at £18.99.  Offer was £22.99 for fibre and LR (£19.99 + £3).  Renewed LRS at £197.88 (equiv to £16.49 pm based on the old £18.99) then went in and renewed contract which was showing at £3. All in all a better experience than last year !!

 

My account page is now showing


An error has occurred

You can't change your products for the moment, you already have a product change in progress.

 


which would have prevented me ordering LRS